This is a writer’s block my daughter gave me. I’ve never had writer’s block. Maybe because I have a writer’s block. I don’t have writer’s block. It is a John Steinbeck writer’s block. I enjoy reading John Steinbeck. He is an excellent writer and told important stories. I like his writing style and remember a line from East of Eden, “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”

It is harder to write something short than something long. You need to use fewer words to write something quick, but you must convey the same feeling and meaning as something more extended. Every word needs to work. You cant have any lazy, worthless words. They all have to pull their weight. I try to shorten things up all the time. Phrases, like he stood up. Change it to he stood. He sat. He ran. You don’t have to say how fast he ran. The fact that he ran says enough.

I have a story trying to worm its way out of my brain. It isn’t coming out quickly. I think it’s a breach story. Like a baby turned the wrong way in a woman’s birth canal. It wants out, but it’s not coming easy. Some stories are like that. It’s difficult getting them to live on their own. Much more difficult than having writer’s block. But like I said, I already have one of those. My daughter gave it to me.