CONVERSATION TWO

 You: How do you escape writer's block?

Me: By writing.

You: But what do you write? You can't just write anything.

Me: Yes, you can. If you have an imagination and search deep within yourself for inspiration, you can rediscover the path to self-expression.

You: Is that your strategy with these stark conversations?

Me: Exactly. You have to prime the pump. The mere act of typing words on to a blank screen has a magical quality of its own. You can't keep your body in shape in you don't exercise. You won't produce a poem or a story or a novel if your fingers don't start dancing across the keyboard.

You: But how do you get them to dance?

Me: What makes you want to dance?

You: Music.

Me: Exactly. I go to YouTube, select Tom Jobim's greatest hits and my fingers find their rhythm and next thing I know I have a product.

You: But is it a project worth reading?

Me: Why do we exercise? We exercise for ourselves. The same is true with writing. I write with an audience in mind, but I write for myself. I know if I'm pleased, somebody else will inevitably be pleased with my snippet of nonsense. Ultimately, the wonderful experience of creating something out of nothing never grows old. It also helps if writing is such a part of your being that life has no meaning without it. I feel sorry for people that aren't imbued with an artistic spirit. A musician composes a three-minute tune and that song can be the anthem for the rest of his existence.

You: But I can't sing.

Me: Then start painting.