Gemotions

Daniel stared at the website, the damning side-by-side comparisons of his unpublished manuscript and the bestselling novel by Julian Blackwood. Blackwood, the literary icon he had always idolized. The accusations were irrefutable.

He felt a physical ache, a tightness in his chest as he re-read the passages, the familiar rhythm of his own words twisted and repackaged. But beneath the anger, a different feeling bloomed.

Daniel thought about the long hours, the writer's block, the relentless self-doubt. The way the muse could suddenly abandon you. Julian Blackwood must have been at breaking point to copy from the original work of another.

He shut his laptop. He knew the agony of creating something only to see it rejected. He knew the loneliness of the blank page. He understood the feeling of wanting to be seen, to be heard, more than anything.