A high school buddy sent me an email the other day with a photo of a page from a booklet put together in high school titled “Voices of ’74.”  The document included writings of some of the graduating class members; the photo in my friend’s email was of one of my poems that was included in the booklet. I would have been 17 when I wrote it. He commented that the poem was thought provoking. I read the poem, enjoyed the topic of a voice released and then re-captured, and pondered. It was indeed thought provoking, but in a different way to me.

I recall that “era.” I was writing all the time on whatever I could find. When I got kicked out of the high school library, I sat outside to write poetry while leaning against the brown brick walls. I wrote in textbooks, on notepads…anything. Sitting in the breakroom at Handy Andy (a grocery store where I worked during high school and a few years thereafter), I would write notes and poetry on the back of my pay stub, receipts…anything.

A few years later, I got fancy and learned how to type.  I got good at it; it has served me well. It made me less of an “in the moment” writer as I became more and more attached to the IBM Selectric that I used for the first several years as a freelance writer. Keyboards are a detriment to writing, I believe, whether on a typewriter or computer.  I’ve got a lot of thoughts on that…I should write them with a pen or discuss them over a whiskey.

The point is that there is power and relief in being able to voice one’s thoughts in writing when they appear instead of having to wait until the right time and place is found, which happens to be where the keyboard is. Wait for the keyboard and much is lost; write and transcribe via keyboard later, and both creativity and spontaneity are preserved. Carry a writing instrument and paper with you all the time; learn to use time waiting in line or in waiting rooms to jot down thoughts (instead of texting) and explore ideas; keep paper and pen on the nightstand and end table. You just might come up with something thought provoking.