gift
The Humble Soapnut - A Guide to the Laundry Detergent that Grows on Trees ebook by Kathryn Ossing
will be released to subscribers in: soon!
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Nancy Reading
  • Carla Burke
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
  • Jay Angler
  • Liv Smith
  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • Timothy Norton
gardeners:
  • thomas rubino
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin

Writing tools, writing rituals

 
steward & author
Posts: 38381
Location: Left Coast Canada
13632
8
books chicken cooking fiber arts sheep writing
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Do you have a lucky pen?  A special tea?  A comfy chair or some other special tool or ritual that you use to help you write?  Something that helps you focus on the task at hand - to write.

Researching for a project, I noticed that I was having a hard time focusing on the library books I was reading.  So I dug out an old portfolio I used in University and one of my oldest fountain pens and started taking notes.  Before I know it, it's midnight and time for bed.  It was funny, but using the tools I used to have when I needed to do this kind of work, right away put me in the correct mind frame to get things done.  

What about you?  What are your rituals and tools that help you write?

 
steward
Posts: 6440
Location: United States
3118
transportation forest garden tiny house books urban greening the desert
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
As odd as it may seem, what helps me write things is not doing anything related to the task at hand, because for some reason, doing other stuff lets my brain figure stuff out. And that's kind of how ideas/answers pop into my head.

As for tools, I find that scraps of paper, sticky notes, and tiny notebooks help me write, because my thoughts usually come to me throughout the day, and so, collecting sticky notes is kind of my thing. I don't write professionally or anything like that, but it's a good way for me to save memories that I want to be able to remember later.
 
pollinator
Posts: 153
Location: Mid-Atlantic zone 5ish
32
forest garden trees woodworking wood heat
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Great question! I do a lot of writing and have different 'optimal conditions' for different kinds of writing.

Spiritual type of stuff I have a square and compass, not as any freemasonry tools but as practical ways of designing with sacred geometry. For this sort of art/prayer I also have preferred spots, quiet and private spots and preferably spots I go back to again and again for this mindset.

For much other writing, poetry or blog posts or lectures, I like inspiring music, especially hip-hop beats and/or moving guitar riffs. Listening to Aesop Rock (e.g. Battery) really gets my writing juices flowing - as his are overflowing! I guess for me 'art begets art' so in general being in the midst of art helps me write. Sometimes I write my best ideas, poems, and short stories at concerts or art exhibits, out of sudden inspirations!

For general tools, a sharp or mechanical pencil and loose leaf has been my go-to, but I may change that up with ideas from this thread.
 
I like you because you always keep good, crunchy cereal in your pantry. This tiny ad agrees:
Heat your home with the twigs that naturally fall of the trees in your yard
http://woodheat.net
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic