The cursor was mocking me. It kept flashing on that blank page, daring me to come up with an idea. Most of this blog is actually written long-hand in my spare moments away from the computer – waiting for friends, in the grocery store when inspiration strikes, in line pretty much anywhere. Why I decided to write this post directly into WordPress escapes me. But then, even picking up paper and pen didn’t help. I was at a loss.
This doesn’t normally happen to me. First off, those that know me in real life know that I am seldom at a loss for words. Also, thanks to my diligence in March when I wrote a post a day as my way of taking part in NaNoWriMo (a few months later than everyone else), I have had much of the stress of keeping up with a twice a week blog taken from my shoulders. I still have tons of ideas and write a post a week or so, but when I looked at my calendar for today, I noticed it was empty. Because of my desire to vary the topics discussed, none of my pre-written posts would work.
I looked through my blog idea folder and was completely uninspired.
So I told DH2U about my difficulty, and he came up with some highly creative topics:
- Superhero costumes you can knit. With the follow up post of,
- Whether you should join your Neighborhood Watch wearing same.
- Round the world trip seeking out Chow Chow variants. (This one makes a lot more sense if you knew that I spent the morning canning five pints of the fabulous relish!)
(See why I love this man?!?!?!)
It’s amazing how much laughing can change your mindset from desperation to determination.
Like with my awesome Halloween costume idea, I had to free my mind for an idea to come. The laughing interlude allowed me to remember back to a Seth Godin blog post from earlier this year with an awesome title, “Dancing on the Edge of Finished“. That title set me down a stream of consciousness path that led me to realize how much I love starting new projects. Unfortunately, starting is so much more fun than drudging through the “do the work” part.
Fortunately for me, though, I also have a love of crossing things off my list. Whether it is because I finished it or because I finally decided I really don’t want it, it is as if a weight is lifted from me. No longer do I need to waste energy thinking about it. Finishing things is liberating… like having this post done and being relatively happy with it!
What do you do when you have writer’s block? or Do you prefer to start or complete projects? Is there such a thing as a middle of the project person? If so, how would I meet one? We would be a perfect combo!
Grown Up, Now What? 
Ahhhh, the sagging middle is legendary for writers. It’s when we lose interest in a book. I’m a great starter…which means I have too many UFO’s around the house (unfinished objects). And I don’t know why because finishing feels so good. Finishing my degree. Finishing a quilt. Finishing a dessert ( well I never seem to have the problem with desserts). And I like your point of finishing a list of to-do’s even if sometimes it’s because we cross something off a list because we’ve determined it’s no longer important to us. That’s just as valid and wiser than being a slave to the list.
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“The sagging middle” – I’d never heard of that expression, and it is such an accurate description!
I have decided to turn this habit into a positive: My jumping in tendency is great at exposing me to lots of different activities/skills/knowledge. The fact that I don’t always follow through is an internal filtering system that listens to my inner voice and helps me prioritize how to spend my time.
Doesn’t that sound much nicer?
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