How do you write through heartache? For me, my muse is stronger and more focused when my life is falling apart. Looking back over the course of my life, I can say during my happier period when my love and my life were harmonious, writing was the furthest thing on my mind.
Heartache can strip you bare and leave you with nothing to hold onto except bitterness and despair. But when depression sets in, fueled by betrayal, self-doubt and loneliness, my muse would wrap me in her arms and take me to a place where the happily ever after is dictated by the whims and limits of my imagination. A world where the hero never lies is trustworthy, loyal and completely faithful to the woman he loves. My muse wipes my tears, bolsters my self-esteem and even tells me I’m beautiful and brilliant.
As a writer, I look forward to the escape writing gives me. That imaginary door I open and step into a world I created and populated. I take my characters by the hand, or sometimes they grab me by the throat, and together we go on a journey far, far away.
I look forward to those times, the journey I take inside my private world with characters that not only love and trust me, but look forward to the time I spend with them. Sometimes, reality is just too cold and heartless. The expectations of family, friends and work are harder to climb than Mount Everest and the fall from grace is just as deadly as if you slipped on that treacherous mountain.
Writing gives me hope and makes me laugh. When you’re going through heartache, those two emotions can keep you and me afloat for another minute, and hour, one more day … to write again.
