COLUMNIZING is the word that an American columnist coined for what we do. And this requires lots of curiosity. It’s automatic. Once I notice something, I may write about it. Operative word: may. Because there are times when I let go and let God.
A Writer’s Clock has these words instead of the numbers 1 to 12: “Write, Write, Toss, Retrieve, Start Over, Writer’s Block, Adult Beverage, Write, Submit, Revise, Revise, Publish.”
To avoid any debates on whether a columnist is a writer, let’s pretend that it’s the Columnist’s Clock with those same words on its face.
In 2003, when I began columnizing for another local daily, I used “Cindy Rand” as my byline. I bought a desktop computer then so I won’t have to use a typewriter and send the typewritten column to the editor via snail mail or the family’s messenger. My first draft was always handwritten, using pen and paper. I even found some of these unused drafts while spring cleaning.
Years later, a laptop replaced the old desktop but the writing process remained the same.
More years later, the smartphone became the practical choice since it made writing here, there, and everywhere possible, even while traveling. That’s when I stopped using pen and paper.
And then, in mid-2022, I began to notice that writing depressed me, with dark clouds hovering above my head—the result of constantly writing about the pandemic. So, I decided to stop writing.
It was only before Christmas 2022 that I went back to columnizing.
I’m back to using pen and paper, and the laptop. The smartphone, too, when I’m outside of the house.
The Writer’s, er, Columnist’s Clock is repeated for each column, with the “adult beverage” as the only item that has not remained the same. It used to be tequila. Now, it’s the low-carb electrolyte drink.
This paper’s editors are already familiar with the way I message them to please wait for the FINAL—yes, in caps—email. This happens after I’ve already emailed the column, and I find some errors while reviewing it as a sent document. I would then put “final” as the first word on the next email’s subject to alert the editors to use this instead of the first one I sent.
If I find more errors in the “final” column, I would message the editors again to please wait for the “final final” email—yes, two “final” words this time. And there were emails that had three: “final final final.” Haha.
Yes, writing, er, columnizing can be complicated but it serves as my Morning Pages now.
Julia Cameron’s solution for writer’s block is to write the Morning Pages daily, first thing in the morning, and that’s how I was able to resume writing last year after that six-month absence.
Nowadays, my favorite topic is low-carb fasting, in case you haven’t noticed it yet. Such columns are actually for me, so I’m constantly reminded to stay with LCF.
I now tend to write and email columns way before a particular edition’s deadline, to make use of the time when I’m home. For example, I’m writing this on July 5 but it’s for July 14. Advance ako mag-isip.
