No. 3 - When the Characters Don’t Clock In

Sometimes, my characters dont clock in for the role I chose them for and Im stuck trying either find a replacement or make them show up to work. But at the end of the day, them motherfuckers just be calling out sick with diarrhea in the middle of the Georgia summer heat like the rest of us.

I sometimes completely abandon my own work. Don’t get me wrong, I adore writing, but every now and again I’ll open the document and just be completely empty. No spark. No dialogue. No random scenes occurring like they used to. Just a lot of white space. And a feeling of guilt.

If the characters aren’t gonna materialize, I’m out. I’m not about to write an entire paragraph only to be shot down later. I just. disappear. Sometimes a couple of days. Sometimes a week or two. Sometimes longer.

I would go crazy about that too. I think consistency was the key to being a real writer. Like, if I didn’t write daily, those words would basically disappear into thin air. And the characters? They would just ditch me and hang out with, you know, one of those super-disciplined people who wake up at 5 and has their whole life planned out like a curriculum for elementary school.

But honestly? I'm not really that kind of writer. I'm not that kind of person, either.

I’m a person who feels things, you know? I have to experience life in order to write. I need to vibe with a character before I even attempt to speak in their voice. And when they just don’t materialize, I sort of take that as a sign that I haven’t been there for myself either.

Sometimes, I walk away from the work because life is loud. Or I’m tired. Or I just can’t stretch my imagination past the weight of the day. So I drop the story. Mid-sentence. Mid-thought. Mid-scene.

I’m just gonna let it be.

But here's the thing: I keep coming back.

Not because I have to, but because the story's still in me. And when I'm ready again—when I've lived some more, taken a little time to chill, or just really miss it—I come back. Not with a bang or a new playlist and a fancy color-coded calendar. I come back all quiet, kinda shaky, and a little uncertain. But I come back.

I've solved the trust issue with that whole coming-back aspect. Simply spending time with the story, even if I don’t write a sentence the whole day, is a win in and of itself.

No, I don’t write daily. I don’t always have that spark. And my characters sometimes just take a break, and I’m okay with that.

But they return, you know? And when they do, we pick up right where we left off—no apologies, no shame. Just story.