Writing Prompt Response

I’m Still a Writer When I Don’t Write

Sharing a quiz for those in the mood for self-reflection

Are we writers when it feels like we’re doing everything else but writing? Are we lonely writers or connected ones? I appreciated the moment of reflection that came over me when I first saw the series of ten questions about writing that Cristina Cattai put together.

Even though I’ve been calling myself a writer since I became deeply interested in reading and writing poems as a teenager, I don’t often take a step back and try to describe myself as a writer; I simply keep walking along down the writing path. So I figured I might as well stop walking, sit down on an imaginary park bench, and think about my writing life with the help of Cristina’s questions.

1. Do you consider yourself a writer when you don’t write?

Yes, once I decided that I was a writer, I also decided that it doesn’t matter if I’m published or if I’m writing at the moment or not. I often go through periods of time where I don’t write, or where I just journal and can’t seem to make any poems work. For me, that means I’m a writer who is having a quiet period.

2. What are your preferred and productive hours to write?

Lately I seem to write best in the late morning when the house is quiet and my partner has gone to work. I need to be able to “hear” a poem, so I write without other background noise. I remember times when I used to write late at night, but that was more when I lived alone. Sometimes I get into a pattern with writing at a certain time every day, but usually I give myself more freedom about it.

3. Do you need an alcove to get going with your writing, or any place will do?

I like to relax on the couch and write in my spiral notebook. Usually with poems, after going through several drafts on paper, I type them into the laptop while sitting on the couch.

Once in a while I sit at the kitchen table to write. Sometimes I sit at the desktop computer and write, especially if I’m writing an essay rather than poetry. I used to write in bed, and in fact I’d chosen a padded headboard for this purpose, but it’s no longer comfortable with the new mattress I bought a couple of years ago — the mattress helps my back but doesn’t let me sit up and rest against the headboard.

4. Does your environment influence your writing attitude?

I tend to write about the everyday objects, experiences, and feelings in my life, so maybe working at home adds to my perspective? I do think that I have a quiet attitude as a writer, so it works for me to write at home. Now and then, I go somewhere with a notebook and write, maybe the beach or a library or cafe. But it’s hard for me to do anything more than journal or take rough notes for a poem when I’m out and about.

5. Do you have a clear “why” for writing?

Yes, I’ve always had this sense that I want to write about everyday stuff, to remember the parts of life that might otherwise pass by quickly without being noticed very much. I also like to write poems that use found text because it’s a way to recapture bits and pieces of language from the blur of words that can quickly be overlooked.

Poetry gives me a chance to think about and reinterpret the world, my feelings, my experiences, and our shared language in different and thoughtful ways. I write to help myself think about my place in the world and my connections to people, places, objects, and other things from today and yesterday.

Writing helps me feel better about life somehow.

6. What are your most recurrent activities besides writing?

Well, I would say my most regular activities include giving feedback to students as part of my job as a college writing teacher, and also doing things around the house like cooking, going for walks in the neighborhood, etc.

I like to do arts and crafts projects, too, such as making paper collages. I wrote a story once about my resistance to calling myself an artist, even though I love to make art. Luckily I met an art teacher when I was in my 30s who helped me more fully own my interest in creating visual art.

7. Are you a lonely writer or do you connect with other writers?

I hardly ever connect with other writers in person these days. I’ve been thinking about maybe attending a writing conference or retreat to see how it would feel to interact with writers again in a setting where we could actually talk instead of type things back and forth to each other online.

I do connect with writer-friends online via email and social media (including Medium, of course). I don’t have a writing group or anything, but I like to scroll and chat and keep up with what people are writing and thinking about.

8. Would you sacrifice anything in order to become a successful writer?

Maybe one day I’ll sacrifice my personal interests in unmarketable stuff like poetry and likewise commit a bunch of time to learn how to write in a genre that would help me make money as a writer. We shall see!

9. Do you read? How many hours in a day?

I don’t keep track of how much time I spend reading, but I regularly spend time reading student work, and I read online every day (I subscribe to the digital edition of my local newspaper, and you know I read Medium articles, etc). I love audiobooks, too, and I listen to books on the Libby app (free from my public library). My biggest reading pleasure is print books, and I’ve been trying to dedicate more time to reading from them more often rather than getting too caught up in reading on computer and phone screens.

10. Do you write for real or do you fantasize about writing?

Look, I’m writing this right now — for real! I sometimes write more and sometimes less, but I write. Long ago, I accepted that I often create at a slow pace, and that a lot of my writing is “compost” that will hopefully help something more grow later on — maybe it helps my students edit their papers, or maybe my journal entries help me write a new poem one day in the future.

Writing is an ongoing process for me that I don’t quantify by counting pages or publication credits. Writing is just what I do. 🤷‍♀️

Is writing what you do, too? If you want to share your own response to Cristina’s quiz, her post has the questions listed by themselves, so my answers won’t be in the way when you try to copy/paste.

Thanks, Cristina!

For ideas on sharing poems with children, check out this story from Allisonn Church.

I also really liked this poem by Eduardo Furbino.