Politics does get tiresome Shawn, and your very personal writings have added a unique and compelling voice to this blog. So don't lose hope - the ideas will start coming again soon.

First thing you should do is limit yourself to one or two posts a day, if that much. If you're writing just to put something up on the blog, you're going to come up with junk 90 percent of the time.

Second thing you should do is start a file of evergreen material -- that is, things that you can publish any time. Write them up on your home computer, and if you're particularly stuck one day, dust off something from your evergreen file.

Third, I suggest writing regularly, even if you don't publish what you write. Think of it as flushing out your colon. If you clear out the crud that's accumulated in your pipes, then you'll get better material later.

Fourth, don't use metaphors about colon cleansing. They don't work out very well.

I always had good luck finding material by seeing what the people I didn't like or didn't agree with had to say. Arab News, the Boston Globe, and the liberal blogosphere are fairly reliable sources for blood pressure escalation.

Or, if you like, drop me a line at the e-mail in this comment. I think I can relate to what you're going through...

J.

Maybe don't leave such a huge opening for someone like me next time?

sorry about your back... try to relax and know that there are people out here that really enjoy what you have to say.

It's a target rich environment, political or otherwise.

Write about stupid politician tricks of the day, lord knows every time any one of them opens their mouths its comedy gold.

Case in point, San Fran Nan and 500 million laid off workers comment.

Hey, if all else fails you can always pick on lee "Palin Hater" ward next door at Blue. There's no greater target rich environment in the entire blogosphere.

Write about your favorite music.

Of course, I'm on some medication, which doesn't help, but, it's still more than a little troubling.

Try better medication! :)

Sounds more like "subject" block vs. writer's block.

I agree with Jay. Visit the editorial pages of the major news outlets--WaPo, NYT, LATimes, Boston Globe, SF Examiner/Chronicle/whatever the hell they are these days, you're bound to find something that cheeses you off. (I know it works for me.)

My other piece of advice: Write hot, edit cold. Turn off your internal cop and just write. You can always go back, clean up and patch holes later.

What works for me sometimes is to just go on rant. I pick a topic that I feel strongly about and just start a no holds barred rant that would make even the angriest "rant-blogger" blush. I never - well almost never - hit the publish button.

Once I have that out of my system, the block is gone.

Shawn, you should exploit the utility of the Open Thread couched as a continuing series of highly subjective Thoughts by you about things unimportant except to buffs, obsessives, or fanboys.
Examples:

Best corps commander of the US civil war?
Longstreet.

Axis of Tail? Poland-Belarus

Buffy or Willow? Willow.

Animals or Hollies? that's a tough one.

Flim flam floom and done!

Shawn, you got mail...

J.

Shawn,

Please, please, please take care of yourself. Take your time recovering. Rest. Relax. Recuperate. Don't jeopardize your health by returning to writing too soon. Taking it easy is the best medicine. So, don't overdo.

Besides, those of us who are literate, cogent, and even marginally intelligent are really enjoying the break.

Regards...
depp=true
notiz=Regards back at you

Looking fr something to write about?

Ask why the Wizbangblue site doesn't include links to the other Wizbang sites.

Just sayin...

Meiji, Blue is the "Roach Motel" of Wizbang. Links go in, but they never come out. It's very strictly quarantined.

And thank god for that.

J.

I have also noticed that there is no post voting mechanism over there. My personal opinion on that is that the teeny tiny egotists that thrive in that environment would be devastated by the resulting negative votes posted by everyone who reads here at Wizbang, and would then spend all their time whining and crying...er, much like they do now, if there was such a mechanism as there is here in the more mature and Central Wizbang proper.

"Ask why the Wizbangblue site doesn't include links to the other Wizbang sites."-m_m

"It's very strictly quarantined." -jt

Free advice from an entrepreneurial money-making machine (Yours Truly): the Wizbang format of tabs that lead nowhere ("Pop" "Sports" "Tech" "Forum", etc) displays a delusional grasping at blog-present goals without any definite inclination to follow through on the model. It's like a death in the family has interrupted something in midstream and it's frozen in amber. Thats One.

Two: In between my being banned the 2nd and 3rd time(snort!)last year, I inquired of lee (at Blue) as to why Blue was isolated as opposed to consolidated within one fat Wizbang mainpage. Lee agreed but the format is fixed as is, so says the owner(?). So blaming lee is misguided. And yes, I've seen comments disappear there. Far fewer than here, though. I say, Improve the site; combine; if that requires tricky reading-before-commenting-to-intuit-the-meme, so be it.

"It's very strictly quarantined.
And thank god for that."-jt

And this guy was one of the bright lights here! Ah-ooogah!

"I have also noticed that there is no post voting mechanism over there. My personal opinion on that is that the teeny tiny egotists that thrive in that environment would be devastated by the resulting negative votes posted by everyone who reads here at Wizbang"-mC

Oh, G_damn! By "voting mechanism" do you mean Monkey Buttons?

Now, I admit, seeing marc ALWAYS vote "Yes" for his own comment is amusing, but everyone knows Negative Count is the nes plus ultra of comment-greatness!

(My "Cheney. Wheelchair. Discuss." garnered at least a negative eighteen (-18), and I'm still proud!)

When I was blogging and having a block, I always looked for a story on the French. They were always such an easy target ....and I found it so much fun.

However, hen we got Sarkozy as president and things were just not the same.

BUT. Even though it has only been two weeks since his inauguration, Obama is already losing his luster overseas. They have a couple of problems with him.

You could play that angle. We were told the world would love Obama and restore America's respect.

Not happening.

Negative 18 you say, bD? Impressive.

Ya know, Shawn, you could just not write.

Just sayin'.

I mean temporarily, of course.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

Just like anything else worth doing, you just gotta keep slogging along.

I'm on vacation this week too, with a bad back to boot, so I'm probably thinking too much anyway.