For some, there’s pleasure in the transfer of ideas via pen – or pencil – onto paper. Others may prefer the rhythm of their voices activating speech recognition software. There are those who cling to the typewriter or to obscure software programs they learned years earlier. I write on a laptop using MS Word – fairly predictable, fairly standard.
I know writers who must be at a certain place – a desk, a room, a coffee shop – to write. They may play a particular soundtrack or recording , or even the TV in the background, to release their muse. I write in silence, not needing a specific location, as long as I can find a chair that accommodates my back.
The variety of things we writers claim to need in order to write is almost endless – scented candles, sounds, images taped on the wall, hot tea or coffee, or water, or wine. I confess, there are times I let the “requirements” be an excuse, so that I don’t have to struggle with the process on that particular day. But then I recall Philip Roth’s words:
The road to hell is paved with works in progress.
And I sit down, open the laptop and write. Simply write. Because any day when I put words together to tell my story, no matter how few, is a good day.