Writers write. Mostly we write alone, in offices, on couches, in a dark closet to escape our families…
Or not.
But writing alone can be hard. All the voices in your head can get very loud with nothing to counteract their screaming. And they can scream.
The words aren’t working.
This scene hasn’t been thought through.
That you have no idea where the manuscript is going.
That you suck.
Writing becomes not fun. It becomes a struggle. It becomes frustrating.
And the writing stops.
At least for me.
Until I found my Lobster (yes, Lobster. There’s a story behind that nickname, and you’ll have to trust me, it’s EPIC!). My writing buddy, my dearest Sarah. We found each other on Twitter. We moved into each other’s lives without a big bang or grand ceremony, we came together in quiet beauty.
And we swapped manuscripts. I didn’t have a ton of experience with literary writing and she didn’t have a lot of history reading fantasy. But, hey, new things are good! I LOVED (and still LOVE) her manuscript. And she was pleasantly surprised with how much she liked mine.
A CP match was born.
We send each other stuff all the time. She lives far away, but we chat on Messenger almost every day. When the words are stuck, I tell her or she tells me. We share when we’re tired and just can’t word. We rant when things go wrong, but the most important thing we do is cheer each other on.
See, we have the same writing problems. We’re both pantsers. We can’t deal with word count goals or schedules. We both over think. We both doubt our talent. We’re both forever-revisors. We both get caught up in how we’re not perfect.
We know just what to say to help fight those demons. We know exactly what’s going on in the other’s head. I’ve never actually heard her voice, but it’s in my mind, weaving through my thoughts. Always. Her words get me going, reminding me to just write.
Let me share the Lobster wisdom…
All words are good words. ALL OF THEM!
No thinkies. Just enjoysies.
Stop overthinking and write.
Let the story flow.
Write and we’ll figure it out.
So many times, I’ve been at the brink of writer insanity, and she has pulled me from the edge. How many words have I written that I attribute to her being there, maybe not physically next to me, but her words and gifs on my phone screen.
Always when we part for the day, there’s a glowing “Good job!” smiling at me from my phone.
We live in the land of positivity, where stress isn’t welcome. We write like…
Because stress is evil, trying to poison the writing.
To my Lobster, I salute you. I get excited to write because of you. I am proud of myself, because you remind me to be. The fact that you are always around makes me smile. I feel like I follow you around sometimes, like a lost puppy, but you never shoo me away, though I think you should. Warning…stage five clinger…
As many times as you’ve listened to me whine…you deserve cake. As many times as you’ve gotten me to open up…you deserve cookies.
It’s so important to have friends who understand you, all of your strangeness, all of your insecurities, the all of how you work best, and that celebrate you.
Sarah…
and
Thank you.
