Writer’s Block?

First of all… my apologies for not getting today’s column posted sooner. The title ought to be enough explanation.

I was just telling Pete Vere a week or so ago that I am amazed at how topics for my column seem to present themselves. Most times I get an idea for a column and, after giving some thought to the topic, I am able to produce a reasonably coherent column.

There are other times when I’ve had an idea but, at the last minute, another pops into my head which turns out to be even better than the first, so I go with it.

Then there are times like today when, despite considering a number of ideas, none have really gelled. I have contemplated two or three topics over the past couple of days, but none have really blossomed into column-length material. However this has happened before, and after a few days — or a few weeks — I may be able to make a column of those topics.

In the Cat Who… series of novels by Lillian Jackson Braun, the central character James Macintosh Qwilleran — known as "Qwill" — is a journalist who inherits billions and moves to a small town in northern Minnesota. When he and his cats are not solving mysteries, he writes a twice-weekly column for the local newspaper, the Moose County Something.

Although this is a fictional character, I do find some inspiration in his frequently-stated explanation that, thanks to an insistent and encouraging teacher, he learned to be able to write a thousand words on any topic.

I don’t profess to be as good as either the fictional Qwill or his creator, but when I find a topic that catches my interest I can, usually, write a thousand words or so on it with relative ease.

Some people have asked me where I get my ideas for the column.

Sometimes an idea will present itself during discussions in one of the other forums here. Someone will post a comment that piques my creative interest and I am able to produce an interesting (I hope) column on that topic.

Likewise, in chatting — online or face-to-face — with friends and others, a topic will come up that I want to further explore here in this column.

There are times when I am inspired by something in the media — a disaster or tragedy, an inspirational story, a technological development, a book or movie release, etc.

And as I have already mentioned, there are times when an idea just pops into my head.

I don’t know what other writers do to counter this writer’s block. There’s no shortage of advice on the subject on the Internet, although these seem to address either students who have to write an assignment, or novelists who find themselves at an impasse. Still, I do see where some of the contributing factors might be applicable in my case.

Probably highest on the list is that I am giving a great deal of thought to moving to Thunder Bay at the end of the month. This ought to be an exciting time in my life, and if I were twenty-something and leaving home for the first time, it might be. But I’m forty-something — closer to fifty — and own my own home here.

As well, apartment hunting on the Internet is particularly frustrating. Only some of the listings have pictures, and many of those have only pictures of the outside of the building. I also have absolutely no knowledge of the city, so I don’t know which areas are desirable and which are less so.

Finally, I am quite used to living alone, in my own home. It’s quiet here, usually. The odd time a neighbour will have a bit of a party. This especially happens when the neighbours are away and leave their late-teen, early-twenties kids home alone, but really it is quite rare, and such occurrences have never been the wild, call-the-cops type of blowouts you sometimes read about.

So I’m used to things being quiet, especially at night.

Rental accommodation geared toward students, however, has the potential for being anything but quiet.

I am looking more for a room in a house, preferably of a couple my own age or older who insist upon quiet, especially at night, or a basement or second-floor apartment. The problem is, however, I have to maintain two residences. I need a place to stay for ten weeks while I’m in Thunder Bay, then I come back to the Sault in November for practice teaching. Then in January I go back to Thunder Bay, and then return to the Sault in March.

As a result, my budget for housing in Thunder Bay has me looking at, shall we say, more "affordable" options. No doubt if I were willing to spend $600 or more I could find a lovely, quiet apartment there.

This accommodation thing has been increasingly on my mind. It is something I likely should have taken care of much earlier, although listings for the fall have only lately been appearing on the website.

But I digress.

So, my mind has been somewhat preoccupied this week.

As well, I have been outdoors as much as possible. When I’m not working — which is only six hours over two days each week — I can often be found in the back yard reading. This past week I’ve been out on my bike for a couple of longer (3 or 4 hour) rides.

I haven’t been out on the bike as often this summer as in past years, although I can’t really say why.

In fact, it was while I was riding yesterday that I came up with a few potential column ideas. Let’s face it, aside from keeping a sharp eye on motorists, there’s not a whole lot to occupy one’s mind while bike riding. I find the lack of distraction — other than traffic — helps me to think.

So, that’s why today’s column was late. I’m going to give some thought to those topics which came up during my bike ride Friday, and see if I can’t pull something together for Wednesday’s column.

After all, a rambling discussion of the difficulty I had coming up with a column topic is something that I can likely only get away with once.

On the other hand, I managed to pull-off a thousand words discussing this.

Thanks for your patience.