A Blank Page

A Blank Page: (Audio) (From 2017, Updated in 2022)

I remember a time, back in the school years, when it was difficult getting busy to write a book report or some other paper that required you to read, analyze and report. At that time, I could only imagine what some people go through when they write a book! There’s a scary thing for many writers to face…

A Blank Page

In my blogging, I’ve never been at a loss for something to say, and I’ve started several lists of thoughts and titles for future writing events. If I’m blank, just grab one off the list and write. Easy, peasy.

Sometimes, the harder job is framing my thoughts into patterns of words that someone else will want to read and follow. That’s been the long haul of 12 years of blogging and nearly 3,000 blog posts. Recently I added a Podcast to my writing experience and read my post to an audience of one or two. Always, before I post anything, I read and listen to see if the structure flows from dirt work to the laying of the foundation to the last nail in the roof peak.

Most of my thoughts are not super deep or thought out over days in the oven. Rather, they come early and by 8 am, they are on the screen being edited and then edited again after the first recording. But errors still exist, and they are all mine. I take ownership of them.

Sometimes it’s a day or two later that I fix a grammar problem or sentence structure!
That’s called editing, but by then, the post had been public, and everyone had the ability to catch my error. I’m okay with that, I’m still a work in progress! 

Since I love to read and proof work, I’m often surprised by how seldom I catch my own errors.

There’s probably a medical term for never seeing the log in your own eye but catching the speck of dust in that other writers posting!

I’ll have to think about it.

Until I read my work aloud for the Podcast, I think the writing is bulletproof. That’s when the errors speak themselves out loud! Pow! Did you mean to say it like that?!? I realize there is a difference between my inside voice, the one in my mind, and the outside voice when that inside voice leaks out into the public!

Now! That’s a future blog post!

See how that happens? Just like that, I’ve got something else to write about: The Inside Voice that grows up and becomes the Outside Voice! (Done! Copied and pasted to the appropriate list for the future.)

So. There’s something to be said about claiming your voice, your cadence, the use and flow of words and sentences, and the pace at which the writing unveils itself to the reader. With my recent implants and dental appliance fixture, there are some words I’ve replaced and some sentences I’ve reworked. I’ll be glad for the day that my speaking voice returns to normal!

Some authors have impacted me with this concept of voice. In my mind, I research like James Michener, write like Louis L’Amour, and read the story out loud like Tom Bodett. Throw in some history prose like James Alexander Thom, and I think you have a good picture of the impactors on my blogging and podcasting! Now. If I could only sell my work like Tom Clancy!

But there is so much more to who I am than the surface person you may meet on the street. As my wife agrees, there’s no more unique person around than me, myself, and I. My mind is full of mostly useless knowledge until I find a place to put the thought to work. Then it’s amazing I connect the dots to something I’m thinking about.

Now, before anyone thinks I’m super special, let me dispel that primrose path of nonsense. I’m not. I’m just me. And I want to be the best “me” that “me” knows how! I pick up thoughts of betterment and lay aside the unwieldy weights of things I’m not interested in. I’m eclectic, and someone described me as a renaissance man. What?? I had to look that one up. What is it? Quickly! It’s simply someone with many talents or areas of knowledge. Hmmm. I guess I must have something in every category from A to Z.

Here’s my thought this morning.

I am not a blank page waiting to find something to write or report about.

I’ve lived long enough for my mind to be full of stuff and am just waiting the day and time to tell you about it. I’m hoping you hang around and listen or read for a while! It has become strangely important to me to have someone grasp what I say and enjoy how I say it.

One last thought: Like the image in this blog, “This page intentionally left blank”
Well, just as soon as you put something on the page it is no longer blank… Just saying!