Monday Musings: Writing is Like . . .

On Friday, the brilliant Tracey Hansen tagged me in a “new bloggy project exercise thingy” called Writing Is Not Like a Box of Chocolates: A Meme.

THE RULES:  Take the phrase “Writing is like . . .” and finish it. Post it on your blog. Tag three others to do the same. That is all.

Can it really be that easy?  Yes, it can.  So here I go:

Writing is like . . . that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indiana and Marion are stuck in the tomb, and she walks into a corridor where cobwebbed skeletons reach out for her from all sides.  (1000-year-old skeletons = fictional characters that won’t leave you alone.)

Okay, maybe I didn’t put enough effort into that.

Actually, after telling people that I write books, some have responded, “So I guess it’s easy for you to write.”  I want to respond, “No, it’s REALLY HARD trying to squeeze words out of your head and your fingers and type them onto a page in an orderly fashion that conveys the story that you want to tell.”  But it is also wonderful!  Time disappears when I am writing.

So what is writing like?  Maybe because I have lived much of my life on the Texas Gulf Coast, I think I will compare it to an ocean.

Writing is like wading into the sea, watching the waves break against the shore and tumble into the sand.  You stride out confidently, ready to leap across the waves and feel the tide and foam splash against your skin.  It’s a thing of rhythm – making sure you bounce at the right time and the right height.  You feel like you’re in control as you gracefully ride the waves.  And then, the waves grow larger and unwieldy, and you realize that they will have their say as well.  But as tempted as you might be to sink your toes down into the ocean’s bottom, you throw yourself forward and allow the salty rush of water to sweep you in with the tide.  When the wave passes and you look back to the shore, you see that you have drifted. You are still in the same ocean, still the same swimmer, but the sea has moved you.

And now (drumroll, please), my three tags:

Tiffany A. White: Tiffany is a fabulous Twitter and wordmongering friend and a great blogger with loads of information on the TV scene.  Follow her now.

Catie Rhodes: Catie has a knack for quirky and curious stories – like the curse of James Dean’s car.  Check out her blog.

Amy Thomas:  Young Adult author and organizer of the YASB Facebook group and Twitter hashtag. She also recently won the Backwards Contest on Figment.com.

I wish to also add that Memorial Day is a day to honor those who have served and sacrificed. God bless them and their families.