Broken Frontier

Stop me if you’ve heard this one... Do you know the definition of a writer? A writer is someone who thinks of the perfect comeback—the next day.

Like the best jokes, I think this one is both funny and true. One thing it certainly points out is the role of time in the creative process. We writers never know when the perfect comeback will strike us. And because memory is so unreliable (and increasingly so with age), the ability to record those insights is absolutely paramount. That’s why I am never without the writer’s two most important tools: pen and paper.

I believe in this so strongly that I actually keep two sets. One is a small notebook that fits in my back pocket opposite my wallet. I can slide a black pen in right next to it. The second is a larger notebook. I’ve tried many sizes and styles. I’m currently using a wide ruled composition book and I don’t particularly care for it. It’s a little large and there’s no place to clip a pen. The best are the half-sized spiral bound notebooks because you can slide a pen down inside the spiral binding and then use a rubber band to keep the pages shut.

I keep the larger notebook with me when I can. But when it’s impractical, I still have the smaller notebook. I often write thoughts down in the smaller notebook and then, later, transfer them to the larger notebook. I keep the larger notebooks organized by date. This way, I can keep all my ideas in the order they appeared. Although this may sound strange, it can actually help when you’re trying to locate an idea.

Make no mistake; I am not talking about a journal, a diary or a blog here. I know those tools (and their variants) are useful to some writers. If that’s the case, I encourage you to keep using them. What I’m talking about is just a place to record those comebacks when you think of them. Or, better yet, that perfect opening line.

Hopefully you remember the Occupation: Storyteller column that featured horror great Ramsey Campbell in which he offered the following advice: ‘always compose the opening sentence of a session before you sit down to write.’

I have found that bit of advice to be very important, indeed. Several times, I have started a writing session without an opening line. Needless to say, they haven’t gone very well. I remember one where I struggled for over an hour before finally giving up. It’s not just a waste of time; the frustration over not being able to write can actually create writer’s block.

On the other hand, sessions where I’ve had that opening sentence composed have gone much better. I’m not saying this is a magic formula, I’m just saying it helps me and this leads me to believe it might also help you.

I use my notebooks to write down anything that I think might be useful to my writing. That’s why I say this isn’t a journal or a diary.

Sometimes I think of a good title. In fact, just today, I was listening to a song in which I heard a phrase I thought would make a great title. I wrote it down. Later, I looked up the lyrics to the song and discovered I had misheard the phrase. I didn’t care, of course, because I still had my idea for a good title.

Sometimes I think of an idea for a story. These usually take the “What if...?” format Stephen King suggests in his excellent book On Writing. Such as this bad example: “What if someone discovered their best friend was a serial killer?”

Sometimes I see someone who would make a good character. Like the old woman who rides through our neighborhood on a bike covered with doll parts. (I’m not kidding, by the way.) Of course I wonder why she feels the need to attach doll parts to her bicycle, but I also wonder where she gets them. I’m sure there’s a story in there somewhere.

Sometimes I hear a great line of dialogue. Such as the time I was in a movie theater and I heard someone say: “Shut your mouth, Darlene, I can smell you all the way over here.” I think this is proof that even the best writers don’t write all their own best lines.

And sometimes, I think of a great opening line, from which springs a whole story.

Without my pen and paper, all these things would be, to quote Roy Batty from Blade Runner, “lost in time, like tears in rain.”

Without pen and paper, you’re not a writer, you’re just a dreamer. Dreaming may be fun, but you can’t sell dreams. At least not until you write them down.