As the year comes to an end and I think about all the stories that are still in my head, I was inspired to write this song. Rena Shannon, a fellow member of the Catholic Writers Guild, and I were talking about having too many characters telling us their stories.
Sung to “Sounds of Silence.”
Hello decision lock, my friend
I must debate with you again
Because the plot points softly creeping
Filled my mind while I was sleeping
And the visions that were planted in my brain
Still remain
And they demand a word count
Through varied plots, I walked alone
Characters veer off on their own
‘Neath the halo of my missing theme
I strive to learn what does it mean?
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a new insight
My villain’s right
And he demands more word count
And in the naked light, I saw
Ten thousand MCs, maybe more
Characters talk without speaking
So many stories no one’s reading
Outlines being done but there’s just never enough time
I feel like slime
Because I’ve missed my word count
“How,” I said, “I do not know.
Your demands like cancers grow”
Write our words that we might teach you
Find more readers so they might see, too
But there’s only 24 hours in a day
Nor enough coffee
For me to make the word count
And my children want to play
And my job that gets me paid
So take a number and form a line
Deep in the recesses of my mind
But they all said, “The words on the authors are published by Amazon
So we’ll go on”
To make demands for word count