It’s a lot easier to write for an assigned project, than to pluck a topic out of thin air and start pounding away at the keyboard, or scratching a pencil across college-ruled paper—at the same time making sense out of the words that take shape.  At least for me it is.  Yesterday, when I realized it was time to submit my weekly blog post, I drew a big blank.  I’m supposed to be chronicling my final weeks as a non-traditional college student, discussing the challenges of reinventing myself after working in the same field for 25 years, sharing insight on what I’ve learned during my last two years attending Arizona State University in the Literature, Writing and Film program. 

But I seem to be tapped out.  Oh, my muse has not left me.  Tell me to write a travel piece outlining my experiences up north during Labor Day weekend, and I’ll write it with flourish.  Assign me a 5-page report covering technical editing in the 21st century, and I’ll set about researching the topic and writing my thesis.  But apparently a blank blog post does not a blog write.  What do writers do when they have a wide open field of possibilities but they cannot pinpoint a single idea that provokes a commitment?  Why not invent one?

Or visit many of the available online resources that provide prompts for the writer’s “block”—or blank, as I prefer to call it.  I found an awesome website while trolling the Internet at http://www.thewritesource.com that supplies writing topics for elementary, high school, and college-age writers.  Examples include: my worst vacation, what do I worry about, putting my foot in my mouth, and the list goes on.  There are also other resources such as books on craft that may help jumpstart a blank page or a tired muse.  In the meantime, as one of my professors likes to close her missives each time: write on! ~ cs