Writing can be tough sometimes, especially when you hit a pothole in middle of the roadway. Yes, writing can be like driving in real life. You know you have to take driving lessons to be able to take that driver’s test in order to get your driver’s license so you can drive a car. Same goes for those English classes in school and college, plus writer’s workshops you enroll in at conventions, conferences and writer’s festivals. It’s all about making you the best writer you can be, just like driving lessons will hopefully make you the best driver you can be.

And like all drivers should to become a better driver, so should you should write every day to become a better writer. Practice always makes perfect, or as close as you can get. Even if it’s not a manuscript you have due, or a book, story or poem that you’re working on, just writing anything for a few minutes, even what you might think is garbage, can be beneficial. Besides, that garbage one day may spark a story idea and then, it’s no longer garbage—right?

A good driver cares about his/her car. They change the oil when it’s needed, get it new tires, have it inspected, and get it repaired when it is required. You put gas in it, washer fluid, add oil when it’s needed, and whatever else you know the vehicle necessitates. Same goes for the tools of a writer’s trade. Your PC or laptop needs a virus and spysweeper program installed, especially if you use said computer to go online for research or to do promotions for your books. You clean it, set up programs that are needed for writing, do a virus scan weekly and whatever else you feel your computer needs. And not just the computer, but you must take care of yourself! You do this by a good diet, exercise, and proper amount of sleep each night. You make sure you don’t catch any diseases, for even a cold can befuddle the thinking processes. After all, those lovely stories are in your head and a foggy brain doesn’t function well getting them out and into a manuscript.

There’ll be times when you hit those potholes, or writer’s block. Even you need to get up out of that chair to go read a book, watch a movie, take a walk around the neighborhood or work on another manuscript or short story, when you just can’t continue writing on a particular day. It happens. No one is going to beat you over the head about it. The next day, just get back behind the wheel (or in front of the laptop/PC) and get back on track with what you were working on. After all, don’t you get tired of driving when you’ll been doing it for several hours on the road and need to pull over? Same goes for writing.

Next time you sit down in front of your screen and it’s opened to Microsoft Word, ready for you to type in some words, think of it like getting behind the wheel and heading down the road to unknown parts. Writing is like driving and your story is the world that flies by as you head down the highway of imagination.

Sapphire Phelan

http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com

Go beyond the usual, instead take the unusual that stretches the boundaries and find romance with Sapphire Phelan’s aliens, werewolves, vampires, fairies, and other supernatural/otherworldly heroes and heroines.