…the blog describing what it's like to be a Jack (or Jill) of all (artistic) trades. Let go, create, live free and cut your cords.
Deciding where to write can be as daunting as the act of writing itself. Are you a writer who must have absolute quiet or do you need music? Specific music? Must you work on a laptop? Do you first write everything long hand? How do you decide where you are going to write once you decide you definitely are GOING to write?
I have a hard time deciding myself. When I was working full time in an office job I used steno pads to hide the beginnings of poems or just mini essay rants about how I really wish I had brought a better snack and was it 4:30 yet?
Even after I left working full-time and took up freelance work, I was still using steno pads for a while but I also found myself starting new pieces directly on the computer screen. Which is better? I couldn’t decide and every time I think I have made the final decision about where and how I am going to write, I find myself within moments doing the complete opposite.
Right now I tend to type everything first on my new netbook. I usually work on revisions in the morning and new material, like this, in the afternoons. I then save it to my computer and google docs so I am backed up and ready to work on any one’s computer if the muse should hit me over the head with a club. That being said, I still carry some kind of notebook with me where ever I go. I still find myself writing notes on the back of bank deposit slips and napkins while in the car, unable sometimes to decipher what on earth I was talking about when I am finally back at the keyboard.
There is still something about paper, the feel of a notepad or the pen as it scratches across the page. ..
And as I wax poetic I start to think about what a nice response these keys have and I wonder why do I write things by hand sometimes?
I am, apparently, capable of talking out of both … well… ya know.
Long story short? It is helpful to have a system and/or a specific place that you tend to write in but don’t let not having a computer or a notepad (whatever your preference is) keep you from writing. I’ve called my voicemail and left the beginnings of a story on a few occasions. I’ve learned, most of all, not to ignore that urge to write, that muse when she comes a calling cause if you ignore her she can become a bit of a bitch and we don’t need another one of those do we?
Author Bio: Jessie Carty is the author of three poetry collections with the most recent being Paper House. She has had a few pieces of fiction and non-fiction published as well so she feels like a real author now. You can find her babbling at her website/blog http://jessiecarty.com
thanks for letting me be a part of your site!!!!
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HAHA @Bejo, a “doppledanger for double cursing” is hilarious!