*sigh*

It's starting already. Three words into this blog post (four if you count the title) and I've already started down a dangerous path.

Here's the thing about writers: We're emotional people. And no, I'm not talking about the cry-at-Sandra-Bullock-movies-that-aren't-even-that-sad type of emotional. And of course, there is the occasional heartless cynical type of writer who loves covering events like the disasters in Haiti and Japan because it can produce some "good writing."

There, disclaimers aside, now I will proceed.

Maybe this is just me, but everything I put into a story, every interview, every word, every keystroke, is an emotional experience for me. I thrive off of it. I pour my heart and soul into it.

But what happens when my heart is heavy and my soul is weak? How can I write when the very thing I need to draw from in order to write has nothing in it?

I asked my mentor, a national sports writer, a question about how to deal with situations like this a few weeks ago when I was going through a rough patch. His answer was just what I needed. He told me that writers aren't that much different than anyone else in that respect. We all have days when we don't want to go to work, or work is tough for us. The trick is that we have to push through and just do it. It'll be hard, yes, but it's just something you HAVE to do.

So I sit here right now, not wanting to write. Not even wanting to write this. I just want to go to sleep for a long time. Not because I'm tired, but because I just do. But that's not an option. I have to keep going, keep typing; keep writing.