Writing Stories on the Eights: 2/29

At the beginning of this year, I proposed to begin writing fiction. But this goal hasn't panned out for me during the past eight weeks. The main reason for this, I believe, is that I haven't yet established a specific time and place in my daily "walk" through life in which I can fully devote myself to this endeavor. I did write a rough outline for a novel (or novella), but have only written about six pages worth of story material. This must change! I have to get over the feelings of inadequacy that inevitably crop up whenever I critically examine what I've just written. Also, I need to let the story take over my writing and for me to not worry about how "perfect" it has to be. Most of all, I have to get myself into the "writing zone"! I'm currently reading The Wastelands, Stephen King's third volume in his Dark Tower series. In it, one of the characters, an eleven-year old boy, is horrified to discover that for his final essay that he is about to turn in at school, he has written a crazy-sounding stream-of-consciousness piece that he is sure will land him in a mental hospital if his teacher were to read it. As events turn out, his teacher did read it and rewarded him with an A+ and great praise. And that is how I must write, too: on the "edge", where the words can sometimes express and bring up dangerous emotions and thoughts. The fear of myself being exposed in my writing has to be faced and overcome. Because in the end, it is exactly that which I want to do!