where do you write?

okay, so for the past few months, i've been spending more time and energy in trying to vary not only when and how, but where i write. used to be a hardcore sit-in-front-of-the-computer-and-type kinda guy, but that was mainly a force of habit combined with very poor penmanship skills.

that and i used to be a very quick and accurate typer. now, not so much, but hey, lack of practice makes lack of perfection, yeah?

but last year in idyllwild, while at poetry camp, i discovered that i really enjoyed lying on my stomach and writing longhand. or scribbled longhand/block letters... depending on how fast i was writing. the surprising thing was how i found myself leaning into the page as i was furiously and illegibly scratching letters into the page. it became a much more visceral experience than it had been previously... like back when i used to work out on a regular basis... that kind of intensity into ordering the words in just the right way.

and two weeks ago, i finally broke down and bought a couple of those cute little writing journals that you see people who fancy themselves writers carrying to places like starbuck's and squinting their pricily caffeinated eyes into and pouring out their souls like a custom carafe of coffee.

i find myself switching places, styles and times much more often lately, now that i've provided myself with more tools... and the funny thing is... i find myself changing how i word things depending on where i am and what i'm writing with/on. the funniest part is that i've been using it in editing mode very heavily. if i get stuck in a particular phrase or mode of thinking and start banging my head against the wall... i switch modes. rewrite a typed page into the journal. transcribe a journal entry into an email so i can work at it from any computer. lie down and scribble.

the most helpful part has been making sure that when i'm burning out on an approach i either a) switch modes or b) i start over in the mode that i'm in... meaning that i transcribe whatever i've done so far... allowing myself just by the physical process of writing to pull myself back into that frame of mind... it's amazing how your body will lead your mind where it needs to go when you start learning the right tricks to let it wander a bit more freely than our nine to five lives seem to allow us to explore.