el and I obviously spend some time blogging, and we often hit up against the old blogger’s block. (and yes i’m embracing the usage of the word blog. we can’t just laugh in a superior and vague way whenever the word is mentionned forever, ok montreal?) The RSS reader is very useful for its ability to keep you closer to up to date, and for helping you seek out those new perspectives that add dimension to your brain, and you can read all about what they are and which ones are good if you like, but my word to the wise is this: an inundation of information does not a good blogger make.

It’s tempting to digg deep into your rss reader for a news item to blog about. But the thing is, you never produce a nice piece when you do this. You produce a hurried piece, because you feel how quickly news is moving through your reader; or a weightless piece, because you basically quoted and regurgitated what people said before. In either case, the problem started when you decided to start writing a post by looking out into the world. Instead, what I find seems to work best is to start out by looking at what is already, though you may not have had time to notice it, taking space up inside your head.