Jack Kruse, Author

Spoiler Alert: This article does not pretend to include a therapy for dealing with writers’ block.

Writers’ block is a condition most writers deal with at some time in their career. I’m no exception.

Like many, if not most writers, I started writing for my own personal entertainment. I submitted a short story to a magazine at the tender age of 12.

During elementary and high schools, and into college, I wrote constantly. I entered writing contests and won second place awards. Those stories featured combat flying – an adventure that fascinated me.

After college I worked briefly while applying to graduate school. My college grades and lack of a sponsor prohibited that route. My draft number was seven so I elected to join the Navy to avoid the draft.

While in the Navy, and after I completed my obligation, I continued to write. My production filled an eight foot shelf of bound copies in typescript. (Yes, I used a typewriter.)

I wrote six science fiction stories and submitted them to three science fiction magazines. None were accepted. Since I was getting married in a month the decision was made to get a paying job. I continued to write after getting married.

When my parents sold their house and moved into an apartment, I went through my hoard of typescript choosing and saving stories for which I won awards, and stories I felt had merit. The rest I burned in the burning barrel in my parent’s backyard.

I took writers’ classes at the local university and went to writing retreats to hone my skills, but queries to publishers went unanswered. This is a story familiar to many writers today. The market seemed to me to have shrunk.

Back to the subject, I experienced writers’ block, but I’m obsessed with writing, so I never experienced an extended block. During those years I wrote two military historical novels and finally found an Indie Publisher who published those novels. I have no problems with ‘vanity presses’. None of my work would have seen the light of day if not for that option.

Now I’m my own marketer. I can’t say I sell a lot of books, but selling a book is always a thrill.  I’ll never make up the amount I paid for professional editors, but I felt adding some professionalism to my work was worth the price. Some people make a living with their writing, and I admire them. I continue writing and I may have a third novel published soon – fingers crossed.