naming the world

“Do you know how many times I’ve thought about writing about the paper I’m writing on?” —cLOUDDEAD

Maybe the late post time gives it away: I’m suffering from a mean case of writer’s block.

You might think that sitting at a desk answering questions that range from “Where is the mezzanine?” to “Do you have a film about Ralph Nader?” to “What can you tell me about Marion Anderson?” would serve for endless inspiration, but the sheer volume of information here has brainwashed my mind blank today. Do I choose a few favorite graphic novels from our diverse collection to rave about? Address the conflict between the Libel Terrorism Protection Act and the First Amendment? Tout the importance of intellectual freedom in public libraries? Wax eloquent about Prince’s 1989 hit “Batdance?” Talk about the weather?

Everything seems too complex to approach with a simple blog post, so I’m writing about how hard it is to write sometimes. We’ve got a book for that. Poetic, psychological, useful, clever, supportive, monstrous or aggressive, guides to getting unstuck are just the inspiration and encouragement I need. The titles alone (like Blood on the Forehead) for some of the writing guides are enough to make a body want to start naming the world.

Now that I’ve gotten started, I could just keep going, but suffice it to say that whether you’re stuck with a resume or drawing a comic, CLP has got more than a few words to help make a literary life.

–Renée