Summary

Mia Verita, a poet and nurse, shares her experiences with the necessity and joy of handwriting poetry, despite the challenges of poor handwriting and reliance on typing, emphasizing the importance of capturing inspiration whenever it strikes.

Abstract

In "Confessions of a Scribbler," Mia Verita discusses her identity as a "scribbler," someone who writes hastily and often illegibly. She explains that her scribbling habit stems from the necessity to quickly record ideas and the influence of her nursing career, which has accustomed her to using shorthand and abbreviations. Despite the convenience of typing, Verita acknowledges the pleasure and artistry of handwriting poetry, which she had neglected due to arthritis and the ease of digital writing. The article also recounts instances where Verita resorted to unconventional materials like leaves and napkins to preserve her poetic thoughts when traditional paper was unavailable. The piece concludes with gratitude towards the publication "Paper Poetry" for inspiring her to rekindle her love for handwriting.

Opinions

Mia Verita views her scribbling as both a necessity to capture fleeting ideas and a byproduct of her profession's reliance on shorthand and abbreviations.
She admits to making excuses for her poor handwriting, attributing it to arthritis and lack of practice due to typing.
Verita finds a special joy and tactile satisfaction in handwriting that she feels is lost in the digital process of writing.
She believes that the act of writing, even when scribbled and messy, is a crucial part of the creative process and should not be hindered by the lack of traditional writing materials.
Verita is grateful for the "Paper Poetry" publication, as it has motivated her to return to the art of handwriting poetry.

POETRY

Confessions of a Scribbler

Paper Poetry Prompt#2

Sometimes it’s simply the writer’s plight to be away from home with no way to write

I try to always be ready with a pen, but paper soon fills with words and disappears like a vapor

Paper napkins and envelope shreds have birthed words from my deepest depths

Leaves of a tree not yet made into paper have been makeshift canvases found in nature

To fulfill our passion, writers have always found a way to quill our words and pen what we long to say

Introduction

Technically a “Scribbler” is someone who writes for a living. My creative usage here refers simply to someone who scribbles. There are two primary reasons I became what I refer to as a scribbler. One reason was out of necessity. I simply needed to record ideas and poems before they evaporated into thin air. The other reason is because I rely on typing my poems. The result of typing instead of handwriting: Poor handwriting, or scribbling.

Scribbling to Attempt to Write

I’ll just say it. My name is Mia Verita, and I’m a scribbler. I don’t know if any twelve-step plan can help me. I’m a nurse who has written in shorthand for over 20 years. The Medical Field has an abbreviation for everything! I confess I’ve found myself using these abbreviations in my handwritten poetry. I’m not lazy…I tell myself, or as I would normally write: Me ≠ Lazy.

Sometimes I’m so inspired and the words flow through my mind faster than I can write them. In these instances, shorthand is acceptable. However, as a scribbler addict, I admit I can do better.

I make excuses to cover my habit. I tell myself, “Self, you have rheumatoid arthritis and it hurts to write.” Yet I know this isn’t entirely true. Yes, it does hurt to write, but that’s simply because I no longer hand write my poetry. I type it. My writing has become sloppy and scribbled because I’m out of practice.

This is why I was so excited to learn about this publication for Paper Poetry! Perhaps there’s hope for me yet. This was just the encouragement I needed to begin hand writing again. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it and how good the pen and paper felt against my fingers. It has become a lost art with my reliance on computers. I want to recapture my enjoyment of the art of hand writing again.

Scribbling to Capture the Words

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been inspired to write when I was away from proper writing materials or short on time. Some of my deepest poetry was originally scribbled onto whatever material I had available at the moment.

One time I was writing in a wooded area and ran out of paper. I still had ink in my pen. I didn’t want to lose the flow of ideas or to leave prematurely, so I grabbed a leaf off the ground and proceeded to complete my poem. After all, trees are used to make paper. I simply skipped some steps in that process!

I’ve also scribbled lines of poetry on paper napkins and old envelopes. I’ve been known to pull off into a parking lot while driving simply so I could quickly jot down an inspirational thought for a poem!

Writing is a great passion of mine, so I find ways to capture the words before they take wings and fly away from my memory. Sometimes I have to grab those words and throw them onto the paper in the form of scribbling!

Many of my poems were born on makeshift paper from whatever I could find. Later I would decipher the code of my scribbled mess, which barely resembled anything readable. Then I would expound upon those words and develop greater ideas from them. A good pen name for me would’ve been “The Scribbler.”

My primary message here is that writers always find a way to chase our passion!

Thank you Suntonu Bhadra for this excellent and unique publication and for giving this article and poem a home. Paper Poetry Prompt #2: Scribble

Paper Poetry’s Upcoming Prompt

Timeline: September 14 — September 25, 2020

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Mia Verita is a poet with a passion for writing. She is also a nurse skilled in the art of the interpretation of messy scribbling so often seen in the medical profession.