Oh, It’s Tuesday: “How” Do You Write?
Jul27

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Oh, It’s Tuesday: “How” Do You Write?

I usually write in bed. In fact, I am writing this in bed, with back support provided to me by my husband — the stuffed kind, which was funnily enough, given to me as a back-saving gift from my real husband when I was pregnant. As for the three hours a day that I dedicate to writing business and writing-writing, I used to do those hours in bed, too, but as of this spring, I’ve been officially using my basement office. I have my grandfather-in-law’s heavy wood desk down there along with a swanky ergonomic chair, both of which I bypass to write on the gnarly basement couch with my feet up and my dog Tulip snoring while snuggled against my legs. I write in silence (aside from the soundtrack of Tulip snoring and my baby playing with my MIL upstairs) and in comfortable clothing. I do own a vintage orange typewriter, but I don’t actually write on it. I write on the MacBook Air, which I promised I would buy for myself if I ever got a book deal.

I don’t know why I can’t seem to get into writing at a desk. I wrote in a proper chair all the way up until I got my post MFA day job. M/b I wrote fiction in bed to separate it from my actual work back then. But now that fiction writing has become my actual work, and I’m still writing with my feet up. Go figure.

But that’s “how” I write. I often wonder how other writers write though. I imagine they actually use their writing desks with nice music playing in the background and clever little desk buddhas and all sort of other romantic writer accoutrements. Let me know if that’s true in the comments.

Also… I hate when I do this. I made a note to myself to write about “how” I write on Tuesday. And I know this idea was inspired by someone or something I read, but I can’t remember what it was, so now I’ve nothing to cite back to. I guess I’ll just direct you to Evelyn N. Alfred’s blog, where she’s taking us through the process of writing a song step-by-step. Fascinating!

Friendly reminder! My last book event of the summer is THIS THURSDAY at Esowon Books in LA!