Sometimes the Curtains are Blue

There's a story about a professor who insisted there were all sorts of hidden meanings and significance in the sentence, "The curtain was blue." Another individual pointed out it just might be a simple statement of fact, "The curtain was blue."

Writing is a lot like this. Some writers spend time planning story arcs and deep meanings and character development and black moments and...

The rest of us just write. We work more along the line of first this happened and then...

I have great respect for those writers with their color charts and their outlines and their character sheets and all that other paraphernalia. But some of us find that intimidating and off-putting. For some of us, it's all we can do to sit at the computer and type coherent sentences. Sometimes the curtains are just blue.

November is the month writers set aside to write 50K in thirty days. And as is typical of writers, some have planned their fifty thousand words meticulously, with outline cards (color coded) and character growth charts and incredibly terrifying black moments, while the rest of us are fortunate to remember our hero's name and what color his hair is. Whatever your style, it's okay. Writing is not a team sport or a competition. It's a deeply personal, private adventure.

I'm a rebel so my curtains are purple, 'cause that's how I roll.