Midnight Writing
This is one of those days about which I
previously wrote,
and that eventually brought on my recent hiatus
from this column: long hours working, followed by
an evening spent on a freelance writing assignment,
culminated by a midnight attempt to write something
for the daily column. It's not so much that fatigue
or sleepiness make writing difficult; rather, they
make inspiration—the jump-start to get me
going—hard to come by. It's times like these
when I question the sanity of pledging to write an
article every single day.
But I do enjoy writing, whether it's done
poolside with a notepad in one hand and a cold beer
in the other or at the end of a burnt-out day, eyes
bloodshot from staring at a computer screen too
long. It's not the pleasure of, say, shooting pool
with friends or watching a movie. It's the process
that I love—and hate. An old writer friend
once put it this way: "Contrary to typical
childbirth, this sort of thing causes much pain in
the beginning and ends in orgasm." Much of the
writing process is frustrating, difficult, tedious.
But the sense of achievement when a project gets
finished gratifies like almost nothing else.
For now, however, the gratification will have to
be small, as will be your interest level in this
short, banal article composed too late at the end
of a long day. If nothing else, maybe it'll give
you a glimpse into the workings of a writer's
mind.
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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