My Characters are Killing Me

My hubby wants to know what’s wrong.  I seem cranky…a little distracted…possibly miserable. What do I tell him?

Here’s the truth:  I don’t know if Tessa should kiss Noah, if Tessa’s mom is having an affair or why Cassie is being so evil.

But none of those people are real.  They’re the characters in my Work in Progress.  I’m cranky, distracted and miserable because my story isn’t coming together.  Because people I’ve made up are not behaving in ways I imagined and I’m not sure what direction to go in next.

But how can I admit that?  I may be a crazy writer, but I do know the difference between real and imagined.  And I know he’d give me a look of disbelief to know I’m not myself over IMAGINED problems.  I get it, too.  He’s staying awake worrying about the business and the college funds and year-end statements.  And of course those things are really (and real) important.  So I’ve always discounted the worry I go through when I’m crafting a new story and struggling.

I guess it made me think.  What we writers do is fun, yes.  It’s our passion, yes.  It doesn’t pay the bills (for most of us), yes. But it’s also important.  And meaningful.  And we pour our hearts and our souls into it and it MATTERS.  So this time, when hubby asked me what’s wrong, here’s what I told him:

I’m having some problems with work.

And you know something?  He understood.