Putting it Together – What to Write?

I have a half-dozen writing projects going on right now when you consider blogging, Fringe shows, Big Fun Radio Funtime, Vermin, and random other sketches I said I would write.

I’m overwhelmed and at the same time, I’m pleased to have my life filled with what I want to be doing.

Sometimes, though, I have the hardest time figuring out what to put on the page.  Take my comedy blogging, for instance.

Writing a comedy blog is, I think, very important for me.  I’m a comedy writer and that means I need to write comedy.  That makes sense.

Every week, though, I have the hardest time coming up with a topic for the comedy blog.  I end up putting it off until the last minute because I don’t have any ideas.  The term “comedy blog” is pretty broad.  It means I can write about anything as long as I’m (trying to be) funny.

I’ve finally settled in to just asking myself what has happened over the last week and trying to come up with something funny to say about it.  Have I been playing a video game a whole lot?  Write a post about that!

Have I been thinking about my cats a lot?  Write a post about that!

It never feels good enough to me, though.  I fell like I’m crapping out on the whole idea because I’m not writing comedy about bigger and better things.

Does writing something funny need to have a point or should I just write comedy because I’m trying to get better at writing comedy?

When I decide I’m going to write about something, the words come quickly.  Most of them are even funny (if my wife and mother are to be believed).  That step of deciding has proven to be the biggest obstacle.

If I have an issue with writer’s block, it is in the fact I have trouble starting.  Once I start, things flow relatively well.  It is that first sentence wherein I define what I’m going to write about that is the huge challenge.

I don’t know if my other writer friends feel the same way.  I know the way to fight off writer’s block is to just write about something. If it sucks, toss it out.  Delete it or put it in a parking lot file for all the crappy ass writing you hope nobody ever sees.

What about when you are just trying to come up with the next good idea?  Is that a stumbling block they have?

I would imagine the answer is yes.  We all struggle with that question of what we are going to write next.

My response to that struggle is to type a sentence about something.  If the sentence seems interesting, I’ll type another.  If it seems stupid, I’ll delete it.

I’ve deleted a lot of opening sentences in the last few months.  I couldn’t even tell you what they were about.

I guess they were all about the same thing, really.

They were all about needing to write an opening sentence.