A Few Small Words

I always have trouble when I want to start writing. I open up a blank document. There’s nothing on the page. Not a single word. I haven’t started writing yet. I know what I want to write about. I know that much. But I can’t find the words to begin.

Something about the opening sentence, the opening paragraph, is daunting. It can be difficult to find the right words. There needs to be the right combination to convey what you want to write about without giving too much away at once. Readers need to be eased into it. They can’t get all the information right up front. That’s too much. That’s exhausting. I wouldn’t want to read everything all at once. Let it flow.

I continue to stare at the blank page. The right words elude me. They don’t come. I struggle, knowing that once I find those words I’ll be writing in no time. Literally no time, because if I have those words and write them down, that is writing. I mean the whole thing, though. If I can get those few right words to set me on my way, the rest of the journey will be easy. I just need to crack the seal. I just need to open things up to let the rest flow.

There is no reason that it must be so difficult. I’m only looking for a few words. A few elusive words. It’s like they taunt me. They hang on the wind, calling for me to pull on them. Asking me to put them down on paper. Yet, when I reach out to find the words, they fade away. They drift on the breeze in a different direction. They are no longer there for me to grab. The words are gone.

I don’t know why writing has to be so hard. It’s one of the more fulfilling things in life. Those inner thoughts come out. I refine them. I clean them up so others can understand what I’m trying to say. I clean them up so I can understand what I’m trying to say. Yet I can’t, because those first few words have left me again. I’m sitting here, a champagne bottle of thoughts, ready to explode when someone pops the cork. When the words pop the cork. Sitting on a shelf for years. Aging. Anticipating a time when I can burst and people can appreciate what I have to say.

Is today that day? Is any day? I may never know.

But a few words are a good start. My journey continues.