June 30, 2016 in Dag

Listless sailing on a placid ocean

I love a good metaphor as much as the next writer.

Sometimes, I like to think of myself as a sailor, navigating my literary ship through the vast ocean of storywriting. Sometimes the ocean is rough as I battle to find the words I need to keep my story moving forwards. Sometimes, the sea is smooth and the wind is strong, and I find myself surging ahead without any difficulty. Sometimes I hit unexpected difficulties – whirlpools of doubt or strange creatures from out of the depths of my subconscious – who throw me off my course and force me to take an alternate direction.

At the moment, however, I seem to be facing another problem entirely.

It’s not that the sea is too rough. It’s not that I’m caught up in a violent storm. It’s not even that I’m facing dark sea monsters of doubt or fear. The problem is completely the opposite.

The ocean is calm, but so is the air. There’s barely any breeze to speak of. No wind to catch within my sails. Which leads to the obvious problem. It’s all too calm.

As writers, I think we need a bit of turbulence to move us forward. There has to be a bit of tension in the air, a bit of drama that we can capture to insert into the story. When things get too calm, there ends up being no way to move a story forward. And that’s the situation I find myself in.

I’m a bit becalmed at the moment. Just kind of sitting in one spot, not really managing to move forwards. It’s not that I don’t have any ideas, or that I’m stuck with writer’s block. It’s more about there being too many other things in my life at the moment. Too much work (as in the 9-5 variety) and family.

It’s a bit frustrating, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m sure that I’ll sort myself out and get the writing ship moving forward again. I’m sure the winds of inspiration will start blowing again, filling my sails with air and pushing me onward.

And in the meantime, given that my next novel is likely to have a nautical theme, it’s let me start thinking about all things ocean and sailing related.

Hope you experience safe seas this week, and all other weeks too.

Update on Riptides in Reality

Don’t forget the Riptides in Reality contest is still on. There’s one week left for you to go to http://www.between-boyfriends.com/2016/06/riptides-in-reality-sci-fi-and.html where you’ll find a cool giveaway happening. Enter for a chance to win a bunch of prizes, including a copy of the anthology plus a variety of books by the contributors, an Amazon gift card or even a Kindle Fire.

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