Saving Words

I'm never at a loss for words. I can easily say in a hundred words what someone else can say in ten. Like Seinfeld, I can talk a lot about nothing.

But sometimes I find myself at a loss for meaningful words. My husband asked me what it felt like when I get a particular vertebrae that gives me a lot of trouble adjusted, and all I could come up with was, "Good." I'm pretty sure that if I put myself into a character who was asked the same question, I could describe the touch of the hands; the pressure, gentle at first, then increasing; the hard push; the twist of the hands; the loud craack!; the instant of pain, followed by warmth and tingling; then the relief.

I hear about someone who's going through a tough time, and I say, "Poor thing" or "Bless her heart," when the heroine in my current book would say, "Oh, that poor darlin'. That just breaks my heart. I can't imagine where she'll find the strength to get through this, but I'll pray that she does, and you tell her, if there's anything I can do for her, just let me know." While my heroine in my other current book would say, "Geez, that sucks. She must have really pissed off the universe. If I were her, I'd have a couple drinks, put on my boots and start kicking ass. And there wouldn't be any taking of names."

It's not that I don't feel/know/understand things. I just put all those feelings/knowledge/understanding into books instead. In real life, "good" is good enough for me.