A Shot In The Dark

When I was little, I enjoyed playing with those little magnetic darts I could throw against the side of the refrigerator and practice hitting my target.  Later I graduated to the real things with the pointed metal tips but more often than not I wouldn't quite make the bulls eye.  Writing can be like playing darts sometimes. 

You start out with a fantastic idea and you line up your target with all the right outlines and character arc maps at your fingertips.  It's crystal clear in your mind where those little "word darts" should land but somehow they seem to stray from their intended target.  And the more you throw those darts out there,  the more off the mark they get until you wonder why you even tried throwing them in the first place.

But here's the thing.  Writing, like darts, is all about practice.  The more you do it, the better you get at it and pretty soon that shot in the dark finds it's way to the center and you come out a winner.  You get THE CALL...or THE EMAIL...or THE SMOKE SIGNAL...whatever it is that lets you know that you are on the right track and all that hard work is finally paying off.  And for me, that's worth taking a shot...