Professional noodge.

I have a friend who's been talking about writing something for submission to a new edition of an esteemed book. She's in the editorial game, same as I am, but her work doesn't call on her to do a lot of writing. When she does, she's terrific. But this project has her stumped. 

She hasn't come out and said it. She's said she's had some trouble getting started. This has been going on for months, however, and the submissions are due before Halloween. 

The deadline is nigh! I texted. It's nigher than that! It's nigh nighty-nigh! Today only!

I may not be a big success in the writing biz, but I could be a good sponsor. Not in the financial sense; more in the 12-Step program sense. Except instead of leading someone through the Steps to bring him to a better life, I'd be a professional noodge, using every trick I know to get words on the page. 

In that sense, I'm like a walking issue of Writer's Digest. I'm sure I could give you Six Ways to Approach an Outline or Twelve Ways to Break Writer's Block or Eight Ways to Meet (or Beat) Your Deadline. Oh, I'm jammed full of good advice about writing -- but not necessarily writing well. I leave that up to you, the readers, to decide. When it comes to the mechanics of writing, the getting going and getting finished, I can help. 

I really hope my friend gets those words flowing, whether it's through my help or not. She's among the smartest people I know, and has a lot to offer as a writer. But if she can't get those words out of her head and onto the page, no one will be able to read them.