Razor Blades and Lemon Juice

The worst part about writing is the writing.

Stories are easy.  They’re ephemeral.  They’re fun.

You have a hero/heroine who is attractive, and smart, witty and charming.  They’re capable, above average, and maybe even (hopefully) bad ass.

There’s conflict and humor and scenes that make your jaw drop in awe.

It’s fun!

But telling the story and writing the story are two different things.  In my head, I’m the best storyteller alive.  My characters go beyond three-dimension right into complex and complicated.  Their actions are both self and plot driven, and there’s subtlety and nuance.

Then, there’s the written word, the medium in which the story must be encapsulated and passed for consumption.  It is both the means by which the story is released, and the prison which traps it.  Writing has rules and regulations, some of which are solid (like spelling and sentence structure) and some of which are open for interpretation and debate.

Learning all the rules takes a lifetime, and even then mistakes are certain to happen.  We’re only human, after all.

So let me just say, right here and now, proofing sucks.