Making My Blogs Do What They Do

It's funny... today, I was thinking of how this blog practically writes itself. Most of my posts come out of the drama that is everyday American life, from the perspective of one African American man (yours truly). I certainly had a dearth of material this week with the Anthrax suspect, the deaths of Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, the John Edwards scandal, the slim Obama lead in the polls, and the would be Obama assassin. I'm not worried about next week either... America is a dramatic country and these are very dramatic times we live in.

When I first started blogging, I was worried that I would run out of things to write about but, each day brings with it a new writing experience. I am sure that by writing this, I'm missing out on an important topic but, that's okay... I've always been good at catching up. I worry about writer's block the way some guys worry about performance anxiety. (Okay, that was out there... dramatic guy, ain't I?)

Anyway, I never worry about this blog because I know that I'll always have plenty to say here. I've been known to jack a few people's topics and put my own spin on them and I've seen a few of my topics jacked too. But, it's okay... I'm mostly flattered when that happens. Another blogger said that, "it was okay because we are all family". I feel like I'm on the verge of something new... a history maker, at best.


Then, there is that other blog of mine... my baby blog, Escapades. I loaded a lot of old poetry on it when I started it last month. It was mostly stuff I had written in college, when I was in my twenties. Then, I began to get my confidence and I started writing new stuff. Thus, I'm having the time of my life just creating. The last couple of poems are brand new and the biggest surprise... the fiction is all new.

I took a creative writing course a few years back and the instructor told us to create a character or a set of characters, put them in any situation, and then write at least three stories using the characters. It was good practice for eventually writing a novel.

A couple of weeks ago, I created the character of Mabel Jenkins, a sexy and saucy southern woman who knows her way around the kitchen and the bedroom ("She Was A Southern Girl"). Mabel is actually a composite of two women I have known. I gave her a past, a jealous boyfriend named Clerow, and a present... a nameless protagonist who tells the world about Mabel through his sensual experience of eating, smelling, making love, and battling her two admirers... a jealous spurned lover and a salacious preacher.

I only meant to write two stories using these characters ("Clerow's Wet Dream" being the other) but, "Mabel's Bangin' Biscuits" kind of wrote itself and there is at least two more stories on the way. I'm just havin' fun and these characters seem to speak to that sensual part of my character that loves both women and good food.

My other stories "The Tell-Tale Condom", "White Gown, Black Suit", and "Blind Date" came completely from other people telling me things that happened to them or somebody they knew. I actually heard a girl yell out of her open window, "How do you want your pancakes, Daddy?", and I was taken back by it. (It was 12:00 midnight and I don't think she was talking about breakfast) and"Blind Date" grew out of something that simple... I took a statement and just let my imagination run wild. Truth be told, I don't know who she was talking to or what she was talking about... but, at midnight, hearing a woman say something like that sounded awful sexy. (I know... only me, right?)

Without a doubt, there will come a time when I'll hit a writer’s block. We all do from time to time. Maybe I'll post two or three times a week here... maybe I'll let Escapades go for a few days. But, for right now, I'm having the time of my life and I hope you all will join me on my ride!