23 Comments

Interesting. For the most part, the only one I don't do here is play movies in the background, usually because that just makes me want to watch the movie. I suppose the technicality of Word is thrown out the window, too, as I now use either Libre Office or Google Docs these days, depending whether or not I'm writing from home or work respectively, but MS Word 2003 was my chief tool up until a few years ago.

Otherwise? I'm pretty much right there with you in terms of how I approach my writing. I almost never outline unless it proves absolutely necessary, I eat at my desk all the time, and since I spend most of my time writing at my shop at work I'm constantly looking out the floor-to-ceilinf storefront windows into our parking lot. And if I'm not doing that, I'm looking out my office window at my street and my neighbors' yards.

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Right now, the irises and peonies are in bloom. Very distracting. But I am resisting.

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So are the blossoms on the little tree outside my window. I don't remember what kind it is, I'll have to ask my wife again. They're tiny and pink and my cat loves to sit on the sil and stare at them as they rustle in the wind.

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Speaking of critters, it's spring so birds building nests, and the squirrels ... Hey! Get a room, you two! ... Time to close the curtains.

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Yeesh! No sense of modesty at all. Well, it could be worse, I suppose. You could be dealing with birds AND bees...

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Good afternoon, A.C. (I feel like sayimg D.C. here, but I won't). First I have a couple of things left over from your horny Thursday contribution.

1. Someone with the alias Black Knight complimented me on my comment on last Thursday's piece, which indicates to me that others see our particukar exchanges, but I don't see theirs so could you you please rectifiy that.

2. A limerick for you that requires the stress to fall on the second syllable of your surname:

There is an old scribbler in Seville

who likes chatting with A.C. Cargill

Her attitude’s gracious,

on occasions salacious

and her stories always give him a thrill.

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I have no idea how to "rectify" the comment situation.

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I had a peep at your website and the links to read Grandma's Braids and A Cup of Tea don't work. I'm using Firefox /Mozilla.

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Dang! Looks like that site is gone. I'll repost the stories here in the next week or so (wanna spread them out). Thanks so much for letting me know. I check my links periodically. This must have happened recently.

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I thought it might have something to do with the way you set up your substack.

Good to hear that you are a tea drinker. My wife and I are both Brits so we drink gallons of the stuff every day.

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My 'Stack is supposed to be open and free to all, but their technology seems to have other ideas.

And I earned my living writing about tea. It's all stuffed here in my brain. I also got to sample a lot of different teas. Which is your fave?

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At present my wife and I stick to a green tea called Chinese Gunpowder. We buy it by the kilo.

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Ah, yes, a fairly popular Chinese green tea. I tend to prefer Bi Luo Chun or Liu An Gua Pian.

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Do whatever works for you - that's what I say. For me things morph over time too. Maybe for a while I like to have certain pictures or images around me but then later I don't like those anymore. Can be the same with the music I play and whether I write by hand in a notebook or on the computer. It's really just about staying motivated to write and some people like a rote system but I prefer a little flexibility - change is good sometimes.

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Yeah, I gotta be me. I have just been surprised over the years how many other writers seem to feel required to chastise me -- or at the very least, gasp in horror. Hee!

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I'm in agreement with 3 of yours, except for having movies on. I need peace & quiet to work and I'm a messy eater, so I don't trust myself. Lol! Agree with the rest. Good luck in your writings.

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The movies, oddly enough, act like a mental shield against the outside world and distracting thoughts (those ever multiplying dust bunnies).

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I also write with the TV on, eat at my desk, sit in front of a window, and edit in Word. I write the first draft by hand, though, because it's the only way I get it down on paper :) And I do have a rough outline to start with, although, as you say, the story invariably takes on a life of its own and throws my plan out of the window.

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Phew! I was beginning to feel like a real oddball (writing wise). Hee!

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I do my writing sitting in a Norwegian reclinable armchair that has an adjustable desktop attached to it. As the chair also faces the TV, on occasions I have the news on while I’m writing or have half an eye on some football match or tennis tournament. ‘Inspiration’ for my poems comes from a variety of sources: strolling about Seville absorbing what’s happening, having contact with the homeless on the street and so on. The news itself. My adorable wife has prompted a number of my poems. And then there is my reaction to getting old.

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That armchair sounds so cozy! I sit at a desk to avoid falling asleep. Btw, we're only old if we feel it. I'm doing my best not to.

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The make of the armchair is Stressless if you feel like getting one.

In the bad old days, they used to say that you’re as old as the woman you feel, which makes me 18 years younger than my chronological age!

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Usually wordless music playing. Tycho has been a staple. But lately I've been listening to a local rock station. Seems to work.

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