First Days and First Ideas

I experienced today what many people know when they intend to create something. Call it "the blank slate" syndrome. Essentially, the phrase alludes to facing an empty computer screen, a pure canvas, a score without notes. Suddenly, nothing happens. Ideas wander around one's mind like so many sparrows around an unfortunate tree. What's the first word? What's the initial idea? What are those first strokes, lead sounds, or initial framing?

When nothing happens, it's rarely a good feeling. I'm typically a counterpuncher in the world of ideas, and the absence of a motivating concept often leaves me unable to sensibly act. That realization struck me hard today, and called for a reconsideration of how to proceed. I know some writers who reach into the well of their memoirs, but that approach always seemed limited to the extent of the writer's experience and awareness.

Magnifying this sense is New Year's Day, a time of well-intentioned resolutions and splendid illusions. I shy away from New Year's promises; I do harbor plenty of illusions, but I do try to manage them. Still, today is as good a day as any to change from counterpunching to leading.

A.J. Liebling
(Image: nytimes.com)

I suppose the boxing metaphors are on my mind, as I recently finished reading A.J. Liebling's The Sweet Science. The late New Yorker writer wrote a splendid collection of stories in which his journalistic skill, wonderful voice, and enthusiasm for boxing shine. Sometimes, reading a strong book makes facing a blank page worth pursuing on first days, and days thereafter.