Staring at my computer monitor on the last day of August 2009

I'm not sure why I'm staring at blankly at my computer screen this morning. I don't have a problem with writers' block or blog block because I completed two poems and an entry in another blog.

I've ate breakfast this morning and am on my third cup of coffee. I'm awake and aware of what's going on in the world around me. Perhaps that's my problem, there is so much going on that I'm having difficulty finding a subject to write about.

I have to finish my coffee and then I'll go out and get the Monday morning paper. Perhaps I can find an interesting story in the Las Vegas Review Journal. I'm going to have to make another entry today anyway, I haven't completed the word count goal in any of my blogs yet.

I need to make a blog entry, but I don’t know what to write

I need to make a blog entry, but I don’t know what to write. I'm not sure but I think I have blog block. All right, it's been a long day and I'm tired. Not only am I tired, but I have a stomach ulcer. Until recently, I didn't know what the problem was, so I talked to a friend and explained the symptoms and he said it was an ulcer. I talked to my doctor and she confirmed it.



I have figured out that foods don't set it off. Not eating breakfast causes it to act up, but my biggest problem is stress. Now I have to figure out what causes the stress and do something about it. I know what causes most of my stress. Part of the problem is financial, but that isn't all the problem. The financial issues I can do something about, I can contact the people we owe money and make payment arrangement.



The financial issues are only 25% of the problem. It's the other 75% that I'm not sure how to take care of. I'll figure it out though, I just have to calm down, take a deep breath and let go. I have found one thing that alleviates the ulcer and that is prayer. Another thing that alleviates it, is writing. Writing is therapeutic and it calms me. Therefore, I am going to have to make myself sit down and write when I get upset.



At least I solved the problem of what to write about in this blog entry. I wish all my problems were that easily solved. I'm not surprised that I have an ulcer, I'm a worrier and worriers have a tendency to have ulcers. I just have to learn to let go of the worry and put everything in God's hands. I also have to learn that breakfast is a meal I can't skip any more. Breakfast should be no problem for the next several weeks because I have a cupboard full of cereal. In addition, I have both canned and powdered milk so I don't have to worry about what to have for breakfast. If I get tired of cereal, then I can always eat apple sauce.

Setting Writing goals for 2009

As 2008 draws to an end I am reviewing my writing goals. I decided I set my word count goals for my blog entries too high. Therefore, I cut the word count down to about 200 words. I can write a 200-word entry with very few problems.

A word count goal should push a writer to go beyond his or her limits. However, lately the only thing it did was stress me out. The problem with stress is it causes blog block, which doesn't help the writing process because blog block leads to a full blown attack of writers' block. I know this from experience.

I set my blog entry word count to 227 words. I think this is a good compromise between what I know I can do and what I want to do. I still have problems coming up with subjects, themes and intriguing titles. I can come up with titles, but most of the ones I think of don't sound intriguing. All though, perhaps an intriguing title isn't as important as the content of an entry.

At this point, the ideas is not to becoming overly stressed and just relax with the writing. A little stress is all right and contributes to the writing process, but too much stress is devastating. There must be a comfortable medium between too much relaxation and too much stress especially when it comes to composing a blog entry. I am just going to have to fine the proper combination.

Fighting Blogger's Block

I am fighting blogger's block
one prompt at a time
I free write my response
to a randomly generated prompt.

I did an internet search yesterday for blog writing prompts and found several sites. However, one website caught my eye immediately because of its intriguing and creative name. That website is mindbump: Where Great Minds Collide, which has a random prompt generator. The prompts generated are submitted by other bloggers.

Mindpump's random prompt generator gives you a prompt, with the code so that the blogger can copy and past the prompt into the post. This is wonderful because you do not have to worry about typos or keys sticking if you typed the prompt. Once the prompt is in your post, then you respond to it. After writing your response, you link back to the site of the blogger who suggested the prompt.

You can respond to the prompt by writing a story, poem, or slice of life piece. The prompts are creative and cause you to think. They wake both your muse and your brain up. The prompts make good warm up exercises for those of us who are pressed for time and have to make the blog entry and writing warm-up a single post.

In addition, the prompts make good focused free writing exercise. Yes, I sometimes post focused free writes directly into my blog. I time the free write to ten minutes, when the time is up, I do a spell check to make sure my typos and creative spell is fixed; after the spell check, I post the entry.

One prompt at a time
I am fighting blogger's block
writing words and phrases
as they step into my mind.

Using Prompts to Battle Blog Block

Call it what you will a brain-fart, blog block, or my muse has taken a vacation. It does not matter what you call it, you cannot write anything when it occurs. You sit in front of the computer staring at the screen and nothing comes to mind. You get up, go into the kitchen, pour yourself a cup of coffee, stare out the kitchen window hoping the neighbor’s cat will walk across your yard, and do something interesting.

One way to battle blog block, besides waiting for the neighbor's cat to give you an idea, is to respond to a prompt. Prompts give you a starting point; they suggest themes and subjects that you can personalize. They wake your muse up or call her back from vacation. Prompts, like a strong cup of coffee in the morning, wakes you up and gets your creative juices flowing.

A blogger can find writing prompts on the Internet. Just type in the words "blog writing prompts" into the search window, click go, and your search engine will return several websites that post writing prompts. You can also subscribe to free newsletters or join prompt groups and receive daily or weekly writing prompts.

Once you have decided which prompt to use. At the top of your entry put where you found the prompt and the prompt itself. After that, you proceed to respond to the prompt by writing a poem, story or personal essay. After you have finished your response to the prompt, you type the key words into that window and then publish the post.

One more piece of information about responding to prompts. Under no circumstances, tell yourself you do not know what to write. Instead, just start writing.