That creative spark

It becomes a fire at the most inconvenient times

I need a lead-in for a very important marketing project. Badly. The meat of what I’m trying to explain is there, but the intro — that “sizzle” convincing the reader to endure the rest of what I’ve written — isn’t up to snuff.

Maybe I’m being too kind. What I meant to say is that the intro is sucking, and I need it to do the opposite.

So I sit at my work computer and drum my fingers on the keys. I Google the thing I’m writing about to see how other people are writing about it. Then, I start browsing Facebook and, after a couple of minutes, remember that the project I’m working on is the do-or-die kind. And if my fingers aren’t causing words to spill onto the computer screen, then I’m dying.

Where does inspiration finally, failingly, strike? It doesn’t happen while I’m sitting at my desk. That would be too easy. Nor do I get that sudden spark during the elevator ride to the office lobby, or the long walk to the parking garage.

Nope, inspiration came after I picked up my daughter from school and spent more than 30 minutes trapped in a logjam on the I-10 because I forgot that the Arizona Cardinals were playing.

Of course. Rather than risk a close call, brake screecher or, worse, an actual collision, I grabbed my iPhone and dictated a note to Siri.

All of this means that, essentially, I spent an afternoon at work spinning my wheels. But at least I can hit the ground running tomorrow morning. Such is life.

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