His role as “Milo” opposite Bruce Willis in “The Last Boy Scout” knocked me out. Even though the character of Milo was considered a secondary one, he was the best and most under-appreciated action movie villain ever.  

It is because of actor/writer/artist/many other things/comedic genius Taylor Negron that I no longer use Writers’ Block as an excuse to stop working. In one of our many exchanges he wrote to me once about how he was for a time working solidly almost every day. Sometimes for 4 or 5 hours. Usually there might be some idea to launch from but often the work would just flow as it should. Always finding a way to push through and to work on.

Since then, I have rarely run out of words to write down even when I feel lost, staring at the page with a complete creative freeze. A messed-up disorganized stack of papers with ideas on them represent some of those almost-frozen moments in time. They are things to go back to when it comes time to take the writing ideas inventory. It may be good to purge a few failed creative thoughts on occasion but I would be afraid to never be able to get them back.

So I keep working on. Turning out things that will work and won’t work. It is still productivity and still writing. Each key and pen stroke delivering expression and delivering possibility. Each word helping me to forget that perhaps I truly was never at a lost for words to begin with.

Taylor Negron showed tremendous kindness to all around him. As a fan I reached out via social media via a mutual contact and was fortunate to be one of a great many people that he stayed in touch with over the years. I would always be inspired when I would see a note from him or when he would read and comment on something I posted on social media or on this very site. You felt like you had the seal of approval from a comedic genius.

I close by excerpting a small portion of one of my exchanges with Taylor from just over a year ago. After my Dad’s sudden passing he sent a lengthy note of support and offered another bit of wisdom with the intent of helping me refocus on writing. What the quote below has taught me is to better manage distractions while working. It is hard to defeat those distractions.

But you can work through them.

I am forever grateful for his words. Please take whatever wisdom you can from them.

“Writing informs us of what we think about the world. Our tiny human brains are always trying to interrupt the massive information around us. They never do. Solitude and quiet peace, day dreaming”