1. Hardest – Keeping myself from going off on tangents once I pick the topic, column, editorial, letter or white paper.

2. Easiest – Finding something to write about. The one upside to being an opinionated @sshole (the last past depends on whether you agree with my opinions) is that you always have a deep stream of active thought, considerations and analysis of ongoing events to craft a cogent and definable piece of work to market to a client or outlet.

3. Biggest reason I don’t write more. Without question, internet porn. Okay, just kidding there. But the ability to operate in a cubicle has the same threat as being self-employed and writing at home. You have to be disciplined about putting the time to do the actual work and not just write stuff that makes you feel better but doesn’t produce income or further your cause/career. (For instance, see this comment as an example for which I’m making absolutely nothing – unless Kirsten offers me a job as an editor, personal masseuse or dog walker).

But writing anything but Cease and Desist letters or Collection Agency notices are essentially love letters. Your goal is to woo the reader into not just liking you more but also to agree with you and increase the level of affinity, reality and understanding. Writing love letters is easy when you are in love. Treating every subject like something you love is something can train yourself to do.

Fortunately, I’m so damn in love with my own opinions that writing comments is like a form of masturbation (in the least creepy sense possible – if that actually IS possible not to be creepy).

So, good luck writers. Let your inner brilliance out to the world. It can’t possibly be worse than the people who write the jokes for David Letterman!

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