Needing Inspiration

If you've ever had to write something, whether a note to a friend, a thank-you card, an essay or a ten-page paper, you've probably experienced writer's block. For a writer, it's unbelievably frustrating when you sit down to write and twenty minutes later, the page is still blank. For what I wanted to write about, I needed serious inspiration. So, I made a bold move.

Many times I've read of writers diving head first into the subject of their writing. If someone was writing a crime novel that takes place in a hospital, they visited a hospital to learn the inner workings. If someone wanted to write an Italian cookbook, they would travel to Italy and take cooking lessons. You get the idea. Well, I was having a hard time thinking how to approach writing an underwater battle scene. I'd start writing something and I'd nix it. I'd start again. And again, I'd nix it. It just wasn't coming out right. I needed first-hand experience and serious inspiration. So, I signed up to take swimming lessons...again.

I know, I know. You're thinking, "Again? No one forgets how to swim." Well, for me, it wasn't so much forgetting how to swim. It was relearning to put my face in the water and being comfortable in that environment. I took swimming in college for an entire semester. I learned to swim, but never really overcame my fear of deep water. To write this scene, I had to go back in and experience what it was like to move, twist and turn in water again. Once I got in the water, I was surprised that I was okay being in it. The hardest thing to relearn is blowing out your nose underwater. Now that I'm older, my mind takes over and I have an instant trigger--once my face hits the water, I stop blowing out my nose. I'm working on it.

Just like I'm working on this battle scene. Now that I'm remembering what it feels like in that environment, I can better attack how to write this scene. Just as I'm relearning to tread water, I'm learning that if you want to write something realistic, you have to really experience it.

If you're going through something similar, take a chance and get out there and learn how to do it yourself. It'll make your writing more real, which will make your reader believe what they're reading. It'll put them in the story and that's what it's all about.

And yes, I'm still afraid of deep water. Next week in class we learn how to tread water. Wish me luck.