Another workweek is drawing to a close and, as usual, I can't imagine writing or doing anything that requires fresh brain cells on Friday night because I have no creativity left. That got me thinking about how writing is a serious business. There's nothing funny about writing, even when you're writing humor. It's plain hard work.

Humorist-extraordinaire Dave Barry told The Writer in a 2003 interview that "good writing is almost always hard, and what I think sometimes happens is that writers forget how hard it is, or don't want to do the work anymore, and they call this 'writer's block.'"

Barry, whose humor column was syndicated in more than 500 newspapers around the world, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1988. Although he took an indefinite leave from column-writing in 2004, he is still busy writing. He co-wrote his most recent book, Peter and the Sword of Mercy with Ridley Pearson (fourth in a series of children's fantasy books); his next book of humorous essays, I'll Mature When I'm Dead: Dave Barry's Amazing Adventures in Adulthood will be out next spring.

After a busy workweek, we could all use some laughter in our lives. So on this gloomy, rainy, cold Friday afternoon (here in Wisconsin, at least), I think it's time to read some Dave Barry columns; relax; laugh; and let the brain cells (and creativity) re-generate!

--Martha Lundin, editorial associate

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