What to Discuss?

          When in doubt, go meta.  Write about the process of writing.  Write about your process.  Here's mine.

          I have an idea I find either insightful or clever.  Occasionally, something will strike that feels deeply emotional, but I do tend to avoid those currently, as my emotional state is fairly well shattered for the moment.  Next I give the idea a title, map out the structure (I find it's most difficult and most enjoyable to map it out mentally, but I take no issue with breaking out my pen and sketching by hand if the concept is real complex).  Then I sit down, stare at the screen for awhile, fingers poised, and, when I feel the moment, dive in head-first and head-long and I don't stop until the flow itself stops.  Rinse and repeat until I reach the conclusion.  Stop.  Take a moment to breath, to detach and withdraw.  Give the whole thing a cursory scan, then finally compose the conclusion.  Simple, no?

          I attended a cousin's wedding last weekend and got jackknifed on tequila and Irish whiskey.  I let slip to the man who is my best friend that I was writing this here blog.  He asked me what I had to blog about.  I replied, of course, that I have nothing to blog about, as anyone who reads this will be able to attest.  Since that night, though... no ideas.  I have at least four during a slow week.  It's not that I mistook his meaning.  I got the joke.  It was funny.  That doesn't seem to matter, however.  I think that it's true what comedy points out about that old "adage" or whatever it is about how everyone has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other... that people actually only have two devils, and they use a couple of different tricks to cause you to slip. (Simpson's, Family Guy, South Park... they've all done versions of this joke.  The film, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back has probably my favorite)  One devil whispers that you shouldn't do.  The other devil says that you can't.  It's the second one that's responsible for writer's block.  If you"re suffering from it, I recommend indulging in your favorite vice, whether that's sex, drugs, or prayer, and reminding yourself -- after you've finished the indulgence -- that what you write needs to be neither good nor meaningful.  There are a lot of reasons and then so many more for putting down the pen.  Fear is not one of them.

          So, this may seem a little disjointed, but a paragraph should be composed of no fewer than two sentences to technically qualify as a paragraph.  I'll just say that the voices in your head can be a lot of fun to hang out with, but they're not your friends... you have no friends.


Ha!