Every beginning is always a sequel..........

A Writer's Dilemma

I know that the first paragraph of an article or story is supposed to be powerful, compelling and attention-grabbing. This article is an exception; this paragraph won't say much. Nevertheless, I beg your indulgence. Please read on as there is a point I wish to express. I'll get started on it soon; I won't ramble on much  longer, I promise, but bear with me just one more moment......

Whew - I finished the dreaded first paragraph. Now I can get down to business!

As someone who has dabbled in the writing of prose and poetry for as long as I can remember ( “writer-in-training”) I have discovered that actual ideas for my stories and poems are thankfully not too difficult to come by and I really enjoy the mental process of developing an idea into material for said story or poem. Once I have written the first paragraph/verse, the rest usually flows quite easily. But actually getting started on writing that first paragraph is where my mind meets the dreaded ‘writer’s block’.

I date and title a page in my writing journal and then suddenly I find a million other pressing tasks that simply can’t wait for my attention. During the following hours (sometimes days) I’ll open up the journal to the page I allotted for my story and consider starting to write, but more often than not, the words elude me, although the thoughts of what I want to write are constantly churning in my head. To my relief, the phone might ring, or the laundry cycle finishes, or I ‘need’ to finish the crossword puzzle in the daily newspaper, or finish the last chapter of the book I am currently reading or/or/or.....excuses galore, until I finally force myself to sit down, focus and write, particularly now that I have given myself a daily entry deadline to meet for this blog. Strangely, once I begin writing, all is well - I’m lost in my own private world and nothing else exists until I’ve finished the last sentence.

In reality, we can all be writers if we so choose, as we all have our own story to tell. At birth we arrive with a fresh, blank ‘piece of paper’ and the mandate to write on it whatever we wish. We, as children, can scribble and cover it with colorful doodles, we can turn it into a paper plane and shoot it around in the breeze. or we can, as we grow, use it to record the story of a life full of meaning and substance, detailing the paths, full of twists and turns, that we have taken on our life journey. However, I have found that nothing is more difficult than penning the beginning of one of the new chapters in my ‘book’ even though I have plenty of ideas that I would like to include - I have developed and finely tuned these ideas in my mind and they are all there just waiting to be put on paper. But I constantly need to remind myself that the writing will get easier after the first paragraph - I have to take the plunge and the words will follow.  Simply put, I just need to decide on the next chapter and start transferring the footprints of my journey onto the written page.

See - I finished - and it wasn't that hard at all. Hopefully, next time, I'll take this lesson to heart.