Ambience.
I’ve discovered that late in the evening is not my best blogging time. I read about humorists, bloggers and the like writing their best work in the middle of the night, but my brain doesn’t seem to be wired for that sort of creativity at this hour. I think I’m more of a lunch hour writer. Back when I worked in an office not far from the house, I would dash home during my lunch hour, have a bite to eat and write a blog entry. When I commuted 55 miles to the office, I would sneak off to a parking lot near the local Dunkin’ Donuts and write while sitting in the Jeep. Things were happening around me then and I felt motivated to share my life experiences through words. I enjoy writing things down.
Now that I work at home full time, I find it a little more difficult to be creative when it comes to writing. I find this a little surprising, because as I recall, many authors work in their home offices. Erma Bombeck had an old door balanced on two shelves and some sort of typewriter that she enjoyed while writing in her bedroom. I’ve read that Jennifer Saunders writes her scripts in long hand. I know technology blogger Paul Thurrott writes from home, though I don’t know how his home office is set up.
I’m currently sitting at the kitchen table, typing on my iPad Pro using an application called Ommwriter. I haven’t used this application in a number of years and I have to admit that I’m surprised that it works on this latest technology from Apple. The application hasn’t been updated in a couple of years. The latest update has all new music, but these new tracks fill the intent of the original in that I feel like writing when I have these ambient sounds resonating in my head. The shifting colors of the display behind my words are also inspiring.
I think I have a novel or two bouncing around in my head. When I go for my morning walk before work I try to go along a route that has little chance of becoming a spectator sport, because I sometimes work out science fiction storylines out loud. Some of my musings are a continuation of a story I have read in the past, or a tangent off a familiar television show or movie. I’m not interested in rebooting or making my own; I’m more of a fan of continuing an established universe. I don’t know if I’ll ever write these story ideas down. Perhaps I should just sit down, crank up the ambient tunes and just let the words flow through my fingers. I can never thank my mother enough for teaching me how to properly type when I was still in elementary school. 40 years later I can still type over 100 words a minute. Typing my words comes naturally to me.
Maybe I try too hard.
