Featured Writer: Jessie Carty
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!