A writer’s life

October 18, 2011


This is what’s on the bedside table when you’re writing a memoir:
scraps of lists with scrawls that say things like:

yams
peppers

onions

ricotta
rote–get up, shower, go to work

real life happ

witty dry asides

a compulsion deeper than

intentional

footfalls or footsteps?
the practicalities fall by
no radar screen

All scrawled in the dark of the night, when memories and emotions are more deeply felt and more easily accessed.

I’m older now and memory plays hide and seek. Notes MUST be taken in the moment, or the memory fragment is likely to be lost.

It’s frustrating to try to access something that’s sitting there just out of reach, right below consciousness.

When I’ve spent the day deep in the writing process, thoughts come running past and must be plucked out of the stream, regardless of the time. At night it’s sit up in the dark, grab the pen and pad, write it down. Then up, down, up, down. Sleep-deprivation is my regular companion.

Still, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

One comment on “A writer’s life
  1. Post-It notes are my salvation!!! A great way to keep track of quick, random thoughts.

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