RUTS IN THE WRITING ROAD

"If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."
- Dolly Parton

I often find myself in a rut with my writing. I am capable, though not an expert, of writing in more than one genre. But I find myself stuck on one at a time--never the twain shall meet. Although I have more nonfiction credits, for the past few years I have pursued the writing of fiction more often than not.

Making a living with my writing has never been my goal. I want others to read my work; I enjoy the feedback I receive, bask in the words saying my work somehow made a difference in their lives or made them laugh, chuckle, or smile. I have always had a day job to support my love of writing. However, the money I have generated with my work has been from researched articles or personal essays. I know I can sell my "true" words and yet I love to write fiction. Why?

To me, there's a special magic in spinning a new tale, creating characters in an image I dream up, and setting them down in places made exotic or scary by my descriptions. I am challenged to put them though imagined trials to reach a happy ending--or at least one that will, hopefully, satisfy my readers. Research for fiction is more interesting--clothes appropriate for the era; my heroine flying a fighter plane; the setting of Paris (Italy, Texas or Georgia) comes alive when I read travel magazines; listening to local phrases (you do know that Texas and Georgia have their own choice of language, don't you?). With all of these I hope to create a real feel for the characters, place and speech of my makebelieve world.

As I have eluded to, my current rut is fiction. For the moment it's a smooth road, an enjoyable trip into an area of Mexico that I know well, with a heroine from Texas running from the FBI and the Mafia, and a hunk (American-Mexican) double-agent who has to figure out why he got involved with this mysterious woman in the first place. When my road into this story becomes bogged down, I'll find a way to temporarily jump ship.

A child's death in New Mexico sets a traveling accountant and a hardened sheriff on a collision course; I need to write the next chapter, the one where he decides whether he should arrest her on suspician of murder or tuck her into his bed--for her safety, of course. Or I could interview one of the seniors for a profile for a local magazine, or rewrite one of the poems in my collection almost ready to offer to agents/publishers.

Maybe you find yourself in much the same place with your writing. Maybe I've given you some idea that you aren't alone, made some suggestions that will send you to the file cabinet drawer for one of those incomplete articles/stories or a first draft that needs revising. Or maybe there's another solution: you and I could exchange ruts. I wonder what we would do with each other's work?

TIP: Are you off-track? Pick up your pad or laptop, go to a park, a fast-food restaurant, or climb into the backseat of your SUV. A change of environment may work miracles.

PROMPT: Start a story or article with the following: "How many of us are left?"