I am just getting warmed up.

I am having difficulty finding my voice again. Writers like to talk about their “voice.“ I knew this would happen given the amount of time I have spent away from the keyboard. I guess I had hoped I would just pick up where I left off and all would be well, but of course I was just blowing smoke up my own ass you could say. I have considered posting some of my old works just so I could get a refresher course on what I am actually capable of. That would mean I have to clean my office though so at this exact moment I will just write.

They call this free writing. You sit down at the computer and just write about whatever comes into your head. It is a great concept that works for some people. For me it does not.  It is good practice for my fingers, though.

My mind functions differently. I prefer to write a piece, edit it, and then type it out. That is correct. For me, the last part of the writing process is the actual transcribing of the piece into a computer. It may seem odd and even backwards but that is the way it goes for me. I can write, remember, and edit entire essays in my head. Most people think that is some sort of exaggeration, but if you know me it should come as no surprise. I took a lot of crap for it from college professors that insisted I edit my work on paper. To appease them I would bring “doctored” copies of my work to class and edit out the stuff I purposefully screwed up. It worked.

I once had an assignment due for on a Monday morning for a creative non-fiction class. So, naturally, I stared typing it out on Sunday evening. Ironically, it was one of the few times I had not written it in my head prior to sitting down a the computer. I had only a vague idea of what I wanted to say and decided to sit down and just let the words stream out onto the page.

Just after I finished typing it all out the computer stroked out and the page went blank.

 I never save my work.

So I just retyped it, word for word, from memory.

I won an award for that piece.

I think I’ll post that piece in my next entry.

I promise, this will get better. I’m just getting warmed up.