What's in My Notebooks?

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          I advocate filling a notebook a month as a great way to keep yourself writing—especially if you don’t have immediate deadlines. But even if you do have deadlines, filling the notebook keeps ideas flowing and gives you a place to vent if you are stuck.

          For about 15 years, I filled a notebook a month, but as I wrote more pieces for publication, I filled a notebook only every two or three months. I loved having a place to jot down thoughts, feelings, happenings, etc., but I wasn’t disciplined about it again until this January when I resolved to go back to filling a notebook a month.

          I started with an 80-page notebook in January—because 100 pages was too daunting—and wrote 21,598 words. I had no daily set amount of pages or word count. With a week left to finish, I had 38 pages to fill. I did it, but it wasn’t fun. I also wrote very sloppily in larger handwriting than usual.

Obviously I stayed with the 80-page notebook in February. I wrote almost every day, but still had 19 pages to fill the last week. Again, I filled it, but wasn’t as helpful because I just jammed stuff in it. Total word count was 25,574. Not being as rushed, I wrote less sloppily so more room for words.

In March, I again went with the 80-page notebook, but this time I tried to fill 2-3 pages every day. This was much more helpful to all my writing projects as I had space to think about topics, come up with ideas, and whine when writing wasn’t going well. I wrote 26,203 words.

Feeling more comfortable with my new habit, I switched to a 100-page notebook in April and wrote 35,006 words. My goal was 1,000 words a day, but I ended up averaging 1,167. I looked forward to writing in my notebook. It wasn’t a chore or a resolution anymore.

What do I write about in my notebooks?

I rage or regale about my writing projects. Work on titles for current pieces. Consider new projects. I also work on plots. Copy down quotes I love from books I’m reading. Jot down notes whenever I see an author being interviewed on TV as well as any thoughts I want to ponder—and then I ponder.

I write down observations about people, pets, nature, TV, and books as these often lead to posts for this blog or thoughts for my Editor’s Viewpoint column or my Facebook essays for the magazines or sometimes because they are funny. For example, out to dinner with three writing friends, we simultaneously stopped talking to listen to the conversation at the next table. The foursome was getting into a heated discussion about whether an evening can be enchanted or not. I don’t know how the topic came up, but it was fascinating. They got up to leave so we rushed to pay our bill so we could continue to eavesdrop in the parking lot. They were still going at it as they got in their car and left. We stood in the parking lot and laughed at ourselves for being such writers but how could we resist listening to such passion about a description of a night.

Nature gives great copy on walks or even when I look out my office window. There is a 25-foot tall trumpet vine growing up an evergreen tree. Every summer, several Ruby-throated hummingbirds visit to drink their fill of nectar from the dozens and dozens of bright orange blossoms putting on a colorful show. Then there was a black butterfly that played with our puppy for over five minutes fluttering just out of reach back and forth in the side yard. At first I was worried the puppy would hurt the butterfly, but he/she flew up and around over and over again to the pup’s delight only leaving when the adult dogs arrived to see what the commotion was all about.

I’m also very human in my notebooks. I write about my feelings, whether happy, sad, or angry, putting things into perspective.

If you give yourself space and permission, you will find yourself writing pages and pages. None of it goes to waste. Even if nothing appears in other formats (a rare thing), filling these notebooks increases your writing speed, improves your observation skills, and clarifies your thoughts.

This is why I recommend filling a notebook a month and also reading Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg. Her essays about the writing life and her life are engaging and full of wonder. The author of ten writing books and novels, her writing practice is filling up a notebook a month for about forty years. This book made me a much better writer because writing begets writing.

Start filling your own notebooks now!

Word count for week of April 30-May 6 was 11,034.

Word Counts for a Working Writer

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          As a working writer, I write almost every day. Deadline for the magazines lasts three days each month so I’m too busy then, otherwise I write.

          Filling a notebook a month is the best way to stay on track. Use an 80-100 page notebook as recommended by Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones. If you write about three pages every day, you’ll fill the notebook. If you don’t, then you will have a lot of pages to fill at the end of the month.

          In January, I had company as well as deadline. Because I wrote only a few paragraphs or a page or two each day, the last week of the month I had to fill 40 pages—which I did. My word count for that week was over 12,000 which also included a blog post and facebook thoughts for the magazines. I had to write fast to meet my monthly notebook deadline.

          Learning to write fast is essential for a working writer. Get all your thoughts down on paper as quickly as you can. This leaves you more time to rewrite, organize, make corrections, and polish your words—the real work of a professional working writer.

The initial act of writing is wild, spontaneous, exciting. When you reread what you wrote, you might not even remember some of these thoughts as they came so fast. Good. Those thoughts are what you really think without any filters. Work with them.

As I wrote in my post on 3/9/15:

 I think anyone interested in becoming a writer should read Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, and Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity by Ray Bradbury.

These books will also energize anyone who is already a writer. I often pick one of them up, flip open to a random page, read for a while then jump into writing.

           In Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury not only encourages writing, he also shares his story of becoming a writer then working hard to become a better writer. Read his work. His dedication and creativity are astounding.

He’s inspiring—hard not to be when he begins his essay “The Joy of Writing” on page 3 with:

Zest. Gusto. How rarely one hears these words used. How rarely do we see people living, or for that matter, creating by them. Yet if I were asked to name the most important items in a writer’s make-up, the things that shape his material and rush him along the road to where he wants to go, I could only warn him to look to his zest, see to his gusto.

          Bradbury notes on page 13:

In quickness is truth. The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon the truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.

Tiger-trapping. How exciting that makes writing sound! We are brave. Capturing truth. Following wherever our creativity leads us. Zest and gusto indeed!

Write with zest and gusto in a monthly notebook no one else will ever read. You’ll surprise yourself as well as come up with ideas for writing projects. I’ve written many essays and blog posts on thoughts I might never have discovered without scribbling in my notebooks which I take with me everywhere—like Natalie Goldberg, I carry a notebook-sized purse. Writing in public is inspiring in a different way than writing at home. Write wherever you are.

Word counts do matter. Not only in meeting specifications for projects, but quantity leads to quality. In filling these notebooks, you’ll find your voice, your rhythm, and your ability to meet deadlines no matter how short—all hallmarks of a working writer.

My word count for February 5-11 was 7,287.

2017 Writing Projects List

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

As a magazine editor and contributing writer, I have paid assignments for two magazines. As a freelance editor, I have paid projects. As a freelance writer, I have goals I’ve set for myself. I plan on writing about 410,000 words in finished pieces this year.

          Here is my current 2017 writing project list:

Magazine assignments:

(numbers will change as page counts go up or down by eight pages depending on ads)

12 Thoughts from the Editor columns, 450-500 words each

20 Q&A articles, 1,200-1,400 words each

50 articles, 800-1,200 words each

4 book columns, 500-1,000 words each

52 Facebook thoughts/book reviews, 250-500 words each

Total: about 100,000 words published

Blog:

52 posts, 250-500 words each

                                                Total: about 18,000 words

Freelance:

4 articles, 1,000-1,500                   

Total: about 4,000 words

Works-in-Progress:

Screenplay:

         Finish roughing out the plot.

Writing in proper format.

                                      Total: about 10,000 words

Book:

          Still roughing out the details.

          Notes and text, about 30,000 words

         

                                                Total: about 30,000 words

Fill 12 notebooks (80 pages each) with jottings a la Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, about 20,000 words each

                                                Total: about 240,000 words

Backpack Literature, 300-500—depends on assignments I audit

                                                Total: about 10,000 words

My planned word count total for 2017 is over 410,000, using averages. 
(Before editing and rewriting, the count will be over 500,000.)

I’ll post the actual word counts weekly to better keep me on track.

January 1-7 word count:

          Facebook    259

          Blog Posts   398 (current and future posts)

          Screenplay    75

          Book            181

          Notebook   3,403

              Total       4,316   

   

Ready, Set, Write! But What If I'm Blocked? Plus Bonus Recycled Essay

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          I’m ready to write. I’ve set aside time to write. I’m sitting in front of my computer, but I’m not writing…yet.

          It’s frustrating when I’m ready to write essays but nothing comes to mind. The only thing more frustrating when it comes to writing is when I have thoughts, ideas, or sentences in my head, but can’t write them down because I’m too busy doing something else.

          I sit here waiting for thoughts to come, my muse to visit, or for some glimmer of an idea. Too distract myself from becoming more frustrated, I look around my office.

On the shelves of a nearby bookcase, I have a favorite pair of small watercolor paintings of the same stand of maple trees—one done in the greens of spring and one in the golds and reds of fall. They are serene and beautiful. They also capture the passing of time.

          Time is the resource most writers need and most writers waste. If you have the time to write, then write. Keep going even when it is painful prying words out of your head. Eventually something will click. The flow of words will increase. The writing will become less painful.

In the rare cases when it doesn’t, I flip though one of my monthly notebooks looking for a phrase or an idea that inspires me to write now. I also keep a running list of topic ideas at the end of the list of all the posts I’ve written.

I write as long as I can, but if the words don’t start to flow I find it’s better to stop and take a walk or tidy up a room. Inspiration often strikes when I’m not writing. If I’m lucky, it strikes while I still have time to go back to writing at my computer. If not, I jot my ideas down in a notebook planning for my next writing session.

The best writing happens when I’m in the zone. I have an idea and just go with it. It seems so easy. However, sometimes writing is really hard work. I’m prepared with topics, but inspiration doesn’t always take the bait so I have to dig deep to uncover something else to tempt my muse. It’s worth the effort, but can be excruciating.

The reality is the more you write the less often writing is painful. But when it is painful, work through it. You will never get this time back so be ready to make the most of it—whatever it takes.

Below is an example of recycled writing mentioned in post dated 5/2/16. I wrote the essay for today's blog first. The recycled and yet new essay below appeared on my magazine’s facebook page.

On the shelves of a bookcase in my office, I have a favorite pair of small watercolor paintings of the same stand of maple trees—one done in the greens of spring and the other in the golds and reds of fall. They are serene and beautiful. They also capture the passing of time.

          Time is the resource most of us need, but most of us waste. These watercolors remind me I’m in my office to work. The sooner I finish, the sooner I can spend time on other—sometimes more fun—stuff.

          Since most of us have to work, it’s the downtime that we get to allocate. We prioritize family, friends, hobbies, TV shows, music, chores, errands, etc. Then there are unplanned emergencies or other surprises. Do we ever get this balance right?

          It would be nice if there were a savings bank for time. If we mow the lawn faster or fold the laundry quicker, we could sock those minutes away for another day, build up balances so we could be at every birthday party, dance recital, game, or get together.

          Since there isn’t a way to save time for another day, we are left to make the most of our time the best we can. It’s important to remember to enjoy the moments when we love exactly where we are and who we are with. These memories sustain us when we can’t be there.

          I read somewhere that Leap Day should be a worldwide holiday. It’s a bonus day. It should be treated with reverence and spent doing fun things we never have enough time for with the people we love.

          In fact, I think every holiday should be that way so make time for your mom this Mother’s Day. She spends a lot of time caring for and thinking about you. Return the favor.

          Memorial Day deserves our time, too. Line the town parade route on May 30 at 10am. Visit a military site or cemetery. These veterans gave not just their time to us; they gave their lives. There is no greater gift so remember and honor them and their loved ones.

We wouldn’t have the freedom to choose how we spend our time without their sacrifice. Thank you to all of them as well as all veterans and active military personnel.

Writing Longhand vs Keyboard

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

 

Somewhere long ago I heard someone say the physical act of continuous motion of your pen on paper connects your brain to your heart through your fingertips. You plug in your intuition. So, I write by hand every day. I doodle. I keep lists of ideas, which become a crazy haiku that I can sometimes decipher.

--Suzi Baum

 

For it would seem…that we write, not with the fingers, but with the whole person. The nerve which controls the pen winds itself about every fiber of our being, threads the heart, pierces the liver.

 --Virginia Woolf

 

Writing by hand is also like…"sculpting words with a pen".

I read that phrase recently, but couldn’t find it again so I don’t know who wrote it. Normally I underline phrases, sentences, or passages I like in books or copy them into my notebooks or common books, but this time I only remember reading it so I apologize for having no attribution, but the phrase is so true for me I had to include it.

Since I’ve studied graphology, I’m interested in handwriting. It does look artistic from many angles, but I know it’s a form of sculpture from the solid callous near the top joint of my middle finger  that formed over years of holding a pen firmly while I inscribed my words into paper. Yes, into paper. I write firmly enough to be able to feel the words on the back of pages when I’m scribbling fast and furiously.

I love to write longhand in my favorite 80-page notebooks with my favorite pens—I favor blue ink in the Bic Cristal 1.6mm pen. (Not a paid endorsement.) It’s inexpensive and fast-writing as my hand tries to keep up with my thoughts—the qualities of a useful pen as recommended by Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones (page 5). She prefers cheap Schaeffer fountain pens.

The point of being a writer is to write. Before I had any paid assignments, I followed Natalie Goldberg’s advice to fill a notebook a month using fast-writing pens. I wrote about anything and everything to get those pages filled. My ideas and feelings oozed out through my pen mixed with what I had read, heard, and learned along the way. Over time my writing style appeared and shaped my work. I wrote all the time. In short, it’s how I became a writer.

I did this for years while in school, before and after jobs I hated—sometimes during, too—until I started my first magazine staff writing job which I wouldn’t have landed without all the writing practice in notebooks. As I began to write more professionally, I still filled a notebook a month until my writing assignments took up the majority of my time.

Now I spend most of my professional writing time using a keyboard. Writing this way has its charms: easy to do, easy to read, easy to reorganize, easy to delete, and easy to email—which is I why I can work from home.

These are all the reasons I love writing using a keyboard and computer, but I will never give up filling notebooks with my thoughts, ideas, and quotes that appeal to me with attributions because I love the feel of a pen in my hand. I love how intuitive I feel when writing with a pen. I love filling pages with words leaving trails of ink in my unique style.

I also love looking at these notebooks years later. They are proof I have written as opposed to Word docs that were never printed out only emailed to editors to appear in magazine issues. Not only are these pages sculpted by the words I inscribed, but the filled notebooks are also haphazardly-piled colorful sculptures displayed on shelves around my home. I love knowing I’ve created art.

 

Get to the Fight!

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

 

          Half the battle of writing, for me, is getting started. Every morning, the short walk to my desk is suddenly filled with mental obstacles like chores I should finish, errands I need to run, shopping I have to do, family obligations, etc. It’s amazing the number of excuses my mind can conjure up—some of which do derail my day. Conversely, when I’m working through my To-Do List, all I long to do is write.

          Once I sit at my desk, the rest of the battle begins.

On a good day, I open a document, reread what I wrote then dive in. My fingers fly across the keyboard capturing my thoughts. I fight to find the right words and discover new ideas. It’s exhilarating!

          On “bad” days, I cannot think of what to write next. I feel blocked. I have doubts about my ability. When this happens, I have learned to switch to another project immediately. Don’t dwell even if the deadline for the first project is close.

          The key is to write. Don’t face a blank page. Have a list of projects and subjects to inspire you on days like this. Build on previous writing. Look in your monthly notebook for ideas. Write Six-Word Memoirs—a quick and fun endeavor that can alleviate stress. (See post dated 9/10/12 or visit www.smithmag.net, home of the Six-Word Memoir project.) Do whatever it takes to jump start your writing. Once you are in the groove, you can switch back to the first project.

          You want to get to the fight to find the right words and discover new ideas as soon as possible each day. That’s when you write things you didn’t even know you wanted to say in ways you hadn’t considered saying them all in your own voice.

That’s what makes fighting all the battles to write worth it!

 

 

My Writing Schedule--Inspired or Not

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

When inspiration strikes, I grab a notebook and scribble down my thoughts. Inspiration is unpredictable so a notebook is always nearby, but this kind of inspiration is fleeting. It doesn’t allow for a regular writing schedule.

A better schedule: I sit at my writing desk every day, inspired or not. If I sit there, I’ll write. As I write, I become inspired. I have time to start and stop, to try new things, and to toss out what is not working. There’s pressure to do my best and to meet upcoming deadlines, but it doesn’t affect me the way it can when I’m off schedule and deadlines are looming.

          My daily writing schedule doesn’t require a certain number of hours or pages. I simply sit at my desk five or six or more times a day and work—sometimes for half an hour, usually for an hour or two, and sometimes for three hours or more at a time. (A comfortable chair is essential. Thanks for my gift, Dad!)

Life doesn’t run on a precise schedule nor does my writing, but writing is always on my schedule. I start early, around 6am. I sometimes work late, especially during monthly deadlines for the magazines I write for and edit and for this blog with its weekly midnight Sunday deadline.

          Every writing day is different depending on deadlines, but, if forced to give hard numbers, on average I write about four hours a day and edit about three hours, but not in solid blocks. I start off writing, but if my thoughts and ideas falter, I switch to editing or planning other writing projects.

When I need a break, I take the dogs out to play ball, work around the house, complete what’s on my To-Do List, read books to review, or organize my freelance projects. Then I return happily to my writing desk. Writing is not only one of my jobs, it’s my calling.

This schedule sounds idyllic, but writing and editing are hard work. Fresh eyes are needed so breaks are necessary. Also, I’ve given only average hours for writing.

In reality, during the monthly deadline week for the magazines, I often work fifteen hours a day for four or five days writing, editing, and proofing to get the issues to the printer on time. If I waited until the last minute to write my blog post, I write and edit just that for four or five hours straight. I also have to meet deadlines for my freelance projects whatever time that takes.

Add to that, I’m human so when there is too much going on (visitors, a sick dog, a broken refrigerator, etc.), I sometimes rebel by putting off writing—a double punishment to myself as I’m not doing something I love/need to do and then I feel more pressure which makes writing harder.

Don’t make writing harder for yourself. Include it in your daily schedule.

Writers write. That’s the true writing schedule I live by every day.

Better Ways to Spend Your Days?

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          I read a lot so I cannot remember where I read about someone questioning whether there were better ways to spend your days than writing. I do remember thinking I should answer that question.

          For many, the answer is yes. Otherwise there would be many more books and blogs. On Kristen Lamb’s blog, WarriorWriters, she recently wrote that only 5% of writers finish their books.

          For me, the answer is no. I’m a writer. I’ve always been a writer. I’m sad/cranky/bored when I don’t write.

          Writing makes me think, makes me observant, makes me connect life’s dots.

As I go through my days, I take note of moments I want to write about later. As I pay more attention to my surroundings, my subconscious picks up on things I may miss at the time.  

When I have blank pages to fill, I rack my brain for these moments. My thoughts and observations help me make sense of life, especially my life.

That’s living at a deeper level than when I worked 9-5 at jobs I hated. I wasted time after work doing mindless things and being angry because I was unhappy—not better ways to spend my days.

          Is it difficult to fit writing into your days? Yes, there are often more fun things to do or more important things or more necessary things—laundry and dishes come to mind. Most ways to spend your days make your life a blur. You remember milestones, special events, tragic moments, but not a Thursday in September eight years ago. But if you write, you have a journal, a notebook entry on that day.

When I look back at my early notebooks and articles, part of me cringes. I hadn’t found my voice. I wasn’t organized. I used awkward phrases. I made mistakes—lots and lots of mistakes. But I can also see over many years of filling notebooks that I did find my voice. I organized my thoughts. My writing became less awkward and I made fewer mistakes.

Writing makes you a writer. If I’d been writing more through the years, I’d be an even better writer.

I had plans. I was excited about writing several different genres, but I gave in to unhappiness, anger, and exhaustion and gave up. My notebooks contained more whining than writing for a while.

For the last ten years, between writing articles and now blogging, I’m writing more. The more I write, the more I want to write. The more I write, the faster I write which creates time for even more writing. Want proof? I used to spend four or five hours on each of my posts when I was a new and nervous blogger. Now I write three posts in that same amount of time.

Recently, I’ve branched out into two other genres which I will write about in future posts because writing is a better way for me to spend my days.

Reads for Writers: Running from Safety by Richard Bach Provides a Masterclass

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

 

As a reader, I always love finding books that appeal to me. As a writer, I am twice as pleased when the authors also provide masterclasses within their books.

            Masterclasses take place when performance artists and musicians work one-on-one with students. Writers don’t generally have this option, but I have found some books to be masterclasses for characters, backstories, plots, settings, voice and/or creativity.

 

          Richard Bach has written about two dozen books, most of which I’ve enjoyed, but my favorite is Running from Safety: An Adventure of the Spirit.

From the back cover: If the child-we-were asked us today for the best we’ve learned from living, what would we tell, and what would we discover in return?

          How would you answer?

If you take this up as a writing prompt, it’s an enlightening experience. You might want to set aside an entire notebook or two to complete it.

In Running from Safety, Richard Bach has written a first-person mystical tale where the child he was is a 10-year-old character named Dickie. Together they reminisce, argue, discuss, agree and disagree about the past, present, and future. Richard is astonished to discover what he has forgotten or rewritten in his mind about his childhood.

As he considers Dickie’s observations and questions, both mundane and profound, he defends and explains himself. Even if the questions are painful, the child demands honesty. Bach's soul-searching answers contain mind-expanding wisdom.

The insights shared include:

“…Childhood was not something I was much trained to treasure. The point was to get through it. Learn as much as you can along the way, but hunch in, hold your breath, coast down that long powerless hill of dependence till you’re rolling fast enough to pop the clutch and start your engine on your own.” (page 49)

…Never had I understood that I command, with absolute authority, the ship of my life! I decide its mission and rules and discipline…I’m master of a team of passionate skills to sail me through hell’s own jaws the second I nod the direction to steer. (page 106)

“Like attracts like. It’ll surprise you as long as you live. Choose a love and work to make it true, and somehow something will happen, something you couldn’t plan, will come along to move like to like, to set you loose, to set you on the way…” (page 204)

          No! I thought. Don’t tell me that my security comes from somebody else! Tell me I’m responsible. Tell me security is a by-product of the gift I give of my skill and my learning and my love into the world. Tell me security comes from an idea given time and care. I claim this for my truth, no matter how many stable solid paychecks might come from the Accounting Department…Dear God, I thought, don’t give me a job, give me ideas, and let me take it from there! (page 214)

“…We build our personal world calm or wild according to what we want to live. We can weave utter peace in the midst of chaos. We can destroy in the midst of paradise. Depends on how we shape our spirit.” (page 222)

“Marriage is like nothing else you’ll ever live…brought together by miraculous magnetizing, found by incredible coincidence, soulmates discovered in the mystery of romance, you still have to work out problems together. Fascinating problems, it’s true, spicy tests lasting year after year, but lose romance and you lose the power to go on through hard times… (page 261)

 “Everything in the world of my consciousness, which is the only world that exists for me on earth, gets there through my consent…” (page 274)

          “…What matters, though, is how I use what I know every minute of every day; how I use it to remember… (Page 311-312)

          Running from Safety is one of the books I reread every few years because I get more out of it each time I consider Bach’s thoughts:

          How come we don’t know the answers until we find the question[s]… (page 140)

“…You don’t want a million answers as much you want a few forever questions. The questions are diamonds you hold in the light. Study a lifetime and you see different colors from the same jewel. The same questions, asked again, bring you just the answers you need just the minute you need them.” (page 141)

Who couldn’t use those questions?

 

Waiting for My Life by Linda Pastan

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          April is Poetry Month. While poetry in general may not be of interest when you are reading for fun, reading it is a wonderful way to improve your writing.

          Poets have unique ways with words. Reading their poems make me want to expand my writing vocabulary. I know many more words than I use. Writing poetry gives me a place to put them. No one has to know you write poems, long or short, in your notebooks. They are merely writing exercises. In fact, you can just write fragmented phrases as they come into your mind.

Poets convey thoughts and emotions in mind-bending ways. I always look at the world differently after reading poetry. I write differently, more deeply, too.

          I highly recommend writers read poetry by Billy Collins and Mary Oliver. (See posts dated 4/22/13 and 4/28/14 respectively.) And this year I recommend Waiting for My Life by Linda Pastan.

          Read "Secrets" on page 12. The first line: The secrets I keep from myself…tell me you couldn’t fill pages and pages with that writing prompt. It’s the core of a novel or play.

          Her poem, "Elegy", on page 24 shares where misplaced words never written down lurk and tarry.

          Trees are gnarled magicians in her poem, "November", on page 54.

          While words and images are the heart and soul of poetry, the presentation on the page adds to the impact. See the poem “blizzard” on page 59 where short lines pile up upon each other just like snow.

          Read poetry. Write poetically.

Writing poetically requires an open mind, observing eyes, and an expanded vocabulary. Deeper impressions appear on the page.

See what you can create using these tools.

 

 

Sitting at My Desk

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          In the winter, I sit at my desk more often. Dedication? Boredom? Cabin fever? Don’t know, but I can’t just sit there without writing. I have the time, the opportunity, so, even without inspiration, I write.

          I entice myself to sit there by putting a birdfeeder outside my office window. I think of it as an ‘air-quarium’ as all the color and activity soothes, mesmerizes, and entertains without have to clean out a fish tank.

          I may watch the birds for a moment or two or for a while—however long it takes until I start writing. The birds keep me from walking away too quickly.

          More writing is pulled out of me when I give it a venue. Thoughts—conscious, unconscious, or from my muse—appear on the page. I often surprise myself with phrases, sentences, and topics I don’t remember choosing.

This is my favorite kind of writing. It may or may not lead to essays, blog posts, or other projects, but it’s always gratifying. I have done my work. I have written. 

          This is what makes us writers. Lots of people write when they have assignments, speeches, or reports. Writers write without these goals just to discover and capture thoughts or distill our lives. It’s how we function.

          I love the feel of a pen in my hand. The way it sits between my thumb and forefinger while resting on the writer’s callous on my middle finger. I love the blurry lines of ink filling my notebook as I scrawl across the pages. I love the stacks of notebooks I have filled over the years.

          I love the feel and sound of the keyboard as I type in an uneven tempo as thoughts ebb and flow through my mind. I love the ease of saving, printing, reviewing and rewriting then publishing to this blog or emailing articles to magazines.

          This is tangible proof that I’m a writer—not to mention all the pens, notebooks, paper, and toner I have stockpiled—but it all starts with sitting at my desk inspired or not.

          Take a seat. Be a writer.

Does Writing Make You Happy?

From Kate’s Writing Crate…

          Lots of people say they just want to be happy, but they don’t get too specific beyond that. If writing makes you happy, then write. Simply fit it into your schedule every day.

          Tawna Fenske, who writes the blog “Don’t Pet Me, I’m Writing”, wrote four books in one year that all went on to be published. Her biggest writing secrets: while she does have a fulltime job and a family with pets, she doesn’t have cable TV and knows how to multi-task. (See her post dated January 20, 2015.)

          When I was working long hours at corporate jobs, I kept scraps of paper nearby so as ideas came to me I could scribble them down. Scrap paper I could turn over easily was much less noticeable than a notebook—and no one read my stuff.

          While I do have ideas at random times, my muse only shows up when I am working—and that means uninterrupted writing time. Now that I write and edit for a living, I don’t have a set writing schedule for my personal writing, but I do write every day. My professional writing assignments have deadlines so I have to schedule time around those dates as well as all other aspects of my life.

Without hard deadlines, I’m not always as driven to complete personal projects. (See my post dated November 5, 2012.) Life does get in the way—unexpected illness, appointments, chores, errands, responsibilities, going out for fun, etc. However, writing needs to be on that list!

To make sure I write every day, I keep pens everywhere and a small notebook in my purse, a regular notebook in my book bag as well as one next to my bed, in my office, in my car, and, just in case, one in a drawer in the bathroom. I have no excuses not to write down ideas or sentences that come to me that can lead in new directions or to new projects.

Even if you can only write for minutes at a time between caring for children, cooking, laundry, caring for elderly relatives, and working outside the house, write. When you have a little more time, flip through your notebooks for inspiration so you don’t waste a minute trying to think of a topic. Just write.

Make the most of your writing time however long or short that might be. It will all add up in the end. Every word you write down is part of a life-long love letter to yourself—and that should make you happy.

Writers and Their Notebooks

 

From Kate's Writer's Crate…

 

        If you are a writer or really want to be one, writing in notebooks is, I believe, essential. Not sure what to write about or need inspiration, read Writers and Their Notebooks edited by Diana M. Raab where 24 writers, including Sue Grafton and John DuFresne, expound upon and/or share excerpts from their notebooks.

        This thought-provoking book is divided into five parts:

 

Part 1—The Journal as Tool

James Brown (page 8): Writers…need to hang on to our experiences, both the crushing and the joyous, and through reflection, either by keeping a journal before we begin a project or during its writing, we hope to come to a better understanding of who we are, what we've become, and where we are going. That's where you'll find your best stories, the ones that makes sense of the chaos we call our lives.

Sue Grafton (page 9): The most valuable tool I employ in the writing of a private eye novel is the working journal…from "C" Is for Corpse on, I've kept a daily log of work in progress. This notebook (usually four times longer than the novel itself) is like a letter to myself, detailing every idea that occurs to me as I proceed.

 

Part 2—The Journal for Survival

Kathleen Gerard (page 63): [After the unexpected death of her father when she was 14]…My early efforts at keeping a journal were sporadic, and what I conveyed was rather repetitive. But that was the beauty of it—there were no rules…My journal became a safe place where my voice and my feelings could finally be heard, and my perceptions counted.

 

Part 3—The Journal for Travel

Wendy Call (page 87): My journal is like a nest, a tangle of shiny trinkets and bits of string: words, sentence fragments, disconnected paragraphs, pages torn from magazines, photographs, even small objects glued into holes I've carved into pages…Dorothy Allison calls her writer's journal "a witness, a repository, and a playground.

 

Bonnie Morris (page 98): A date with my journal is the most pleasant of outings. Off we go to the movies, where so many strange childhood memories float to the surface in the twenty minutes before the lights go down. Everyone wonders if I'm a film critic. But no…I'm using that comfy, faux-velvet chair time, Junior Mints melting on my tongue, to write about last week's insult or this year's romance or any number of thoughts.

 

Part 4—The Journal as Muse

John DuFresne (page 119): You're a writer now, and a writer writes. Any time, any place. That's his or her job. So take your tools with you wherever you go. The Muse is as likely to sit across the bar from you as to come by your office for a chat, and you want to be prepared when she taps you on the shoulder…

 

Part 5—The Journal for Life

Kyoko Mori (page 160): I allow my thoughts to roam and meander rather than come to the point of order too soon. In the process, I usually discover that my mind is not as empty as I feared. There are a lot of ideas I've been tossing around, and they even have an overall pattern and direction…In my notebook, I can look for the story I would tell…

(Kyoko Mori also loves writing with a blue Pilot Vball pen—although extra fine instead of fine point.)

 

At the end, Editor Diana M. Raab wrote: Appendix I: Use Journaling to Spark Your Writing listing tips and Appendix II: A Journaling Workout listing writing prompts.

        A long list of sources and further readings at the end of the book provides even more inspiration.

        Since most writers work alone, it is comforting to find others who keep notebooks and are willing to open them up to fellow scribes.

 

How do you feel about writing in n