Writing every day can be contagious, it turns out. My youngest son, now seven years old, has watched me diligently work on my manuscript. Something must have cliqued in his mind because he asked me how to write.
Luckily, Santa graced him with a laptop last year, so I had him bring it over to show him how to launch MS Word.
He wasted no time hunt-and-peck typing a multi-chapter account of his daily school endeavors, along with a healthy dose of creativity. It was inspiring to watch him go, uninhibited by the contrivances that writing theory brings. He made up an imaginary school, imaginary students, and an imaginary teacher, each with distinct personalities embroiled in creative scenarios. And each time he would complete a chapter, he’d run up to whichever parent was nearest and have them read his latest triumph. My heart grew three sizes that day.
Two readers of my old blog (Don’t bother searching for it. My old blog has long been buried in the heap known as the Wayback Machine) recently and coincidentally found me within the period of a single week, one of which has successfully published a book and has been very prolific on the short story scene.
But the other has been locked in a bitter battle with Writer’s Block since we last spoke, which I believe was back in 2014. It’s been eight years, but we used to have a crit exchange going and kept each other accountable. Those were some of the best and most prolific writing days of my life. I look upon it fondly, even if I’m embarrassed by the quality of my prose back then.
It was quite unexpected to hear from him out of nowhere, just a few days ago. I remember when he made the decision to go radio silent, and I always felt a nagging guilty conscience about that, worrying that it was me who caused him to stop writing, throw in the towel, and focus on his day job instead. Was it my horrible writing that did him in? Was I working too hard at holding him accountable? Did I go too easy on him? Was I writing too infrequently?
So imagine how I felt when he reached out to me, of all people, to say he’s got the itch to start writing again.
If it weren’t for this blog and for the inspiration from readers like you (that sounded very PBS, didn’t it?), I don’t think I would’ve had much, if any, good news for him. But since I’ve been writing each day and have come off the heels of a banner year, I was able to give him plenty of good news which I hope helps inspire him to rejoin the fray.
So, will you be the next to succumb to this horrible contagion?
Nick Enlowe 