The Cowtown Chronicles

Instructions: “Five Ingredients”

Write something–anything–that includes the following five words/ phrases:

~urged

~When the servant entered with the soup

~show him the way

~zeal

~dead flies

Few things compare to the zeal with which a budding young writer likes to talk about his new passion. He’ll regale you with stories of how he’s reading the latest blogs about creative habits and getting things done — hoping they’ll show him the way to productivity and success.

He’ll start stupid mystery novels with lines like “When the servant entered with the soup” — hoping that a story will follow, or that just the act of beginning will propel him down the road. He’ll feel urged to take writing workshops, and he’ll probably start a blog (or knock the dead flies off his old one) where he shares his daily outputs and creative bursts.

Then he’ll realize that like any other job, writing is damn hard work. He’ll truly understand the quote he heard once: “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than the average person.” He’ll experience all the same struggles that he’s heard the masters dealt with, mostly the feeling of inadequacy and self-doubt.

In the end, something may come of it, or nothing may come of it, but hopefully he at least gives it a go.