Do you scribble on the back of old receipts? Maybe use a leather-bound notebook? Do you go straight for a laptop? What about going old school with a typewriter?
I'm a notebook kind of girl. I like scribbling notes and rewriting before I type it up on my laptop. Honestly, my notebooks have always been a mess (penmanship has never been a skill of mine). And throughout this pandemic, my approach to my notebook has...changed somewhat.
Introducing...Minerva (after my favourite Hogwarts professor). Yes, I named my notebook.
Please ignore my terrible lighting/photography skills, not to mention my messy desk.
i love your notesbooks. They are works of art all by themselves!! : )
I am so impressed. I usually compose on screen, but I can see why you don't. I do have notebooks and places where I jot down ideas. Often I post directly on Allpoetry.com when I am inspired. When I realized how vulnerable my work was (just floating in cybercpace -totally at the mercy of the site), I printed out hard copies. I have no system for submitting anything. I think I submitted something once. I really need to get with it. Thanks for sharing your process. : )
I grab whatever writing utensil and whatever paper I can find so I don't forget. I have scribbles and notes everywhere. I have learned that even though I may tell myself, that I will remember a phrase, or cool words, or whatever, I almost never do.
This is my current notebook/planner stack for 2021. And yes, this is the desk in my home office. The notebooks are actually brightly colored, but I loved how this B&W shot of them turned out.
When it comes to composing poetry, a leather bound notebook is my favorite way to do it. I like to use a fountain pen and an ink color to suit my mood. I scribble ideas, fragments of lines, whatever I need and then circle completed poems in the book. I have a smaller second notebook that I often handwrite the poems into, but I haven't kept up with it. Usually I type the finished poems into Evernote where they are easier to store before I cut and paste them into submission emails.
Honestly, I would love a better system to store and catalog my poems. Not just to find them when creating chapbooks/collections, but to know that they are in a place where they won't get lost.
As I don't have a mobile phone i use paper and pen, but not always having those handy i have to repeat the idea/lines in my head until i can jot it down. As i am a rhymer it is not so difficult. Rhymes have been used for hundreds of years for remember thing and i still use that method. I have pieces of paper going back years with a line or two that i look at from time to time. That being said i am going to buy a Dictaphone as my memory has started to fail. I would love it if someone would pose the question what is poetry?
Phone and Laptop
I write from my house almost all the time.
Sometimes,when I prefer different scenery,in back of Uber or in a restaurant,like yesterday(since I decided to write a poem literally title "For the Heck of It",because I was frustrated with current life circumstances.)
Otherwise,mostly in my room or somewhere in house.
Whenever the inspiration hits, I'm usually within access of my phone so I quickly open notes and get out whatever is stirring in my head. Once I'm able to sit and work, I get the structure of pieces done with pen and paper for a rough draft. I finish everything off on the computer. It's a long process but in this way I'm able to build up my work and get all the details together thoroughly.
Since I have nature in my backyard living on a farm. I write alot outside. The forest is a huge friend that always stands up for me. We have a lake on the property so sometimes I sit there and ponder. My dogs and alot of coffee is mostly present. If I write indoors I usually does it snuggled up in the sofa corner. With the dogs competing for attention.
I often use the notes app on my mobile to write scraps of poetry that occur to me while I am drinking coffee in a cafe or sitting in my garden. Sometimes I scribble things in a notebook or on scraps of paper. Later these bits and pieces progress to my laptop for some editing.
I tend to have 3 or 4 notebooks on the go, scraps of paper, post it notes and whatever I type on pc....you could say that I'm well organised...but you'd be lying!
I tend to throw an idea into a notes app, and then work and rework it on the laptop. Once I'm happy with it, I handwrite it into a notebook. Kind of back to front I know, but I love having them handwritten, but hate seeing crossed out reworkings!
I normally type up my poems on my phone in the notes app since it is always with me. I have a designated folder for them.
Notebook person myself. Always have pen and paper near me.
I love that you named your notebook after my head of house! 😉
I usually write on my laptop (makes for easier editing) then once it’s done it gets typed up on my typewriter and filed away! 😊