It’s not easy coming up with things to write about every week. The hardest part is having an idea hit you, make total sense and seem to be such a great idea, then slip from your brain as quickly as it hit you. I might be lucky enough to think of it again later on, but much of the time a great idea that hits me in the middle of the work day often leaves me before I can get it written down somewhere.

The best times I have when an idea hits me are when I am sitting at my desk or when I am near a post-it or sheet of paper.  I can jot down an idea and stick it in my pocket temporarily and then add it to my master list later on. I try to write about things that are current sometimes, and then fill in with ideas that are somewhat generic and not always topical.

Once in awhile, I’ll go through the calendar and make note of the dates the columns will be due. Then, I see if that particular date will bring to mind any ideas. Sometimes I’ll write an idea down like “wedding anniversary” and think of some cute story to tell about being married.  I have plenty of kids stories to tell and plenty of stories about teaching school.

Those stories can fit just about anywhere.

I also like to skim through past columns periodically.  They are, I’m afraid, not kept in very good order.  Some of them are in files in “word” and some are in “google docs.” I had saved a few on my old home computer that crashed, some on my newer laptop and some are saved at school if I’ve written during lunch or after the students leave. I wish I could admit to having them all dated and filed in order. Alas, I cannot.

At times, I get on a roll and think of all kinds of ideas. I told you a while back I was going to write a series of articles based on my dislike of the movie “The Blind Side,” and then I think I wrote two of them. The other ideas I had must have slipped from my mind. I can’t for the life of me think of what else I was going to write about, so perhaps I should just leave those poor souls alone. I doubt they care about my opinion anyway.

Once in awhile, on an evening where sleep eludes me, an early morning surprises me, or a day off happens, I sit down with a list of three to four column ideas and hit the keyboard like a house afire. If I’ve got in my head what I want to write, I can sometimes knock out several columns in an hour or so.  The other night, while nursing a sore knee (I still can’t tell you what I did to the darn thing), I sat for over two hours with my leg elevated and keyboard on my lap. I wrote a month and half worth of columns, some to be sent to the editor and some to be saved for later.

If all is going well, I have a few columns stashed here and there in my files, ready to be used in a pinch in case I’m pressed for time or there isn’t anything clever to write about.  I don’t like to write too many ahead as sometimes, a good topic will come along that needs to be published sooner than later. That can throw everything off.

All of my September columns and this one were written on a rainy Saturday afternoon, carefully planned and jotted down on the calendar. Copy, paste,  send to the editor with the date in the subject line.

I think my biggest concern writing this column is repeating myself. In life, I have started telling stories more than once and forgetting more often whom I’ve told something. If you are a reader of this column on a weekly basis, I not only appreciate your reading but I also appreciate your tolerance when I repeat a story.

Although I’m hoping to stay fresh and topical enough to keep writing for some time, I’m wondering if there will come a day when the ideas will stop coming.

Most writers would say they can come up with enough material to keep going.  However, every now and then, I wonder if I’ll get to the point when I’ll say “I’m sure I’ve told just about every story I can tell.  It’s time to hang it up.”

Well, I’m not planning on that anytime soon. I’m hoping the ideas keep coming.

And, I’m hoping a few of you will keep on reading.