I debated writing about this, but then I figured I would be cheating myself and other struggling writers if I didn't. A few nights ago, I was writing a couple more pages of my Roller Derby script. It's a one woman show but with multiple characters and I was going over a bit of dialogue between my main character and her mother. At one point, my main character said something and the mother's response was blatantly, (how shall I put this? *stage whisper*) homophobic.

I froze.

Wait a minute, did I just type that? What the hell?

I paced around the bathroom, seriously bothered, wondering what was wrong with me. That came from me? How could I be so terrible? And it's a mother character - does this mean people will now think I'm talking about my mother?

And then it hit me:

Think of any movie or play you've ever watched or a story you've read where the character does something "bad". Do you ever stop and go "Oh my God, that writer is a terrible person for coming up with something like that! I'm going to stop watching/reading right now." No. You go "Yeah, I know someone like that," or "What an interesting and dynamic story." Or you know, something like that.

The weird thing is, once I realized I wasn't writing fluff that had no specific point of view or that didn't take any kind of stand, my writer's block magically disappeared and I finally figured out the ending of my show.

Whoa. The lesson I learned? Take a risk with your writing. Just let what comes out, come out and see where it takes you. Besides, this is still only a first draft.

Now I just need to worry about this middle part...