Having nothing to write about can be exasperating. But having plentiful to do, and not doing it out of sheer laziness or lack of interest is a whole other story. I have articles months old that haven’t seen light of day. Ah, if only I could complete them. But procrastination and laziness stand in way. I’ve been telling myself that it’s heat, but with temperatures going down again, I'm not even left with that excuse.

I have seemingly divorced myself from half-written articles that sit there waiting on some remote folder in my computer. Somehow, I never get to completing something if I leave it midway. And this time is no different. I ended up opening files, reading their contents, closing them with a mental note that they needed to be finished and went back to my Need for Speed racing adventure.

After an endless round of mindless car racing, I decided it was time to get back to work. Having nothing to write about, I thought I’d try my hand at a journal. Writers are always saying that keeping journals spark up your creativity, but somehow I never thought I’d be writing in one. I’d always wondered why a writer would waste her precious time writing in a journal, when she could be earning money, writing those words in an article or story.

So, I began Mission Journal by simply opening up my word processor and writing first thing that came into my mind. Incidentally, I started rambling about how much I had wanted to achieve but with a drastic case of writer’s block having swept over me last few days, my ambitions had been reduced to dust. Before I knew it, I had written two thousand words, simply on why I couldn’t write and how it was playing havoc with my spirit.

Enter: column.

Before you march up to an editor’s office or send her unsolicited mail asking to write regularly for a publication, learn all there is to know.

A column is written weekly, monthly or bi-monthly, and must be focused on one particular topic. You have to be consistent in what you write, maintain same tone of voice, and stay focused on issue at hand. If you’re writing a column for writing parent, don’t delve into issues of parenting in general. You’re readers will probably be parents who write, and they will be more interested in learning how to find time for their writing, rather than how to take care of their children.

A column can last from three to four months to ten or maybe even twenty. I know of a writer who wrote a column in a leading daily for more than twenty years.

When you decide to write a column, make sure that topic you choose is of interest to readers and will keep them coming back for more, week after week. If your topic is boring or uninteresting, chances are you’ll have no readers, and editor will soon wrap up your column with a short goodbye note.