Tools of the Trade

It’s not a problem, it’s a collection.

How does your writer write? When I was a kid, I was fancy and used my family’s humongous desktop computer. I started with WordPerfect (and its horrible blue screen), then moved up to Microsoft Word.

I also rarely finished a story.

That’s partially because I enjoy the process of making something more than the final product (which is why I’ve been working on the same quilts for years.). It’s also because computer screens are terrifying. They’re a lot wider than a book, so what would be a good-sized paragraph on a 6”-wide paperback is a sentence-and-a-third on a computer screen. That makes me nervous, which pushes me to overwrite, and suddenly I’m the lady who swallowed a thesaurus.

Right around the time I started writing with Betsy, I figured that writing was much less intimidating when I did it on paper. In fact, the size of the paper was directly proportional to the size of my fear. Smaller paper = less fear. I had also just started experimenting with inexpensive fountain pens. As one of my closest friends says, I love a color I can touch. My mom told me that inkjet printer paper takes fountain pen ink really well, so I started making my own little notebooks out of that with scrapbook paper for covers.

I couldn’t write fast enough. I’ve always had the urge to use up every drop of ink in my pens, but now I had an even better reason to do so: I could fill them with different colors of ink. It turns out I’m partial to oranges, purples, and greens; my favorite is a problematic blue/red shimmer that doesn’t play nicely with some of my pens.

I drafted most of my book in those little notebooks. I write longhand during classes and Thursday and Friday Night Writes. I take notes for work longhand (and in cursive!). I’m kind of slow, sure, but I’m also a much better writer when I write longhand. My brain has time to catch up with my hand. I’m more deliberate with my word choice. I’m also more concise.

Before I opened The Wordshop, I toyed with the idea of making it a computer-free zone. Then I learned that not being able to write on a computer was a deal-breaker for a lot of kids, especially high school students. Writers are welcome to write however they feel comfortable, even if that means they’re writing on their cell phones. (It happens more than you think.) But several of the middle schoolers have fallen in love with the communal fountain pens. I can’t wait until they run out of ink.