by Christine Mcdermott

Created on: July 23, 2009

She sat alone at her computer table just staring at the monitor, when she noticed her fingers tapping impatiently on each side of the keyboard. The TV was on. Clarinda thought how television usually was on, sometimes for hours, or all day. Glancing up, she realized that TV just supplied background noise in her daily life.

The only light in the computer room came from the flicker of a single candle. Clarinda hoped it would help clear her head. Frustration setting in, and not sure what to write, she ached inside because she needed to so badly. Her fingers started their incorrigible tapping again as she stared once more at the monitor.

Clarinda thought to herself how she had to find a way to free the stories from her head. From start to finish, little details included, stories were always swimming around in her head. She remembered them from life, dreams, experiences and memories. Everything around her could be a story.

She thought about the night she jumped up at 3 a.m. and typed out a whole screenplay, all the while wishing she knew what she was doing. Clarinda chuckled as she remembered how the tears flowed down her cheeks as she typed as fast as her fingers would move. She couldn't forget any part of the story. It had such a good ending.

All her life she wanted to be a writer. Screenplays, historical novels, short stories, biographies, fiction, non-fiction, all were her choices to write about. At one time, she contemplated becoming a technical writer, just to be able to put words together. Just to be able to write.

Writing came easy to Clarinda, but so did the fear and doubt that what she was writing had any merit. More often than not, it did not concern her, but every once in awhile, like now, it was on her mind. Most of the time she was able to subdue that kind of thinking, but it was always in the back of her mind. Then she found a place online where she could write as much as she wanted, submit it and see how it ranked with others writing similarly. It gave Clarinda a liberated feeling, so she started writing more often. Tonight, she hoped, would be no exception.

The twinkle of the candle flame caught her attention and her thoughts wandered back through stories in her mind. This time she realized her incessant tapping was music to her ears and set her mind free. She started typing and felt better

Learn more about this author, Christine Mcdermott.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.