R.H. Walker, Author

Hello, little update blog for proof of life.

I got about halfway through the draft of my short story The Belle of Red River Crossing in October before I was hit with a pretty bad bout of writer’s block. I have strategies for conquering writer’s block, but these failed pretty systematically all through the last two weeks of October.

The first big problem is that I was not 100% sure on the outline going into it. The clearer I have an outline in my mind the faster I can write; all I need to do at that point is paint the mental picture with words, I don’t have to think of what comes next as well.

This is what made the next point harder: I took a trip to Oklahoma City in October!

(Some photos :D)

I struggle to write when I travel. I always promise myself I’ll make time for it, but because I treat writing like my second job, my desire to write goes out the window the second I walk into the hotel room. What is a vacation if I can’t crank the AC, snuggle into an enormous king bed, then watch reruns of Friends on Nick at Nite?

But I still felt guilty that I hadn’t completed the story yet, and my poor little brain only made things worse when we hit the week between my return home and the release date of Dragon Age: The Veilguard (my most anticipated game of this year). I tried to pressure myself into finishing before DATV came out, which backfired stupendously, and only resulted in me spending three nights in a row at the tail end of the library self-service hours, trying not to nod off as I stared blankly at Scrivener.

Needless to say, the draft is not done.

I really believe in the power of the subconscious when it comes to things like this, so I’m going to let it do its magic. Red River Crossing is going into the backmost file in the deepest, darkest recesses of my mind, and I’ll let it cook in the brain soup for a while. Then, when I come back to this in a couple of months, I hope I’ll be able to see the shape of this story with clearer eyes, and give it the ending it deserves.

In the meantime, I’m back to working on Solace Curse Holdings! I am hopeful that I can complete a lion’s share of the remaining draft, if not the entire draft, by the end of the year.

If you’re reading this, thanks for making it to the end of the post. As a treat, I offer you this: the first page of the script for Solace Curse Holdings! (At least, the current draft). I’m so excited about this project, and can’t wait for you to meet these lovely characters 😀