Back to School Time

I love back to school season. It used to be one day, usually the Tuesday after Labor Day, but now it is a whole season, with local schools now starting as early as early August. 

I love buying school supplies, even as an adult. It inspires me.

This season calls to mind Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail, when he reflects on sending Meg Ryan a “freshly sharpened bouquet of pencils.” 

As a writer, I think I love school supplies because I value the ability to write with pen and paper instead of on a computer.  Being able to purchase insane amounts of pens, pencils, paper and notebooks for less than $5.  This year I bought a folder featuring Star Lord, Rocket, and Groot from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

It’s a great time of year.

Tales From Writing My Book: Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I’m still distracted.  I sit down to write and manage to send a few emails, write a blog entry, and have a conversation.

I’ve realized that I can’t work on my book on my laptop.  This book is non-fiction, and writing it requires a different part of my brain. Normally I can bang out pages upon pages of fiction on my computer, but this new book is a different kind of beast.  Now I’m using notebooks-pink of course-with pink pens. (Everything must be pink.  That’s just me)  I can write much easier with pen and paper, and then I do the editing when I transfer the work in the notebook to the computer.

I suppose this is just another writing quirk that I didn’t know I had.  I used to write with pen and paper all the time, but eventually my little netbook became my best friend.  Now we’re like a big family.  Every piece has its place, and while it will take longer to write this book with pen and paper and multiple revisions as it moves from page to screen, I’m confident that the quality will be that much greater because of the process.