My Imaginary Friends and I Aren’t On Speaking Terms

I have never had really had trouble with writer’s block. As a matter of fact, I won’t even swear that such a monster exists. Whenever I got stuck on one story, I would just switch to another and keep on writing. At one time, I had over a dozen stories in the works and could go from one to the other with ease. I have even had an idea for one story while working on another and left off mid-sentence. Sometimes it would be days or weeks before I got back to the original story, but I have always been able to pick up my train of thought and continue as if I never stopped writing. My imaginary friends were always there, ready to continue acting out the scenes I was going to write.

Until now.

For some reason, my imaginary friends have gone on strike and are no longer speaking to me. I have replayed my actions over the past few weeks to see what I’ve done that might have upset them. I have a healthy respect for most of things that come from my imagination, so I’ve tried not to insult the figments—unless we were practicing insults for something I was writing. Did I misuse a word? Did I misspell something one of them said? Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention.

Too many times, I find myself distracted from my writing because of things going on around me. Whether it be car troubles, stress at work, needed home repairs, or one of the thousand other necessary issues that require immediate attention, my writing pays the price. In a previous post, I mentioned plotting out your writing habits. Even when you do have a plan, though, life happens. The resulting stress makes it hard to hear your imaginary friends (and, unfortunately, even your living friends and family, at times.)

The next time it seems like your imaginary friends aren’t speaking to you, maybe you just aren’t listening.

Just thought I would jot this down.

[Oh, just a word of warning. If your imaginary friends are making suggestions that include the words “kill”, “murder”, “destroy” or other similar phrases, it would probably be best if you ignored them.]