Writing lesson for Myself

This morning I was doing a little Pinterest browsing and I ran across a  blog that I really found helpful. It was all about how this one person would advise another writer what he or she might need to be a more productive writer. I wanted to weigh in on this subject on my own, if I could.

I have been a writer since I was a child, according to my mom. I may have already shared that on a previous post. But I wanted to do a little reflection about the "how" I normally wrote - the tools that I would use. "Back in the day" there were no computers, just paper and a typewriter, if you wanted to get really fancy. But when I was creating poems as an eight-year-old, I wanted a notebook and a pencil. I wasn't very particular. As a teenager, I became a snob for college-ruled paper. And I wanted pens now. And I became a snob for the "right" pen as well. I was always in search of the one I liked best. It made me feel like I was a true writer.

Now? Well I have all of the latest tech stuff at my disposal. I have used much of it. I have tried using the typical software programs. They worked fine except for the occasional jump of a mouse and erasing large portions of the writing. (Fat fingers?) And then I got a few of the apps - OneNote, Writer, Binder, etc. What I found was that the "idea" of it interested me more than actually using them. Okay, so I needed to remember something while I was writing. What was I going to do, get my phone and try to find the app? By the time I got to a place where I could stop and actually record the thought I had, I had already forgotten what it was!  That just doesn't work for me.

Then I walked through the aisles of Barnes and Noble and larger department stores and find interesting notebooks. I would hoard them - seriously! I at one point had seven small notebooks/journals that were completely blank, waiting for some inspiration to use them. Then I would realize, after I had already spent the money to purchase them, that they were not, in fact, college ruled. UGH. So I would then go to Walmart and find regular old notebooks - spiral, composition, whatever - and buy them. They were perfect. I brought them home and didn't feel guilty about writing in them, as I did when I cracked open the more expensive notebooks.

OK, enough about that. 

Then I found Scrivener. Yes, it cost me a pretty penny, but I actually use it. It is a wonderful software program designed specifically for writers. But I did get, as still do, a little frustrated because I am not as techie as I wish I was. I just don't seem to have the time, or brains, to truly understand how to fully utilize that wonderful program. Well, I have used it and I do LOVE it tremendously. I have many projects on it and and can put MANY more on it. But I cannot use it while I am out and about. Also, the creativity....I will address that in a minute.

I now sit with my plain composition notebook that is graphed and am going to town on my current story. Let me explain why.

I can type pretty darn fast, for me anyway, and my word count for any writing project goes so quickly. There is a word count on Scrivener and it is so helpful when I am trying to complete a project. I can sit down and within about an hour I can have over 1000 words knocked out. For me that is a huge accomplishment. HOWEVER, I cannot count the number of times when I sit in front of that screen and just stare because the words just won't come. Writer's block. I close the laptop and quit.

Of course that is not the correct answer for a writer. A writer is supposed to write. The creativity is just supposed to flow freely. A writer's thoughts should always overflow from the brain to some kind of page. So I grab my paper and a fun, fancy pen, and the thoughts just flow! WHAT?

I have come to the conclusion. I am the kind of person who is going to need to write things out longhand and take breaks if I need to avoid my carpal tunnel pain.  The thoughts just flow freely and I LOVE the process of writing. It is therapeutic for me.

Of course, I eventually transfer everything to Scrivener, and that, for me, is my first editing process. This takes longer, of course, but if it works for me, then I would rather have notebooks full of of words that I have taken time to pour my soul in to than sit and write words that will eventually get all cut because I didn't enjoy the process.