paper notes in a digital world

You Write...WHERE?

Why certain activities become associated with certain places is an interesting phenomenon that would be worthy of serious research, far more than this blog can offer. There are many examples, but I am going to focus on the literati. Just take a look at writers and their places. It's almost a rite of passage to compose something worthy in a cafe. Even better if it's in a café. (Note the acute accent which truly makes it a place to write.)

Writing in a café is something writers do. It just is. There isn't really a reason other than writers write in cafés. It's like you drink milk with Oreos - you just do. Most every writer, or potential writer, knows by now the story of J.K. Rowling and her first book; of how she was on public assistance and wrote the first Harry Potter book in a café. Well, of course she did! Did we expect her to write it at McDonald's? Seriously.....why don't writers go to Burger King and sit in a corner and write? Why not an outdoor patio at Sonic?  And while we're talking places, what do we drink while we write at the café? Ask most any writer and they'll tell you they write while sipping on tea or coffee. If they really had a Pepsi they probably wouldn't tell you. Everyone knows you don't write and drink Pepsi. (At least not while you write anything of importance.) Of course, you could always write the Great American Novel on the dining room table drinking Coke Zero and just claim you wrote at the café fueled by cup after cup of house blend coffee. Just make sure you're not booked for Oprah if you really didn't.

So, what is it with writing and the café? Where do you write?

Me? I just write at home with my notebook propped up on.... Oh!...wait!...I...uh...I always write with pen and paper at this smoky little café with a slowly rotating overhead fan, pictures of Kerouac and Hemingway on the walls, lots of wood and brass, an outside patio with umbrella tables, a breeze that comes through with just enough oomph to quietly lift the papers but not actually blow them away; at night there's always a small band playing a little New Orleans jazz, the door to the bustling sidewalk is always propped open by a simple stone and there are copies of The New Yorker and The Paris Review lying about. Honest. You don't believe me? Well, huh! That's how I remember it!

So, where do you write?

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Thank You, Oprah...

Oprah Winfrey did the right thing today. As a lover of books - and especially the memoir genre - I was disappointed in her earlier call to Larry King Live defending James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces. I was very proud to see Oprah stand up to Mr. Frey and his publisher. The truth matters. It matters in the paper world, the digital world, the real world. It just matters. Thank you, Oprah.

Writing As Punishment - A Rant

This is a huge pet peeve of mine that I simply do not understand. Schools are still using writing as punishment. It's wrong, wrong, wrong and the stupidity in such "punishment" really makes me angry. Maybe it's one of those things that is done because it's, "always been done," and some never think twice about the ramifications and the message that is sent. If that's the case, then it's time to wake some people up.

The scenario is usually something like this: Johnny or Sally is late for class (or some such thing), and the teacher tells them that their punishment will be, "a writing assignment." Ugh. In the mildest form it is usually the old, "I WILL NOT ________" 100 times on the board or on paper. This is bad enough as it makes the connection between pen and paper and punishment. However, at its worst, the "punishment" is an actual writing assignment. Maybe it's an essay on why it's important to not be late. Maybe it's a report on anything, as long as it is X number of words. Sometimes it is a two-page biographical sketch of the student's choice. (In and of itself - an excellent educational activity!) But as punishment? The message is clear. If you, Johnny or Sally, do something wrong you may very well be forced to write - and we know how much you hate to write! (Or if you don't hate to write, you should!)

The basis of this punishment is an assumption that nobody actually likes to write. Can you imagine? As punishment, you will have to learn about somebody and put your reflections - on paper! In other words, research and (God forbid) writing is such an awful activity, that if you do something wrong - you are stuck with pen and paper, or in front of a computer screen to do something more than play games. You will have to.....to.....to..... write!

How stupid can we be? How have we let this go on as long as it has? Do you need a Masters in Education to see how crazy this is? Well....forget that last sentence....many of them are the very people who perpetuate this atrocity. You might very well need to step away from the education establishment to see the absurdity in using writing as punishment.

What can we do? If you agree, and you find your schools are using writing as punishment - complain. Loudly. In person - and in, uh, writing. If you have children and they are "threatened" with a writing assignment as discipline, it's time to call the teacher and make an appointment. Many teachers when presented with the common-sense of NOT using this method will hit their forehead and say, "What was I thinking?," others though will fight to the bitter end because that's what they were taught. If they claim it is school policy - time to make the appointment with the principal. If the principal claims it is district policy - time to write that speech for the school board.

Writing as punishment? What a horrible message to send our children. Let's all - all of us who love pens, pencils, paper, books and writing - do our part to help change this upside-down kind of thinking about writing. No more writing as punishment. Period.

Pencils VS Pens

I've been reading a lot of posts regarding the increased use of pencils as primary writing instruments. What do you think about this? Some say that pencils fade and shouldn't be considered for journals, diaries, etc. Yet, a lot of documents written in pencil have survived for many years.

I'm anxious to try the Palomino pencils from California Republic. I know they are favorites of our friends at Pencil Revolution. They wrote a fine review back in September of last year. You can take a look at the Palomino, and order, from the Pencil World Creativity Store.

As for pens, it seems the discussion thread of choice is Moleskinerie's Moleskine Pens?. The thread began two years ago this month and is still going strong with a lot of great tips. I'm still using the Pilot G2 .05 and .07.

Prize Winners To The Rejection Pile

If you have ever submitted a manuscript to a publisher and received a rejection letter, you have some rather prestigious company. Most all of the greatest writers of our times received boxes of rejections before the big sale. But if you ever needed proof that the critical eye is many times lacking, look no further than a recent experiment by the Sunday Times Of London.

The newspaper sent the first chapters of novels, assumed to be the writing of aspiring novelists, to 20 publishers and agents. All but one of the 21 replies were rejections. The manuscripts, get this, were actually Booker Prize winners in the 1970s!

The books were "Holiday," by Stanley Middleton; and "In a Free State," by V. S. Naipaul, one of Britain’s greatest living writers who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001. Middleton wasn't the least bit surprised saying, "People don't seem to know what a good novel is nowadays...To see something is well written and appetizingly written takes a lot of talent, and there is not a great deal of that around. With all the other forms of entertainment today, there are very few people around who would understand what a good paragraph is."

There are a lot of theories about the snub, but most seem to agree that publishing is relying more than ever on celebrity authors, at the expense of great writing. The whole story from the Sunday Times is here. Read it and weep.

Also, I found this neat little piece by Elizabeth Rose on famous rejections. Though not on Elizabeth's list, my favorite of all-time is this rejection note from a major publisher to Vladimir Nabokov as they passed on "Lolita".......

‘... overwhelmingly nauseating, even to an enlightened Freudian … the whole thing is an unsure cross between hideous reality and improbable fantasy.  It often becomes a wild neurotic daydream … I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.’ 

I think the moral of this post is: if you believe in yourself, don't take rejection too seriously.

Writing our Personal History

As we leave another year behind, now is a good time to reflect on the past and remember - while we still  can.

Many readers of Paper Notes keep journals of one kind or another. Many also have only recently made journaling a part of their lives. But when you find yourself wondering what to write, don't forget to widen your thoughts and remembrances to the distant past. We all have a unique and very personal history that can be saved for ourselves and future generations with just a few minutes a week.

Consider yourself the archivist of your personal history, charged with the responsibility of documenting and preserving your life and times. We all have those great memories we are certain we will never forget. Yet, as one year rolls into the next the mind has more to remember, catalog and file away. Those "unforgettable" memories suddenly become the ,"Oh yeah! I had forgotten that!" moments. Writing your personal history now can preserve those moments forever.

Am I suggesting writing a memoir or full-blown autobiography? Not unless you want to. I am thinking more of preserving your history by writing nuggets from your life - one memory at a time. Here's a few thoughts and ideas to help you get started painlessly.

• Begin a page in your notebook simply for writing down memories you want to expound on later. For example, you may write, "Tenth birthday party, magician, guitar." That will be your trigger to write later about the excitement of your tenth birthday. Don't assume you will remember five years from now. When a memory you want to capture comes to you, pull out your notebook and write it down on your page of triggers.
• You can begin anytime, or you can collect a few of these memory triggers before you begin writing your history - literally one scene of your play at a time. Some may call the short piece of writing about a particular memory an "essay." Whatever you choose to call it, it will prove to be a valuable part of collecting your history.
• Just one page, maybe even a couple of paragraphs, is all that is necessary to preserve many of our memories. But you'll probably find there's more you remember, and more you have to say about your sixth birthday, than when you first listed that special time as a trigger to write about later.
• Remember as you write, the rules you learned concerning journalism: Who? What? When? Where? and Why?
• If you were to just take one memory per week and write a page or so, this time next year you would have 52 essays to place in your personal history archive. Think of the value this will have for you twenty years from now (after you have captured 1,040 memories). Priceless.
• Are you maybe thinking that there is just not that much to write about? Do you think your life hasn't been that exciting? You'll soon discover after keeping your triggers for awhile that we remember many things over time that we thought we had forgotten. The key is to jot that memory-trigger down in your notebook and capture it before it's gone - maybe forever. All of our lives have unfolded the same way, one day at a time; and we have all had hundreds, if not thousands, of experiences worth preserving.
• Go ahead, grab the key and open the vault to the memories of years gone by. Fill it with memories and nuggets of your life and soon, you'll discover that being your own personal historian can make for great writing time and be a lot of fun at the same time.

While writing down personal history, you will obviously be confronted with questions about what (and what not) to write about. Should you really write it exactly as it was? What about the sad and unhappy times? Should you name names? What about the feelings and emotions some memories bring to the surface? There are different answers and different choices for different people. I'll address some of these things soon in a follow-up post. For now, you can take the step of capturing memories in three words in the form of those memory triggers. Or, if you're ready to take the plunge - start writing about that tenth birthday party!

The Legal-Grid Paper Experiment

Doane has come up with some interesting paper that you can print from .jpg or .pdf format.
The idea came from a brainstorming session at a meeting where it was noticed that everyone was using either grid or legal pad paper. So, the two were combined. Take a look at doanepaper.com

If You Can Talk, You Can Write!

Many people love the idea of writing, the idea of being a writer, but when it comes to sitting down to write, well, that's a different story. That describes most people who write at least some of the time, but it describes a trait for many that has the potential of crushing any aspirations to write anything at all. It is usually simply another manifestation of fear. As with many things in life, fear prevents us from moving forward and sometimes from taking the single step necessary to move forward. In writing, we may fear actually putting anything on paper because to put it on paper means we may have (God forbid) written something bad. We may be judged! Without moving forward and acting on our desires to write we can always be "getting ready" to write that novel, play, or short-story. That's why a journal, that nobody else will read, is a great starting project for any would-be or "stuck" writer. With a journal, there's no need to worry about anything other than getting words on paper.

At some point everyone who wants to truly write - must write. Many find the fear of not being able to express ourselves "properly," can be immobilizing. This is where my favorite writing book of all-time comes in. If you are just beginning to write, beginning to want to write, or have written before but enjoy reading about writing - here's a can't miss book: If You Can Talk, You Can Write by Joel Saltzman. The premise of the book is as the title says, if you can adequately talk in a casual or social setting, you can write! The idea is to get the words on paper. Talk on paper. Believe it or not, some very accomplished writers find their voice by writing their novels as if they were writing a letter and telling a story to a friend. In fact, that's exactly what you should be doing - just talking on paper. There is a saying, "Compose first and worry later." Beautiful. If you want to write, you must write, and remember that if you can talk, you can indeed write!