My wife will be the first to tell you she’s not a writer. Or at least she thinks she’s not; I suspect there’s a lot more talent hidden below the surface than she gives herself credit for.

This past weekend was a prime example; instead of walking around a store looking at iPhone accessories, we went to a quite restaurant on our date night and I confided in her the struggles I was having regaining traction on my novel.

She offered several sharp-minded suggestions that hadn’t occurred to me, and that will allow me to get to my novel’s main point of interest a lot sooner, while allowing me to get back to “writing fresh” in first-draft mode, which is definitely a roadblock for me these last weeks.

When in doubt, folks… talk to your spouse! It might be the best writer’s block cure of all!

When building a character, giving each character a genuine flaw or two makes them more believable and sympathetic. Some flaws are overused, such as being an alcoholic or a smoker; others are under-explored. While drug addiction is close to being overused, there is a lot of untapped potential in exploring such a flaw with more specificity than most writers have done.

One of the best examples of exploring this theme can be found on television with the character of Dr. Gregory House on House, MD. As a character addicted to prescription drugs – mainly vicodin – his specific addiction adds depth and interest to his character.

Another side-theme that hasn’t been explored with enough depth is a character who has been through drug rehab. Not many characters have been through this, and those who have are usually little more than 12-Step cliches. This is an area ripe for exploration by talented writers.

I have been in or traveled through Dallas, TX, three times now and have not yet experienced a stay in any Dallas Texas hotels. This is more by circumstance than design. Once I spent a few hours there, including some time at the Sixth Floor Museum, but kept on traveling. Another time I only drove through on the way to other places. And the third time, I was planning on staying overnight, but it didn’t work out and I ended up deadheading it back to Minnesota the same night I went down.

It’s too bad because without a stay like that, it’s kind of hard to capture the real flavor of a place. I’d love to have more Dallas exposure so that when the time comes, I could write of the area convincingly. But it hasn’t happened yet.

Oh well.

One of the dilemmas I’m facing right now is where to invest what little writing time I do have. I’ve been searching for an agent and I have a book I’m really passionate about. I believe it could become the launching point of a series of really fun and funny supernatural mysteries.

But no agent’s bit yet, and yet some post ideas they are looking for someone to write a novel on. Almost like an invitation. Of course, their ideas always have New York or LA as their setting, which doesn’t thrill me as a writer who’d prefer to write about his own region of the country.

I mean, I’d like to do my lighthearted supernatural mysteries about a pizza delivery boy and his ghost sidekick set in NW Wisconsin. But if I could get in print writing about the 500th New York police detective, well… it comes down to, is it better to get in print based off some agent’s “can’t miss” concept, or is it better to write my own ideas and wait out the submission process until I find an agent who actually “gets” the appeal of my novels?

It’s an eternal struggle, for every writer. But novels aren’t exactly like faucets; you can’t turn them on and off easily. They either flow or they don’t.

I’ve been frustrated by the lack of time I’ve had to get my writing done lately. It’s not like I’m taking an appetite suppressant or anything… I’m just eager to get back to my novel, but I have no time to do so, it seems.

Of course, I am quite committed to several things, but I’m sometimes disappointed in myself that when crunch-time comes due, my creative writing endeavors are what suffers most. It’s just not fun when things go like that.