#WW Writer Problems 6-10
We like to believe that writing is all fun and games (and the worst thing that can happen is battling a thesaurus.) But writing is so much more than that, and because of all the work that goes on behind the scenes, writing often consumes the writer entirely. It lurks in the night like a good ol’ villain. It distracts us perfectly like a cheeky sidekick. It overcomes obstacles—not often as smoothly as we’d like—but it overcomes them like our heroes. It’s moments like these that remind me why I love writing, but these moments also bring up the awkward truth behind all-that-is writing, and I like to share these moments as my #WriterProblems. Last month, I shared 1-5, so this month, I’m sharing 6-10. Be sure to like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter because I share these cards there first. This is just the additional stories that go along with the cards. And—of course—feel free to take these cards and share them around. Just please don’t crop my name out. :]
Writer Problems #6
Trying to Find Inspirational Photos for Writing.
For all of you Pinterest lovers out these, I’m sure you can relate to this one. Trying to find a normal male teenager with dark hair is nearly impossible. Everyone is either famous, naked, or both. And who wants that on their Pinterest board (if it’s not erotica)? Considering the billions of photos that are on the Internet, I’m often surprised at how difficult it can be to find a person who looks similar to the description of a character or even in a place in a novel. In fact, this card can be taken literally. While my cover artist and I were trying to find a male model for the cover of Seconds Before Sunrise, we stumbled upon this beauty. And yes. That’s a nearly naked man, wearing armor made out of bread. It took us an additional three days to find a male model with dark hair who had clothes on.
Writer Problems #7
Cats…We Love You, But Please Get Off The Keyboard.
I have three of them. Trying to get them off my laptop—let alone out from under my desk where all the tempting wires hide—is a daily task I fail at. In fact, Boo-Boo is slaughtering my cell phone cord as I type this.
Writer Problems #8
When You Can’t Find Your Pens
Perhaps you no longer use pens. In this day and age, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if a writer never used a writing utensil to write. But I still do. I have to. I love my pens. I’m rather protective of them too. And I only write with G-2 pens…and they often go missing. This either goes back to the cats, my roommates, or the writer goblin…a secret creature who lies in wait to prevent any more words from being written. Oh, wait. No. That’s my hair. Not a goblin.
Writer Problems #9
Writing in Public and Playing Your Writing Music Too Loud
You’re writing. You’re music is playing. You’re sitting in your favorite coffee shop. Your words are flowing. You reach the end of a chapter and pause to take a sip of coffee. That’s when you look up and realize everyone is staring at you. Everyone. And you take off your headphones to see if someone will explain…when the noise explains it already. Yes. We heard your Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson. We heard it all. You were practically dancing too.
Writer Problems #10
Pen marks.
This happens to me all too often—so often that I wonder if I can ever be one of those authors that only uses computers. I…just…can’t. But this card was inspired by a recent outing. My roommate and I went everywhere. EVERYWHERE. The grocery store, the coffee shop I always go to, the hardware store, the diner. And the day was fantastic. It truly was. Until I went to the bathroom to wash my hands and saw it. I had black pen smudged all the way down my left cheek and part of my nose. And no one told me. ::facepalm:: Sometimes, though, a nice barista says something, and I can clean my pen off with dignity.
So how about you? What did these writer problems remind you of? Share your story below, and be sure to check out 1-5 if you missed it. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter too so we can talk about these as they release…because we all know more are to come. So many more.
~SAT
P.S. My latest YouTube video on my channel – Coffee & Cats – went up yesterday! We’re talking about book boyfriends.
Shannon A. Thompson 
Makes me realise how much of our time is taken up with the NOT writing bits!
I like to think of these moments like the backstage of a play – they must happen for the show to go on. :]
~SAT
Good article as always. I particularly like the part about the missing pens. Not long ago I bought a big bag of pens and on daily basis they are not where they should be. And when I find them, they all seem to be together in one place. Like they’re having a meeting or I’ve caught them out trying to plot their escape. There’s a story in there I’m sure…
Sounds like a hilarious Pixar movie – pens escaping from their writer (or going out in the world to find inspiration for their writer blocked writer owner). Like Toy Story for writers. It’d be fantastic.
~SAT
I think pens are secretly alive and like to hide so we don’t drain them of their ink/blood. Sounds funny, but I think I actually believe in this, so I never throw them away when they go empty.
And yeah, I know the pain of stock images. Why would you put bread on yourself and not eat it!
I never thought I’d hear the question “Why would you put bread on yourself and not eat it!” but – alas – stock photos has given us a wonderful opportunity. And I love hearing about writing rituals like that – not throwing out pens – because I feel like everyone has one that is unique, even though we can all relate to it in some way.
~SAT
Reblogged this on Crazy Beautiful.
Thank you for sharing!
~SAT
I couldn’t find that Bread Knight picture you hinted at. That sounds like it would be surreal.
I’ve actually been keeping all my pens and pencils hidden. Though I’ve still caught people going into my notebook or drawers to get at them. Nothing beats having one of my idea notebooks on a table with a pencil and my visiting mother-in-law wrote a grocery list on a page. Not even a clear page, but one with the beginnings of a character bio . . . and she used pen. I think I’m going to cry just remembering that.
Also, been there with the music and there are a few songs on my iPod that get me strange looks. Short white guy listening to Busta Rhymes (This Means War with Ozzy) is not something people are used to around here.
If you want to see the Bread Knight, click on the link “this beauty” and it’ll send you to the exact photo we found. It’s beautiful.
OH NO. Just reading about someone writing in your character notebook makes me cringe. I can completely relate to that. People tearing out pages to jot something down, like a phone number, and it’s my notebook for a specific book organized in a very specific way. Once, I wrote down names in alphabetically order (both used and want to use names), and someone tore out the “P” page, so the alphabet was missing the list of “P” names.
I mainly listen to 8tracks, so every now and then, something pops up out of my control, and the music switches volume too, so I’ve (once or twice or maybe three times…) had something blast in my ear so loud and randomly that I jumped and cursed. Didn’t exactly help my sanity reputation at the local coffee shop where I’m already typing so fast (and probably grinning evilly) that I quote, “You are kind of intense” came out of more than one customer. ;]
~SAT
For some reason, I’m not seeing it as a link, but it is clickable. The armor doesn’t look very protective.
Wow. I’d flip out if someone tore out a page that was in an ordered set. Sad thing is that I have ‘IDEA BOOK!’ written on the covers. I mean, who uses a marble notebook or a large spiral notebook for scrap paper anyway?
That’s a great reputation to have though. Seems to make an impact. I’m with you on the volume thing too. Some songs are softer than others for an unknown reason.
Hehe, #8 is also a nursey problem xD
Love these!! Keep up the great series 🙂
I’m glad you’re enjoying this series! Thank you for reading and commenting. 😀 I hope to share 11-15 soon, but I just shared 14 on Facebook and Twitter earlier this week.
~SAT
I love these! (And can identify with most of them, too.) My cat prefers the sunny window to my keyboard, though. And the dogs, although they do lurk under the desk, are too large to climb on top of it. Thank goodness!
AH! Animals. I love them so much. Most of the time, my cats are pretty good about staying off the keyboard, but Bogart – the black cat often posted on here – sits in my lap, and when I least expect it, he swats the space bar. Kind of funny at first.
~SAT