Writing in the 21st Century requires so
much more than paper and pencils. Each
writer has their own necessities which almost always include some sort of
munchable and drinkable. Despite the
obvious need for sustenance, one might ask what are the required working
materials for a modern day scribe?
Computer-
this tool is required for the actual construction of literary greatness, the
caliber of which will change the history of publishing and bestseller’s lists
for eternity. With the limits of
typewriters, (do they still make those?) authors must upgrade if they want to
remain competitive.
Paper-
must be blank on at least one side for printing your fine, history-making best
seller upon. Be sure to use a good
marker (you know one that won’t bleed through) to X out your kid’s homework on
the other side since you ran out of printer paper again.
Internet-
The Swiss Army knife of writing. Permits
a Google search at a moment’s notice, can carry on no less than four Facebook
chats about how you aren’t getting your work done fast enough for that deadline
next week and follow five Twitter conversations about how to write “Hit Lit” so
you can make more money than Twilight
and retire to Fiji while you are still a smokin’ hottie, all while writing a
blog post about writer’s block.
Music-
For listening to that carefully crafted mood-setting playlist. You will also need knowledge for building new ones. This
will eliminate the risk of finding yourself without means to set the
appropriate mood and tone when no teenagers happen to be nearby.
Pens-
of various colors so when you revise and write all over that heartfelt manuscript
the edits look like a rainbow and therefore make you smile instead of feeling
convinced your life’s work permanently belongs in a slush pile.
Caffeine- Seriously? I'm not even going to insult you with an explanation!
Tissue
- THE most important supply for a writer.
Why tissue? Tissue for those
dark, private moments when you open those letters from publishers or contests
knowing it will be yet another “thank you, but...” letter. Because, even though you’ve heard, “If you
haven’t received at least three rejection letters this week, you aren’t trying
hard enough,” you still don’t want to add another one to your collection.
Tissues for those moments when you are sitting at
your computer, bundled up in blankets with your hot tea or coffee, waiting to
die from the Avian Flu you probably caught from that snot-covered kid at the
grocery store last week. But there you
sit anyway, writing—and, constantly wiping and blowing your bright red nose,
hoping you finish before death comes calling.
And tissues for those scenes that sneak up on
you. The ones that make you ache with
anxiety or tremble in fear as if you were your character. Scenes that make you sob with happiness, blurring
the screen as you continue to type.
Scenes, so heart-wrenching they haunt you until finally images explode
into words, bringing with them so much relief that tears flow silently as you sit
oblivious to the world around you.
Finally, we need tissues for those moments when all
our sacrifice, all our fretting and editing, all our hand cramps and caffeine
buzzes come to fruition. We need tissues
because, if we did it just right, our work, our words, our worlds, touch
somebody’s soul— making a difference in someone’s life, making someone smile
when they are sad, or making someone weep because they are finally understood. Our writing, can give them the hope that
passion and dreams can come true for the "every man". At the very least, we give someone the escape
they need on a rainy day. This is why
writers need tissues.
I write this blog entry in preparation for what I
anticipate will be a very difficult weekend for me. I have been struggling with a key scene in my
WIP for over a week now. It is an
uncomfortable scene for me to write for a number of reasons (I can’t get into
them all now, it will ruin the book.).
Each time I sit down, I get anxious, my shoulders twist up into knots
and I start editing before I even type.
This has created one crabby and frustrated Christine. Therefore, this weekend, I will need all of
the above—especially tissue—because I am not leaving my writing space until the
scene is finished! No matter what! So someone—PLEASE—bring me a fresh supply of
caffeine sometime Sunday morning. Thank
you!!!
Help me out! Just in case my weekend lock-in doesn't work: How do you make it through a scene that is
difficult (for whatever reason) for you to write?
Stay Groovy,
Christine Benson
