Getting words on 'paper'

Good morning!

Why is it so difficult to get words on paper? Of course, this is a phrase dating back to the days before people used computers to write. Some people still use typewriters, but the great majority of writers use computers. Still, the phrase lingers on. Which brings us back to the title of the post.

Sometimes, I sit down to work on a piece and my mind is a blank. I may have left a character in a tight spot and need to find a resolution for the problem facing him or her, but be unable to think of anything. In those situations, I simply write. Anything, everything. I let the words warp themselves in my mind and on the 'page' and after a while, I have a glimmering of which way the story should go. Then I examine what I have written to discover if any of it is salvageable, and if so, work it into the story. If not, it is deleted and I continue on with the thought that has wormed its way into my brain.

Other times, I will sit down with an idea of what I want to write, but be undecided as to what form it should take. The first line, the first paragraph, the first page or two, or three, should grab the reader so that he or she will keep reading. I like to have some action, either active or passive to keep the reader's interest, but there are times when it seems important to me to get some character development going immediately. Of course, this can go hand in hand with the action, and I like to do that, but I also like to show the character's thought processes. What better way for the reader to identify with the character than to show him or her to be an average, run-of-the-mill person?

So, when you sit down to write, and the words just won't come; remember that a lot of the time, it doesn't matter what you write in the short term, so long as you craft it into something that someone wants to read before you publish it. Which brings me to a thought that crossed my mind while I was writing this.

Is what we do art? Or, is it simply a craft project? My poor abilities to weave words into a spell that makes people want to keep reading and reading though the clock has already struck two, is limited. I don't think of myself as an artist. I don't use high-falutin' words to describe what I do, or look into space with a dreamy expression on my face. (People would probably just think I was 'slow', or constipated.) No. I simply write. I tell stories. I take random thoughts from my mind and put them together in a (hopefully) coherent pattern that people might want to read.

Others can be artists if they want. I'll just settle for trying to be a good writer. I've had some small success at that and hope to build on that success so that more people will want to read what I write. I know that I will never win any awards or achieve any critical acclaim, but if my readers close my books wanting to find another of my works, I'll be satisfied.

Thank you,
Derek A. Murphy
Author of Gulf of the Plains, Stitch in Thyme, Congruencies and others.
Available on Kindle