It's Not Always About Money

   While it's certainly nice to sell an occasional copy of something I wrote and have a few extra dollars to spend, it's not why I write. I write to release the emotions bottled up inside, and the fantasies that go along with them. I also write with the hope my stories will affect others in some small, positive way. This happened again the other day.
   The woman I take care of has several friends who take turns going to church with her. One of those women has only been in the area a short while and I had only met her once. The other day, after church, she was invited to stay and visit since she lives alone and hasn't found many new friends yet.
   During their conversation, it came up that she likes to read at home, but was having a hard time finding enjoyable stories. My friend mentioned to her that I was a writer, and they called me to join the conversation. I told her I write mostly fantasy, but have written other things as well. Of course, being polite, she said she would love to read something I'd written, so I printed out two of my short stories for her. I didn't give it a second thought.
   Yesterday she surprised me by calling just to tell me how much those stories affected her. She said she sat down with a cup of coffee and decided to read the shorter one first (Arizona) and got in one sip before she finished the story, crying. She had to get up and putter around her apartment for a while to settle down. She got another cup of coffee and prepared for the other story (Broken Souls) wondering what kind of journey it would take her on.
   Again, she only got in one sip, and when she finished, the first thing she did after drying her tears was to find her address book and call friends she hadn't talked to in ages. I wrote that story as a way for me to express my regrets over lost dreams and opportunities. It drove her to call and reconnect with friends and family to avoid the regret of missing out on sharing their lives.
   The idea that my story moved her to do that and then call and tell me about it, makes it all worthwhile. If I can get people to smile, cry occasionally, or stop to reflect on their own lives, then I've done my job as a writer.
   Hope your day is as rewarding as mine has been.
   Thanks for reading.

I'm Writing and Can't Stop

   If you've been following me for a while, you know I write mostly in my head. I run scenes through my mind, over and over, tweeking each time until it's exactly the way I want. Only then do I commit it to paper, and into the computer. It works for me, but is an extremely slow way to write. I'll go for a week or longer before I feel a scene is ready. This is a complex story I'm working on with numerous characters and plot lines. I've been struggling with tying them all together when over the holiday, the whole thing fell into place.
   I believe it also helped when after diddling with this story for two years, I put my foot down and told my brain enough is enough. This story will be finished by the end of the month, no excuses. What's that old saying? "Be careful what you wish for." I'm now obsessed with writing. It irritates me when the phone rings or I have to prepare dinner or any number of other distractions.
   I'm still only averaging around a thousand words a day, but that is pretty amazing for me considering the way I write. I won't be spending as much time on the Plus either which is probably a good thing. It's too easy to fall down a rabbit hole scrolling through my feed. Hopefully I can keep this up and finish before burn out. I guess we'll find out.
   Thanks to all my virtual friends, writing partners, and critique group for the encouragement and confidence to continue.
   Happy New Year to everyone, and thanks for reading.