I like to chew my pen.
It’s not cool.
Especially when someone asks to borrow a pen and you have to hand them one with bite marks. Because you don’t have any without.
But it’s part of my writing process. I chew while I think.
I start most stories with pen and paper. I finish most stories on a PC.
I was trying to think about why this week. Firstly, I write everywhere. I can’t lug a laptop to all the places I write, but I can always have a piece of paper and pen stuffed into a bag somewhere. Secondly, pen to paper helps me get started.
I need the freedom to see a couple of ideas play out. To see the missteps. To follow the idea down the wrong hole.
And then to get the idea that works. I feel it in my pen. Where the words flow.
Also, I touch type, so it’s harder to write on paper. It takes more effort and force. So, I tend not to waste words. Sometimes typing is too easy. It’s too easy to use all the words. Instead of just the ones you need.
But then, comes the point where I need the ease of typing. When the words stop flowing and there’s lots of crossing out and starting again and frustration.
This is the point where I switch.
I switch to my laptop, where the beauty of backspace exists. Where I can keep it clean and just follow the one idea through to the end.
Although the end can be hard. Sometimes, I type while biting my pen.
It’s not cool, but it works.
How do you write? Pen, PC… dictaphone?
