Writing Is Compulsive

Different people have different interests. 

Some of us follow them, others don't. Perhaps I should restate that. Some of us have the opportunity to follow our interests, and some of us are forced by circumstances to do what we must to make it through life.

Our satisfaction comes from finding a way to work our areas of interest into what our days require of us.

If you like photography, but your kids keep you busy, thank goodness for cell phones. You can snap and share pictures anytime, anywhere, and to anyone. Excellent!

If cars are your thing, and you can't afford the $1 million supercar, join a streaming service. You can drive your dream cars vicariously through hosts on a number of shows.

Books intrigue many people. Kindle and other e-book formats are a godsend, if this is your interest. For a few dollars a month, you can read as many books as you want, with an unending supply of new material at your fingertips.

I enjoy words. Writing them, playing with them, reworking them. I'm compelled to arrange them into stories that bring characters into life in worlds that no one's ever seen or imagined.

Currently I'm on Volume 2 of The Electric Minute, a series of short stories of approximately 1,000 words each. What I enjoy about this series is the constriction I'm under. I must tell the entire tale in only six pages or less. I refuse to go over, sometimes forcing me to go back, rework, and condense ideas. Sometimes I must take out a paragraph early in the story to fit in a vital detail at the end. Then I reread the entire tale, asking myself if the reader will notice what's missing. Usually the answer is no.

I do much of my best writing early in the morning or after midnight. That's when the real world can fade into the background, and I can let my imagination run free.

There are times I feel writing is what I was born to do. It's exciting (if tedious at times), and I love it!