thoughts – Patricia Elliott

Do you find yourself unable to finish a story? Do you get half-way through and lose your interest in it? Do other ideas sound more appealing?

What if I was to tell you that what you feel is perfectly normal? It’s a phase that every writer goes through when they reach a certain point in the story, usually about half-way or three-quarters of the way through. Sometimes it can happen earlier if you don’t write on a daily basis and keep your mind engaged in the story. As writers, our minds move a mile a minute, always searching for the next story, and new ideas feel like a brand new toy.

But that doesn’t mean the story you are writing now is boring or that it isn’t any good; so, don’t let your excitement for that new idea make you think that your current one sucks. I can tell you 100 percent that if you stopped your old story and started the new idea, you’d have the exact same problem mid-way through when another idea came your way. Ideas never stop, so write it in an idea book and stay the course, my dear writer. Your new idea will still be there when it comes time to write it.

Once you learn the pattern and phases a writer goes through, it gets easy to continue on the journey instead of giving up. And once you finish one story, it gets easier to finish the next. But if you keep giving up, you build a pattern too…one of never finishing what you start. And you don’t want that to be you.

It’s the same with any goal really. After doing something for a while, the initial excitement ebbs and other things look more fun; but, if you push through it and keep writing, you’ll make it to the end. Be stubborn!

You’ve got this! I believe in you.

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We all have them, don’t we? Things that annoy us, like fingernails scraping down a chalkboard. And everyone has their own list. Below you can find mine, which are shared in no particular order.

1. Noisy chewers

When people chew with their mouth open or when they chew so quickly that they’re anything but quiet, even with their mouth closed. I want to plug my ears because it drives me crazy.

2. Sirens on the radio.

I’m not sure who thought of the idea of putting sirens in a song or Advertisement on the radio; but, as someone who suffers from anxiety and who has seen accidents on corners because of people missing an emergency vehicle, I’m very hyper-aware. I’ve actually come to a stop at a green light, thinking there was an emergency vehicle coming, but then I discover that it was just on the radio.

3. Overzealous Honkers

People who honk at you while driving because you don’t move fast enough for them. I’ve had people honk at me just because I came to a stop at a red light before turning right. A lot of people tend to treat red lights as a yield as opposed to coming to a full-stop before proceeding.

4. Facebook Refreshing

I’m sure you know this one. You’re in the middle of reading a post and the page refreshes, and the post you were reading disappears into oblivion. Sometimes I can remember the name of the poster, but sometimes I can’t because it’s a group post.

5. Hook-up messages in DM’s from men supposedly in the army

Am I right? Does this make it into your top ten pet peeves. You’re sitting there scrolling nicely through social media when a new Direct message pops into your inbox, and it says:

“Hello, pretty lady, how are you doing today?”

“Hello, beautiful, how are you doing today?”

Or some variation of the above. Uh, hello, my profile says I’m married. I may be separated, but I’m still married. And they are almost always people supposedly working overseas. Does that make them look more interesting to us?

6. Waking up 30 minutes to an hour before your alarm

I tend not to fall asleep very fast, so when that happens, I’m usually awake for the rest of the day. It’s the joy of getting older, I have to wake up to go pee more often. *lol* Reminds me of when I was pregnant.

7. Personal space encroachers

I’m someone who likes my personal space. I’m very easy going and friendly, so I have a hard time enforcing my own personal boundaries…but jeepers, if I take a step back, that does not mean for you to take a step forward. It means that I’m uncomfortable with how close you are.

8. Strong smelly perfume

I like pretty scents, don’t get me wrong; but, like many others, I have a sensitivity to strong smells, and I’m not the only one. There are some that actually take your breath away, not in a good way, and can trigger an asthma attack.

9. Ignorance over mental health

It’s really surprising that people can still be ignorant these days, but apparently, it’s still possible. Some still want to believe it’s all made up or just all in your head. They say things like, why do you do that to yourself? Can’t you just be happy, or why don’t you just stop? Things are rarely so simple. Mental illness is complicated and diverse.

10. Dropped calls

Sometimes you have to wait on hold for a while during a customer support call. Eventually, you get lucky enough to get through to someone, and then the call drops; or, you finally get through the entire automated message, only to have the call drop Now, you have to call back again and go through the same crap again. *Ugh*

What about you? What are your pet peeves? Share them in the comments below. And if you haven’t already, I hope you’ll subscribe to my blog. 🙂

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