Linda Nelson

English: Neil Gaiman, signing books after a reading from “Anansi Boys” in Berkeley, 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they’ve all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds… Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.”
― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 5: A Game of You

I have met so many people who can’t fathom how a person could spend so much time writing a book. Others believe it is a natural thing to do until they give it a try. Most likely, they forgot how hard it was to write that essay or short story back in elementary school. Back then, it was a feat to be able to write a 150-word short story for the Halloween contest.

Neil Gaiman is right. I do believe everyone does have at least one story to tell in their lifetime. It doesn’t matter whether it is a fictional story or a memoir. It’s still a story. Some of those real stories are the best ones to tell. Take for instance a drug addict. They each have a story not only to tell but needs to share. This is one of the ways they work toward their recovery. They build a bridge to the next person who needs help by sharing how they know what it’s like to be in such a predicament.

Their stories bring hope. That hope gives others another chance at life. Just the thought of knowing that they are not alone in such a big world that has been filled with craziness that they’ve experienced helps. Not only does these stories help the addicts, but they can also help bring hope and recovery to the families and friends of the addicts. They learn that their loved ones are still human, after all the ugliness they’ve gone through.

So don’t ever let someone tell you that you don’t have a story to tell. Your life is a story and no one can tell it as you can.

Help save a life, reach out and make that bridge by telling your life story. It has more meaning than you could imagine.

Every night I go to my little cubby hole, I call my office. There I will attempt to write, surf the internet looking for ideas, check emails, social media, and possible play a computer game of some sort. The dogs keep me company. The little dog, Keelaa, makes sure I take my breaks from writing. I think she has an egg timer hiding somewhere that only she knows about it. We have to stop to play a game of tug. Then there is the receiving of a chew toy of some type. She prefers rawhide chews.

[media-credit id=1 align=”aligncenter” width=”300″][/media-credit]In my office, I use a desktop. I do have a laptop, but I stopped using that so much ever since Keelaa came along a year ago. I used to use it in the living room, but I’m afraid the pup will use it for a launch or landing pad as she catapults herself across the couch. Now, I save the laptop for travel, especially when I go to a writing function and have to stay overnight.

[media-credit id=1 align=”aligncenter” width=”300″][/media-credit]Sometimes I’m productive. I’ve learned how to put the dogs to sleep. That happens when I put Celtic music on to help me get into the zone for writing fantasy. They don’t sleep so well when I put Today’s Top Hits on, for writing Young Adult Contemporary. I always have to have some sort of background noise when I write. It can’t be perfectly quiet. Even when I was in school, I couldn’t do my homework or study without having either the radio or the tv on.

Most times, it’s night time when I go and work in my office, Monday through Friday. On the weekend, I tend to start writing by 7 am. The reason I don’t start writing at that point in the morning during the weekdays is because I have a regular 7-3 job. Yup, I work in a factory making things. Sometimes I will either weave fabric, sew fabric, or put parts together. I like my day job. I like the people I work with. I think I would be hard pressed ever to give it up, because of them.

I don’t just use a computer to write. Many times I will jot things down on scrap pieces of paper, even when I’m at work. If an idea comes to me, I have to capture it before it is lost in the abyss of the mind. That is where the pens and pencils come in. I make my own notebooks up with blank cardstock that I can print a cover design on. This I fill with lined paper and use brass fasteners to hold it all together.

My ideal space would have everything I need in a day, right there in my office. Unfortunately, I lack the room. A small refrigerator for cold drinks would be nice. Room for exercise equipment would be nice too. Then there needs to be storage space for all the manuscript files and don’t forget bookshelves for all those books I need to read.

Someday, I’ll be able to have an office like that. For now, I’m happy the way things are.