I’ve been compared to a cave woman for still long-handing. My favorite novelist, Richard Smyth, (who humbles himself to put up with messaging me from time to time) compared it to the lost art of making clothes from potato sacks. haha

I wish I were talented enough for that:

I love the ridiculous jokes and comparisons that come out of it! But there is something to the art of being able to sit down anywhere you want with a pen and paper. It doesn’t matter where I go, or what I do, I can carry a pad of paper and a writing utensil to jot down ideas. Sure laptops and 2-in-1s are pretty light now, but they also offer the distractions of that wondrous gateway to the world: the internet.

I’m currently on a little trip. I have brought my 2-in-1 and notebooks and pens, but I leave my computer for things like this: blog posts, checking stats, and such. My notebooks and pads of paper always have and always will travel easier. They’re more honest. Instead of the taunting flash of a cursor, or the glow of a screen, I have the plain physical element of feeling my words as they flow out of me without my eyes growing heavy.

Okay, I’ll shut my damn mouth and stop preaching about long-handing. Teehee Because computer or paper, you can and should write everywhere. I often joke that I’m not prolific (or rich) enough to own a fancy writing desk. (Currently I don’t even have a crappy writing desk) But in truth, I enjoy the freedom of not being confined to one specific stagnant hunk of wood. (My apologies to desk advocates everywhere)

I’ll have a desk soon enough. I’m starting a technical writing position at Skywalker AV on Monday. But for creative writing, for literary kerfuffles, I have grown so used to spilling my guts on a page in the woods, in a tree, on a porch, wherever, that I doubt I’ll ever wish to just sit in the same place every time I sculpt a story.

Writing everywhere and anywhere you can offers inspiration at every turn. People often ask, “What inspires you?”

Anyone who gives a straight answer is full of shit. (I’m convinced of this)

How can you pinpoint any one thing?

I guess I’m inspired by other people: 

or my dog:

or trees (yes, I love trees):

Sometimes candy inspires me:

Or a damn fin song:

The sun! The sun is often inspiring. Can’t mention the sun without adding the moon in there too…

You get the point.

Changing when you write and how you write offers enough variety that you can grasp at new elements and shape stories that are different each time. I don’t want everything I write to be the same. That would be boring.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t love your desk if you have one, but if you get writer’s block (what is this mythical syndrome, I have never experienced it?) change it up. Go sit outside. Become a huge cliche and write in a coffee shop (just please don’t do it everyday, that’s just annoying haha)

Honestly, whatever works for a writer is what works. I’m just saying it’s fun to keep things interesting and a writer should never be tied to any one routine. Having one is great, but if it shifts that could be detrimental to you work. Keeping flexible allows room for movement.