Blinking cursor of death

Is anyone else addicted to blogs besides me? This is a fairly new phenomenon to me, but I'm really enjoying it. I've heard about and read blogs for a while now, but never thought of doing one of my own. If you've read my blog since the beginning, you know that the fact that I have one can be attributed to Cherry Red, right? She's got a great blog over at cherryredwriter.blogspot.com . I wanted to comment one night, and couldn't without a blogger id. In the process of getting an id, I signed myself up for a blog. Now, I can't seem to stay away from here.

Blogger is a fun place to be when I'm on the computer. Many times, when my blinking cursor of death is trying to suck the very life right out of me, I close down the WIP and head to my blog. After I read through any new comments, I head over to some of my friend's blogs. I like to leave comments for them, for a few different reasons. First of all, if they've said something that I can relate to, or something that has really touched me, I want them to know it. Second, it gets kind of lonely in blog-land sometimes. The only way you know that you're reaching people is if they leave a comment. Often, the only thing that makes me want to make another blog post is because of encouragement that I've received from comments. I like to return the favor and comment when I can.

I've asked Shane to write a program that replaces my blinking cursor of death with a heart. He laughed when I asked him to do that. After I explained why, he understood. See, writing is a LOT harder than I thought it would be. I might have mentioned this already, maybe once or nine times. I've always liked to write. I've always felt compelled to write. Often, I'll write short stories, or poems, for myself or friends. I've written long letters that I still have, just because it's so often easier for me to express myself on paper than in voice. But writing, a story that may eventually be sold??? Yeah, that's nothing but work. With a capital W.

Recently, I got stalled in my WIP by the blinking cursor of death. I call it that because the damn blinking basically kills any creative impulse that may have been mulling around inside of me. Don't confuse this with writer's block, I don't think they are the same thing. With my current story, I know the characters. I know basically what is going to happen. There are details, many details, that I don't know yet. There are some conflicts that I haven't totally resolved. But the story is there, in my mind. The trouble is, I can't always get it onto my screen the way I want it. I was introducing a new character, and I knew all about her. I knew her age, what she looked like, how she dressed, her likes and dislikes, her fears, what part she played in the story. I HAD this girl down. Except her name. I just wasn't sure what her name was yet. I knew that it would come to me, and it would be perfect, but I hadn't figured it out yet. I wrote around that for a bit, but then I just couldn't anymore. When the main character needed to speak to her directly, it seemed imperative that I have her be addressed by name. A placeholder just wouldn't do. So there my story sat, for DAYS, with that damn BCOD just mocking me. That's when I came up with the idea to replace the cursor with a heart. If I had a blinking heart there, maybe I would feel the luuuuv instead of feeling that OpenOffice was laughing at me. See my dilemma?

She has a name now, by the way. It's a great name. It's nothing crazy, or wacky. It's not unusual, or funky. It's a name. But it fits her. I like it. It may change before I'm done, but I doubt it. The name seems just right. And the story is moving along quite nicely, thankyouverymuch.

Screw that damn blinking cursor! But if anyone figures out how to turn the BCOD into a heart, let me know, will ya?