Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The computer appears to be sniggering. There8217;s no other way to describe it. I look at it, the cursor blinking on top of the blank, black screen 8212; the yawning emptiness seems to be a cross that8217;s too heavy to bear. Have no time, am too busy, no, no, no, let8217;s make that too stressed. So much to do, so little time, how can a person get down to putting pen to paper or punching the keys of a keyboard for that matter? Much on the mind, how can one write? Some other time, I tell myself. The sniggering continues.
Days pass, the machine seems to have given up.
Chastened, I am back to blinking at the screen. Three minutes, can do it no more. Then, a bright bulb seems to have lit up at the back of the brain. Eureka. Now I know what Archimedes must have felt like. It8217;s all clear suddenly. This is what they must refer to as writer8217;s block. Hell, no wonder mum8217;s the written word.
At that point, the machine seems to be suppressing a snigger.
Now, that is too much. Desperate situations call for desperate measures, so I plonk myself in front of the dreaded machine which has achieved Terminator-like proportions by now. There8217;s no way that I8217;m getting up till Mr Writer8217;s Block is weeded out of the system. It8217;s back to playing staring games with smart-alec Mr Machine.
As the clock ticks away, the mind wanders. The eyes follow the mind8217;s lead, and I look out of the window. The clouds, looking astonishingly like puffs of cotton wool, are chasing imaginary birds in the sky. It8217;s a beautiful day out there, puts one in the mood for an old-fashioned picnic complete with the wicker basket and checked napkins, a long drive cruising along the expressway perhaps, walks through a shaded arcade, perhaps with a river flowing in the distance.
Ho hum, someone8217;s really meandering. And to think that this is a quest for a few hundred words. I take a look at the screen. And then take another. For the screen8217;s blank no more.
A certain someone was right: you don8217;t need time to write a short piece. But staring at a blank screen always helps!
