Confessions of a dormant writer

By Donnell Ann Bell

I have three problems when it comes to writing fiction. Simplicity bores me, I have a perfectionist problem, and I write above my pay grade.  Don’t get me wrong. I’m far from perfect. But I work hard to make sure my research is accurate. I also carry “What if?” and minutia to the extreme.

Combine this with life events over the last three years and writing has been a struggle. My Stiletto blog partner Debra Goldstein offered me sage advice when I expressed this problem. Familiar with my situation, she empathized and let me know my writing pause might take some time. Was she ever right!

I’m here to announce, “Times up.”

One of the things that brought me out of my funk was writing a short story. The excitement that comes with creating, plotting and follow through from beginning to end was in a word, “Thrilling.”

Somewhere buried inside me, yet dormant, was the writer I used to be.

And so I’m back to writing, which I consider progress. However, I’m still a perfectionist and still interested in topics I don’t fully understand. But to write something that doesn’t interest me would bore me silly.

Thought I would share some of the things I’ve been researching in case you’re interested.  In my work in progress, the month is October
2019.  My antagonist has escaped and he’s traveling on foot at night. Several issues crossed my mind while writing this scene, including: How will he get from Point A to his temporary objective of Point B when he faces all kinds of dangerous impediments?  Namely, he doesn’t know the area or the terrain, all he’s wearing are the clothes on his back, law enforcement is in pursuit, he’s being tracked by a fellow escapee, and it’s dark!

Which led me to research:

How to hike at night – crazy as that sounds, avid outdoorsmen (and women) do this. But they hike aided by night vision tools, GPS and compasses, walking sticks, appropriate clothing, and the ability to slow their pace, if necessary (which my antagonist mustn’t do at the risk of apprehension.) There are several videos and articles dedicated to night hiking.  I found this one particularly interesting and useful.  https://greatmindsthinkhike.com/hiking-at-night/

The phases of the moon. (Remember when I said I carry minutia to an extreme?) Here’s an example. It occurred to me that October is known for Hunter’s Moons and Harvest Moons, which I could use to my antagonist’s advantage. Then again, what fun would that be? I’m writing a suspense. Another complication occurred to me because the year is 2019. I can’t remember that far back; can you?

There are times I love the internet. There is a site called MoonGiant, which allowed me to narrow down the exact days of my WIP. It also pointed out that the days I referenced were in the Waxing Gibbous phase, which I will reluctantly leave out because my antagonist probably wouldn’t know that. 😊 Want to learn more about MoonGiant. Check out https://www.moongiant.com/

Thank you for allowing me to confess my writing sins–the others you don’t need to know. While I’m trying to break this useless perfectionist quality, I am setting goals and word count challenges.  How about you? Do you have any writing confessions you’d like to share?