February 27th, 2007 
Now and then I do something to push and inspire me to write.
As I said in a previous post, February has always been a brutal month for me in terms of creativity. Anything I can do to root myself in the right direction seems the thing to do.
It can be something as simple as a new (cheap) pen or as complex as listening to a Charles Ives piano piece.
That said, I found myself at Borders in Copley Square last Saturday morning with a 25$ gift card I’d received at Christmas.
I had about an hour to kill and began my search for the perfect whatever.
It didn’t take long before I found a Chuck Klosterman book
I absolutely love the way he writes.
The book was $14.
I had more money to spend.
And spend it I did.
I’m writing this post in a Moleskine
The quality of the paper we write on is obviously not as important as what we write.
But the line spacing in the Moleskine is a bit different than what I’m used to and I can’t help but wonder if that will affect the way I write.
The paper is smooth as silk, to be honest.
More words are finding their way onto the page and I’m hoping that my writing flow improves in some way.
Obviously, I have to write for this to even have a chance to work. (duh)
I have also decided to read for at least 45 minutes to an hour every day, a minuscule allotment I realize but with my working hours it’s all I can reasonably spare.
I’m thinking about doing a writing exercise modeled after Julia Cameron’s “Morning Pages” called “Night Pages”– three pages of continuous long hand writing about anything; basically it’s a free-write that’s crazy out of control.
I’m hoping to empty out any extraneous bullshit swimming around in my gallon or so of cerebrospinal fluid; a purging of thought and a mental dusting of the long forgotten cranial shelves that possibly harbour literary gems I can (for right now) only dream of.
I am committed to this writing thing, (and should be committed. period.) but I’m also curious . . .
What keeps you writing against all odds?
Here’s an awesome meme from Red, do it if it feels right… (I refuse to tag you!)
“If your life were a film, what would your soundtrack be?”
So, here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
Opening Credits: Kid Zero – Fourplay
Waking Up: I got the news - Steely Dan
Life: Angel in the House – The Story
Falling in Love: Morph the Cat – Donald Fagen
Make-out Scene: Embraceable You – Joe Sample (how perfect)
Breaking Up: All you need - Mike Stern
Mental Breakdown: The Border – Mr. Mister (Richard Page at his finest)
Driving: Late Night Duke Street – Acoustic Alchemy
Getting Back Together: All I know – Jimmy Webb ( I love this man. . . kinda)
Wedding: Panama – Van Halen (David Lee Roth, rocked)
Birth of Child: East of Eden – Michael McDonald (no words)
Final Battle: Sneaking up on Boo Radley – Bruce Hornsby (again, no words)
Death Scene: Route 17 - Lee Ritenour
Funeral: Blue Monk – Thelonious Monk
End Credits: Eraser – Nine Inch Nails
If you do this meme, puuleeese let me know.
I’d love to see your tunes
~m
