Is it OK to write when you have nothing to say?
Tuesday, August 22, 2023 at 10:52AM
I’ve always thought of writer’s block as a form of mental hypochondria. I’ve long had the ability to write something. The challenge has always been to determine whether that “something” was worth writing about. This has become more challenging since I’ve retired.
I’ve had a long and happy professional sideline of writing for professional publication. Over the course of my 40+ year career I wrote 149 articles, 246 columns, 7 books (plus 2 second editions), a children’s short story, a few published letters to newspaper editors, and over 3000 blog posts. (See links to most of these off my website https://sites.google.com/view/dougjohnsonweb/.)
Finding a topic for a column or article was never difficult because my job as school technology director and library supervisor rapidly evolved as technology kept sticking its snout between the pickets of established practice in schools. A new device, application, policy, or measurement needed to be considered every month, it seemed. What should teachers know and be able to do with computers on their desks? What kind of restrictions should be placed on student uses of technology? What is the role of e-books in school library collections? What is the role of the school librarian in the implementation of new technologies in schools? Each new question was fodder for a column or blog post; enough columns and posts could be organized into a book. I may well have bored others, but I rarely bored myself.
Changes as a result of technology came so fast and furiously that academic research and the formulation of best practices based on research could not keep up. We were all flying by the seat of our pants. My writings described action-based research and, well, maybe just making stuff up as we went along.
Now over four years into retirement, my circumstances have changed. The problems and challenges I face today are personal rather than professional. I find myself in a huge demographic cohort - the aging. And AARP seems to know I need solutions to problems I didn't even know I had! Those writing about best financial practices, good health information, and practical travel advice are so numerous and diverse, I usually find there is little for me to add to discussions around these topics.
So where does that leave a writer who enjoys not just writing, but writing for a purpose? Perhaps the purpose has to change…
In “Why I Write for Publication” (2001), I concluded with one of favorite quotes from Fredrick Manfred:
…Open up and let go.
Even if it’s only blowing. But blast.
And I say this loving my God.
Because we are all he has at last.
So what about it, boy?
Is your work going well?
Are you still lighting lamps
Against darkness and hell?
In writing to help improve education, I did feel I was in some small way “lighting lamps against darkness and hell.” Today, that darkness is more internal than external. I write because it gives me something to do. I write because it helps me clarify my own thinking on difficult topics.
At my age, I also use my writing as sort of a mental well-being check. Yes, the doctor at my annual physical asks me to remember three words and draw a clock that tells a certain time. I tend to blow off occasional memory lapses (what’s the name of the actor who played…,) having had such slips for many years and knowing that most of my friends have brain farts as well. But writing tests another level of mental ability, perhaps something a little deeper. At least I hope so.
Perhaps I already given the best rationale for writing when I tried to figure out why I blogged for so many years:
“As it's turned out, I've continued to write simply because it has been so dang much fun. I amuse myself on a fairly regular basis, and if when doing so I amuse you as well, so much the better. I love the comments - both contrary and supportive. And I enjoy the simple freedom of having no editor other than one's own conscience.” (Why the Blue Skunk Blog?)
And it gets tedious playing solitaire all day, every day.
Reader Comments (6)
Stay the course!
I followed you back in the day for your Ed Tech experiences and insights, and continue to enjoy reading your travel journals and occasional weighing in on other topics.
While I've given up my own semi-professional blogging (also ed tech related) as my retirement age approaches, I continue to write in other contexts, primarily a private, personal blog shared with close friends. Like you, I enjoy the creative outlet of writing, and to some extent, it almost doesn't matter if people are actually reading (although I'm always gratified when they do).
Stay the course! :)
Thanks, Richard. I really appreciate the comment. I suspect there are more of us writing (and wondering why at times) than we think.
You stay the course as well,
Doug
Hi, Doug. I appreciate your situation. When I first started blogging, I couldn't write fast enough to get my ideas and reflections down. Now, I realize I was caught up in all the excitement of Web 2.0, all the amazing tools, writing about stuff as I learned it. Now, I can say that I'm still learning, but it's a slow slog through the swamp. The swamp sucks at every new effort to move through a morass of knowledge and information. It threatens to drown me with irrelevance. Do I write about edtech, religion, politics, Christian Nationalism? Am I a humor blogger like The Blue Skunk, or a travel chronicler sharing my journeys from kitchen to restaurant and back to my couch?
It's all uncertain. Now, I've found myself taking notes in those pretty notebooks you get on Etsy, as if by writing in them, my scribbled notes on other's masterpieces will invest those words with magic. The truth is, I don't know what effect doing this has, but I find myself reflecting more on yesterday. My interests now lie with philosophy, how to write better, and simply reflecting on what has made life better.
I wish I could muster the enthusiasm to say to the world, "This, THIS is what you should learn and know," but now I feel it an act of futility, a wasted effort, pebbles cast at eagles, not pearls tossed to swine. This devalueing of my own confidence and opinion is wisdom, I think, a realization that I know nothing, and the silence that beckons a more fitting space than a blog written to stir the hearts and minds of disinterested readers.
The problem is, the silence of that space is tight and confining, a chill too pervasive, and fire too hot.
So, I write to keep but one foot in the midst of the stream that swirls around my toes, and another buried deep. It's all for fun, learning and sharing, a way to remember one's reason for learning.
Miguel, my friend, you should become a poet. Your imagery and thoughtfulness would resonate with anyone with an ounce of humanity. Leave the tech stuff to a younger crowd and join we old farts who recognized that with age comes humility, and with humility comes wisdom.
On a practical note, I greatly enjoyed writing from the prompts offered by StoryWorth a year or so ago. Something your family might like as well. Check it out.
Hope you are coping with the weather down in Texas. Don't get a heatstroke on your way to the couch. 😀
Doug
Dear Doug,
I just read your article on writer’s block, and I found it very insightful and relatable. I have always admired your writing skills and your ability to find interesting topics to write about. You have been my mentor since 2017 when I entered the education sector as a technology manager, and I learned a lot from you.
I agree with you that writing is not only a professional activity, but also a personal one. Writing helps us to express ourselves, to clarify our thoughts, and to cope with our challenges. Writing can also be fun and rewarding, as you have shown in your blog posts and books.
I hope you continue to write and share your wisdom and experience with us. You are an inspiration to many people, including me. Thank you for your contribution to education and to writing.
Sincerely,
Harish
from The Republic of Singapore
Harish,
You made my day with your kind comment. It's so nice knowing one is being read and may have been helpful.
I love Singapore. I was invited there when they opened the "new" National Library in 2005 and found it a fascinating city.
All the very best,
Doug