I sat down in front of the fire one evening last week, cracked the spine of a new notebook, turned to the first page, picked up a lovely pen and prepared to write.
An hour later, I closed the book and put it away, that first page still completely empty.
You see, it's alright being able to write a bit, a blessing even. But it's also a curse when you just don't have any ideas.
I know, I know, I've read all those books about writing too. I know the idea that all you need is a character, put them in a situation and start writing to see what happens next. But it's an approach I have always struggled with. Besides, every situation I thought of that evening, by the fire, was unoriginal. Just like a struggling author bereft of ideas is unoriginal.
What next? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe I should get a job as the caretaker of an isolated hotel.
![Jack Torrance's typewriter at The Overlook hotel](http://web.archive.org./web/20231119224229im_/https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41Gdd73Lvsm3F-x2i3i7zSwShR3Ff3Dy_eD0OrQPfe6cojZOoWrfULkZPlCAZOQBOCn--djDJBITjUufdXCPQzGFei2NLRXaszf8Ujmh4n_2wtleCVY7wUujbegIl8R8SYBpRgOQVuZWOctpg6ypUVuY7Xs02uNGRe2NwBtoxqKgCYEorEyQiiaEl/s1600/ts_typewriter.jpg)