Maggie Rants [and Raves]

Writer's Block

by Maggie Franklin | September 28, 2009 | Bookmark +

About a year ago now I think it's been, I decided to start sending out an e-newsletter. Of course, I figured I'd do it monthly. So I signed up with one of the services that does the HTML newsletter thing and have proceeded to spend something along the lines of $20 a month for nearly a year to sit down a few times every month and stare at a blank template.

 

Sometimes for over an hour. Eventually I get bored with staring at the blank template and start checking my e-mail — every few minutes, just to see if something more important requires my attention. If not, then I check my Facebook. Then Twitter. Then Myspace. Then the stat counter for my website so I can see if I'm still popular in Estonia.

 

The disappointing truth is that I'm not really that popular or important (except in Estonia as it turns out), so usually there's nothing of great consequence going on on any of these sites to warrant my abandoning my vigilant stance over the blank template of the newsletter that I keep saying I'm going to send every month.

 

Eventually I determined that it would be fine if I just sent out a quarterly newsletter. Except that hasn't really helped me fill the blank template with new and exciting information either.

 

I can't, for the life of me, figure out why it's so difficult for me to write a newsletter! I have no problems writing blogs. In fact, the biggest deterrent from my blogging is time. I never run out of things to say. So how is it that I can sit in front of that empty template for hours and not find something to fill it in with?

 

Well. Whatever the problem is, I've now managed to distract myself from the blank template for October's newsletter for at least a few moments. Guess I'll go back to staring.

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