I work at a local art school in the office. One day, I was taking a break where the kids were. I chatted with one of them and he asked if he could write some poetry. I said sure and went to find some paper. The first paper I found was a stack of fliers for an event from 2004. They were also pink. But they were perfectly blank on the back side, so I grabbed a few sheets and brought them back.
As expected, the kid looked at me like I was crazy. Pink paper with stuff already on it, what was I thinking? So I told the kid exactly what I was thinking. "Hey, real writers write on what they have. There's no magical writing paper; you need a blank surface and something to write with, which you have."
Before the kid could respond, one of the teachers spoke up. "That's right. I use whatever I have. And if I don't have any paper, I'll write on my hand."
The boy stopped protesting and instead accepted the paper. I felt pretty proud of myself right there. I was also happy that I wasn't alone there.
And although I said what I did to placate a boy who was incredulous to use pink paper, I really did mean what I said. Writers write on what they have. If you don't have your notebook or your folded up piece of paper or your digital memo pad, grab a scrap of paper somewhere. There is still a lot of paper all over the place that you can write on. And if there is absolutely no paper to be found,k then write on your skin. Just remember to look at it and transfer it to a more permanent format before your next shower.
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. . . I've written the inside of a gum wrapper and the sole of my shoe before. Writing has a way of forcing itself into the world one way or another. It's a bossy act.
ReplyDeleteI stick with post it notes. They are perfect for summarizing my ideas. I package them up into little 10-30 word rambles, and when I look at them my brain retrieves the rest of the idea.
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