A Weird Form of Writer’s Block? « Feeding The Need To Write

A Weird Form of Writer’s Block?

07Nov07

Lately I am starting to suspect that I might be a victim of a weird form of writer’s block. I’m very close to the end of Jade’s story. So close that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Whenever I get this close to accomplishing a long term goal I start to get philosophical. Which usually means I take a trip down memory lane. You might recall me mentioning that Jade reminds me of myself in many aspects. It’s funny how that came to be…perhaps I should take you to the beginning…

It all began the summer of 2004, it was the first summer of my college career. I was just coming down off a caffeine high that had help me stay awake for three solid weeks so that I could finish all my projects. You see back then I was an interior architecture major, and one of the few who claimed that nothing could ever make me want to change my major (the very next year I had what could only be described as a self-induced mini nervous break-down and changed my major.) That summer I joined my somewhat distant relatives in their home up in New York. After about two weeks I found myself bored. It was then that my cousin, who was an active reader like myself suggested we visit their public library. So we hopped a ride on the subway to the nearest library, it was the beginning of a highly anticipated trip that would happen weekly. But very quickly I had went through their whole romantic collection then mystery, fantasy, and lastly Sci-Fi. After that we made the longer trek to the main library downtown. Another few weeks I had found myself with the same problem (I’m a VERY fast reader).

It was at this point my cousin showed me the beginning of her original story. I too had begun a story just three years ago but had not worked on it since starting college. She offered me the use of her laptop and the solitude of her bedroom to start a new story to take up my time. And thus Jade was born. A young African-American woman in her prime at a crossroad in her life. At the time it was a mirror image of my own life. I too was in the middle of making a decision with my love life. Should I choose the one who reflected my own background or someone who came from a whole other place?

Unlike my heroine I decided to go with the one who matched my background and found that not all similars attract. By the time I had boarded the plane back home I had cranked out five chapters. Jade had become her own self. Unfortunately it would be months before I worked on her story again. Around that time I decided to start posting stories on Fictionpress.

As I bring her story to an end I am at another crossroads. Should I start on the journey of trying to get it published somewhere? I never set out to be a published writer, but now that I am close to ending a story the possibility is there. As I said before Jade will probably be my number one favorite character. I fell a connection with her that is way different than the connection I have with my other characters. Is there a character that you relate to more than others?