So tell me writers, and readers. When you write, if you write, how do you decided what to write about? If you’re anything like me, you have rolling thoughts coming and going throughout the day. I often find myself analyzing that inner dialogue - looking for ways to form it into interesting words on a blank sheet. While walking along a creek, looking at the birds, the sky, or the flowers I’m struck with the beauty of it all and really want to express how it feels to have the internal and external ugliness of life melt away. Other times, I might be driving through town, observing the garbage, the graffiti, the woman resting in a parking lot next to her cart of what I assume is all she has, and the guy on the corner with his pants nearly falling off looking as if he’s barely able to stand upright. I’m struck with the uncomfortable feeling of hopelessness and want to express the anger and despair. I want to scream and shout - what the frack is going on and, why isn’t someone doing something to help? (any Battlestar Galactica fans out there?) Why am I not doing something to help, and what the hell would help?
I think these things throughout the day; the good, the bad, and the ugly. In my head I plan how I would write about how what I experience in the world makes me feel. Once in a while I come up with sounds pretty good - entertaining, beautiful, clever, thoughtful, poetic. When I sit down to write - fingers hovering over the keys - and the clever, poetic words are nowhere to be found, or they come out all cattywampus. Oh the humanity! Oh well, C’est la vie.
Picture taken from Bikram Yoga Fremont Street in Portland, Oregon
Do you every have a familiar song in your head that comes out all wrong? You’re singing it with perfect pitch along with background music and all, but when you open your vocals to belt out the tune it sounds nothing like what you imagine in your head? No? Just me then. Well this is just like the writing process for me. Getting my colorful imagination down on this virtual paper feels like trying to push fine gold thread through a tiny sewing needing in pitch black darkness.