Didn’t see it coming!





 I don’t know about where you live, but where I live the potholes this time of year have been known to eat cars.

At least it felt like it that one time.

I hit a monster-sized pit on the right side of the road one time. I noticed in the glint in my headlights a hubcap careening off into a parking lot. I pulled over to see if I could find it. Walked around to the right side of the car.

I heard a loud “hissing” sound.

It wasn’t snake season, so I looked at my car. The pothole was so bad that it caused a flat tire. I limped my car to the closed tire store, parked it, and begged a ride home. It was ready for the nice repairmen in the morning.

I hit a pothole in my writing this week as well.

I hadn’t shown much of my latest work to my lovely wife. Seeing as I have a female protaganist, I asked her to read it with an eye for the female aspect, in case I wasn’t accurately writing the female mind (tall task, I know). She came back to me last week with a look on her face that said, “I’m sorry.”

She doesn’t like my main character.

She called her a “poop” actually. Didn’t see anything nice about her. I was a little shocked. Jenna is the woman I spend the most time with aside from my wife (writers are weird like that). I couldn’t see it. I read through chapters again, observing areas where I could change a few words. I really didn’t think of any major changes.

I guess I have a blind spot.

I have a couple of friends looking at it with a critical eye now, giving me suggestions on why Jenna is acting like such a meanie. It makes me realize that writing is an activity that can’t be totally isolated. Yes, I do most of the work with me and a keyboard. I still need other imput to help my blind side and avoid potholes. Hopefully I’ve got my story in with the right mechanic that can help diagnose any problems.

For my fellow writers out there – what are some of the potholes you’ve hit in your stories?