Sometimes you can spend an entire morning staring blankly at a page, unable for force out even the most bare of syllables. Try as you might, you cannot find the will to write. Sometimes you feel like quitting, other times you do quit. Mostly though, you sit and stare. The blank page is hateful, cruel, and not a very nice thing. It needs to be filled with language to temper its evil. So how does one start when the universe contrives to stifle your creativity? Start with a word, on a particularly bad d that word may be bland an uninspiring, but it’s a start none the less and a word almost invariably leads to another word.
“The”
The what?
“The… butts.”
Really? This may have potential! What about these butts?
“The butts… smell?”
Of course! How could I have not realized! Go on, tell me more!
“The butts smell, so… I… cleaned them…”
Yes, yes, continue!
“The ashtray was filthy, I knew that my roommates were starting to get annoyed, and since I was the only smoker in the house it was my responsibility to take care of my ashy mess. I know this, I was also aware just how much more they would tolerate before their passive aggression would turn to outright hostility. I’m a good judge of character I must say. If I didn’t take care of this today, I might find myself looking for a new home tomorrow. Did I wan’t to find a new home?”
You see how one question leads to another, and all questions derive answers that invoke more questions, at least I assume this to be the case…
Naturally, a person probably wouldn’t choose house hunting over a clean ashtray… because even a new place would need to be cleaned on occasion.
But(t) you haven’t started smoking again have you?