Why indeed?

I’ll explain.  A major discovery recently occurred in my writing life and it may help you.  Here goes.

What some call writers block, I refer to as the psychological barriers or roadblocks we build in our own minds, seemingly insurmountable at times.  What do you do when you meet a roadblock?

Let’s explore some options: 

• Circulate:  turn tail and run the other way
• Circumnavigate:  go around it
• Circumvent:  go over it
• Circumcise it (sorry boys):  cut it off
• (be) Circuitous:  find another way
• Contravene:  breach it!

For the longest time, I had two novels, minus endings.  It was not that I had no idea how to end them, I knew.  It was something else, something always preventing me from putting those final chapters into print: work, a move, the needs of family members — all good and practical reasons, but none, the real one.

It took some soul-searching to find I always had the answer.  It was the reason sequels were born, not just for the reader, but also for the writer.

Writing a novel is a major commitment for a writer.  We adore our characters, we cry when terrible things happen to them, we cheer when they are victorious; we feel ashamed when they commit heinous acts and we miss them terribly when they leave.

I had no real intention of writing sequels to either of these unrelated novels.  However, by leaving the possibility open in my mind, the roadblock crumbled, I was able to pass and my endings made their way across the bridge from my mind to the computer screen.

And so my dears, every good story has to end, at least for now.

Thanks for reading, and keep writing!