What, oh what, shall I write next? This is a question I ponder often as I sit at my desk and stare at the screen. I remember when I wrote primarily in notebooks and journals; writing with a pen and paper encouraged a flow unlike that of typing, but somewhere along the way of life, I stopped writing in books that could be found, read, and misconstrued. Shame too, because there is something about seeing your flaws in spelling and grammar only on the glance-back verses as soon as you write them with glaring red squiggles on the screen.
Whether typed or by hand, writing out the thoughts tossing and turning around in the head is always a bit of self-therapy; spelling them out as a story, poem, or even just a jumble of paragraphs making absolutely no sense is the best way to get the extra thoughts out so you see them properly, instead of a mass of swirls. Once you lay them out in some way, you can either figure out what they really were trying to tell you or you can tuck them away on a shelf, real or digital, until you need them again.
I often write when I have things I can't quite quiet in my mind, so I spell them out the best way I can in the moment. Then I like to let them steep, like a tea waiting for its turn to be consumed. Sometimes I let the words sit like a pitcher of sun tea, slowly warming up and releasing their flavor throughout the page. Other times, I'm almost too hasty in consuming their meaning, and as soon as they are out of my head, I am pouring over my own thoughts as if I were reading the gossip column in the Sunday paper.
It doesn't much matter when the thoughts are inked, but when and how they are reflected on. Perhaps that fight with a friend months ago can tell you a story of how to remedy a similar situation you are currently pondering. They don't even have to be your thoughts you are reflecting on, but those of another ringing true in your own swirling thoughts. A story here, a tale there—all those words were once just thoughts that were turned into a new form, so you might mix them with your own.
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