Greetings Darklings:

Today’s post is about the tools we use to write. Do you take your keyboard or phone for granted? Do you, if you are like me, scribble with abandon in a black blank journal? ? I like to do both. I scribble and I type at a keyboard. I now have a new keyboard. My previous one worked, BUT the letters on the keyboard buttons were so old I bought stickers so I would know where the letters were and which was which. Over time, those faded too, so I got new stickers to replace the old stickers. But I had to put the stickers (I made myself) onto the old stickers. They faded fast. 

We may never consider the tools we use to write or create. I have taken my keyboard, phone and yes, even a coffeemaker for granted. I love my new keyboard. The new one is much larger and new and clean. I love it. I possess a LOT of pens, pencils and many markers. I own many blank journals that I have to fill up with my latest imaginings, musings or inspirations. My desktop monitor stand is full of junk I have collected over time. I have two cups brimming with pens, markers and highlighters that rest on either side of the desktop stand. I love my knick knacks, goddess statues, and I even made myself a cute halloween themed mug coaster! 

It is so nice to finally have a new, bigger keyboard. I plan to take good care of it. I now have no excuse not to write. I also bought a new hardcover book titled The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall. It is about a 16-step program to take an aspiring writer from idea to completed manuscript. I owned this book before. I must have donated it. I regret doing that, but I have a new copy now. I am going to do my best to create an outline using the advice and the system detailed in the book The Marshall Plan. I was freewriting the new novel idea I had, but then I hit a wall, something that happens to a lot of authors. The book helps authors knock down that wall, enabling them to keep writing and creating. I plot or build the outline for my novel on what Evan Marshall calls, section sheets. I can’t wait to get started. Once you have an outline, then you know how to move forward. This will be so much fun and may involve some frustration. The good thing is, if you don’t like the way it goes, you can always change your outline. It is not carved in stone. I think Evan Marshall is brilliant. 

All writers and creators need tools. I use a sewing machine and a seam ripper, scissors, thread, a presser foot to sew. I use pens, journals, highlighters, a keyboard and coffee to write. Sometimes, I have a glass of wine. We all need our tools. We trust them, we use them over and over, and usually they serve us faithfully. And it is also important to remember to be environmentally friendly with our tools too. I might donate old pens and pencils to a women’s shelter, or to an animal shelter. I take old printer toner cartridges to Staples to be recycled. We don’t need to contribute to the terrible problem of landfill. I much prefer to donate to a good cause. 

I’m writing this blog post with my new keyboard. Instead of throwing the old keyboard away, it was put in storage for a rainy day. Much better than throwing it right away into landfill. It still works, it was just very faded. I do need a new mousepad. The one I have now is dingy and stained, signs it was very much used. Since my boyfriend bought me the keyboard, I am quite inclined to get my own mousepad. I might put the mousepad I am using now into storage too. I will do anything to help the environment. 

Writers commonly use a blank journal, computer, keyboard, pens, pencils, highlighters, and paper to write. These are great tangible tools. We have other tools at our disposal that are not tangible. If we did not have them, we would not get much writing done. Perseverance, patience, imagination and yes, even stubborness. A writer uses their imagination to come up with a great idea for a novel, or a screenplay. We need the patience and the perseverance to get through writing the entire thing even when we grit our teeth and think we will never get through it. Then we need even more of that to endure editing it to within an inch of the stories’s life, and then we need that again to get through trying to get it published. I have waited years – and I mean, years to get my spooky novel The Mourning Tide published. Now it will finally happen. During all that time, I kept editing it and kept resubmitting it. I came close to publishing contracts, even got nice rejection letters, and it finally happened. I highly recommend being grateful and patient when you land a contract. If you are easy to work with, they may sign you again for a second book. But that is a big, hard odd. It does not happen without effort. The writer makes the effort. 

Imagination, perseverance and patience are a writer’s greatest tools. I use those tools all the time. I would say that patience is the most important tool. Things can happen slowly even when a book is under contract, especially then. I signed a contract with Twisted Dreams Press a year ago for my novel The Mourning Tide. It will be published this October. I just wish my grandparents were still alive to see my book in print. Maybe they are watching over me. I hope so. 

A few more tips: 

Save your receipts when you pay for pens or a new keyboard or a snazzy mousepad. You might need them when doing your taxes. 

Be earth friendly! 

Donate your writing tools to a good cause when you are done with them.

Trust in your imagination!

Believe in yourself! If you don’t, who will!

I like to go on long nature walks. We have to take breaks from writing or we will be burned out. Live. You have to live to write. Don’t force yourself into a box. 

Help your fellow writers. They will help you. It’s an equal exchange of energy. 

Never give up. The Universe always falls in love with a stubbon heart. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(