The Irony of Writing by Tandy Balson

The irony was not lost on me.  I had been putting off writing this month’s blog post because I couldn’t think of anything to say.  Our prompt is to write about a time we were stripped bare and not able to write.  My difficulty was coming up with a specific time this has happened to me.  My subconscious mind shouted, “How about right now?”

My deadline was in mere hours and I needed to focus.  No ideas were coming but I had fifteen minutes before I needed to leave for an appointment so knew I should at least get a thought or two down on paper. Instead, my gift of procrastination took over. I set up the ironing board and worked on making my husband’s shirts wrinkle-free! I know I’m in avoidance when I choose ironing over writing!

As I ironed, I remembered a quote I’d seen on a t-shirt.  It said:  Irony – the opposite of wrinkly. I’d been looking for a place to use this quote and realized I’d just found it. My mind was wrinkly and thoughts were getting caught in those deep crevices.  If I could smooth out my thoughts I knew the words would come.  Perhaps the irony was just what was needed.

My writing mainly consists of short inspirational pieces that are posted online twice a week. Inspiration for these comes from events in my life or conversations I overhear. As an observer of life, there is usually plenty of material. In the times of creative abundance, I write as much as possible and save the extra stories in a file marked “Draft” on the computer.  This file is like an insurance policy. I know there will be occasions when I am not productive. For one reason or another, I am unable to string words together into a cohesive story.

Knowing I have backup material relieves the pressure of having to come up with a new idea. Sometimes I use one of these stories. Other times just looking through the titles springboards me into a new thought to write about.  I also have a file of pictures I’ve taken.  More than once I have looked through the pictures and been inspired to write about one of them.

These solutions are good when I can choose my topic.  Writing to theme is always more of a challenge for me.  Maybe what I did today works best.  First I engaged in a mindless activity and let my subconscious come up with an idea. Next, I sat at the computer and invited my subconscious to connect with my fingers.  Before I knew it, words had formed.  In order to write, I had to free myself of the need to write.  That plays directly into my sense of irony!