Some tease that writer’s block occurs when the voices in your head stop talking to you. I believe the opposite. It is when all of the voices talk at a roar and your mind cannot pull the single voice of musing to the front. My mind tends to relate scenes like movie reels. I get intense snippets of the story that make me want to jot it all down. But the voices argue over what was said, when the event occurs, what the motivation was, how the characters reacted, would it fit with the plot?, and it drowns out the scene. I’ve been trying to write this novel for over twenty years. I’ve written up to 800 pages and then scratched the whole thing. I have restarted the exposition four times. My characters are no longer as they were. The voices still block me some days, but I can say without a doubt… it is a beautiful curse of blood…and stones.
July 2026- I need a hero! Not a stalker….
Okay, don’t mis-hear me on this. My favorite movie is Beauty and the Beast. I love most retellings (especially with Belle as the huntress), but that doesn’t mean it’s a role model for true love. I mean really, what woman doesn’t want a library the size of a college and dishes that wash themselves? We all know that was the REAL takeaway. But now a days, most stories- Romantasy- have this ideology that we love the idea of enemies to lovers in the most extreme way.
Now I’m not saying we don’t. I have read many a slow burn/ will burn the world down for you- story. They are attractive. But I think where we get off track is the toxicity of that attraction. Now, stay with me, because I know I have just ticked you off three ways to Sunday. Okay, so I teach Sunday School and my middle-school aged girls want to read my writing and I realized…. there isn’t much out there today that I would recommend to those girl’s parents for them to read. Not even some of the books I’ve read. Here’s why…well other than the extra spicy scenes… we don’t want our little girls to think that men mentally, physically, or emotionally abusing them is ok. We don’t want our little girls to think that toxic masculinity is okay. And on the opposite side, we don’t want our little boys thinking that girls want to be mistreated like characters in a story- because let’s face it- if her daddy or best friend finds out- our little boy is in TROUBLE.
So here’s my proposal. Why not create our stories with the love of God as a model? I know, you’re immediately going- ugh boring. You’re not hearing me. God is jealous for his people. He flooded all of creation but kept His favored alive. He burned cities and sent plagues and killed the first born for His people. He let His only son DIE for his people. Sound familiar? But, He also cherishes His people. He encourages His people. He builds His people up. He establishes a foundation of goodness in His people. So let’s have love stories like that. Write a story where your daughters can say- “I want a man like…” and your sons can say “….. is the kind of woman I want”. Write heroes… not stalkers.
Author Jessica Parks 