Oof I have never seen anyone express how I write before! I also do something similar.
And I’m here for the book banning content. It’s been a struggle to keep up with it all and trying to find the right way to be an activist for digging it all.
I'm glad it resonated. I kind of fall into this mindset of no one else does it like I do–it's weird and not easy to describe!–but more folks have chimed in to say them, too.
I don't think I have ever considered my writing process in terms of inner monologue, and reading how you come to an essay made me feel so seen. The need for time to think deeply, to let ideas unspool, to map them out, to think of a great resource/line/arrangement of words, the inner (and sometimes outer) monologue that guides me there. I use Notes on my phone for this all the time, because ADHD = shitty memory so the monologue needs a stenographer. I also came to realize that all of this is a much more meaningful process for me when it relates to my own writing as opposed to the writing I do for clients.
I sometimes think that I'm a lazy writer, that because I am not fingers-to-keyboard then I am not doing the work since I don't necessarily have something to show. But reminding myself how much work NEEDS to happen internally for me helps reframe creation from capitalistic output.
I wonder how many writers–creatives more broadly, even–are among the 30-50% of those with an inner monologue. How do those who don't have one write?
(& I am a "pad of paper with a pen around me at all times" for some of those thoughts, though I, too, have taken to Notes as of late).
We have so many kinds of fatigue available to us. I saw a story in one of my alma mater's student newspaper today written by a senior. To summarize his first two paragraphs, he has only been using the library as a place to study, but he JUST NOW found out about all of the resources the library has to offer. I'm sure the library staff was horrified to see this in the newspaper. I'm thinking about all the outreach and marketing they do. It's not their fault but Im sure they cringe to see this feedback. On the other hand, Christian extremists are trying to gut libraries. It's all too much, even if we have good leadership, which many of us do not.
I really like your first line here, "we have so many kinds of fatigue available to us." It's not just spot on, but a nice reminder that we're all working with or against different elements. Somedays, you're the teenager discovering the library resources and other days, you're the library workers who have tirelessly marketed those resources and wondering why it took so long for that teenager to discover them.
this definitely sounds like my process for blogging about kids books on the ALSC ALA blog
Oof I have never seen anyone express how I write before! I also do something similar.
And I’m here for the book banning content. It’s been a struggle to keep up with it all and trying to find the right way to be an activist for digging it all.
I'm glad it resonated. I kind of fall into this mindset of no one else does it like I do–it's weird and not easy to describe!–but more folks have chimed in to say them, too.
I don't think I have ever considered my writing process in terms of inner monologue, and reading how you come to an essay made me feel so seen. The need for time to think deeply, to let ideas unspool, to map them out, to think of a great resource/line/arrangement of words, the inner (and sometimes outer) monologue that guides me there. I use Notes on my phone for this all the time, because ADHD = shitty memory so the monologue needs a stenographer. I also came to realize that all of this is a much more meaningful process for me when it relates to my own writing as opposed to the writing I do for clients.
I sometimes think that I'm a lazy writer, that because I am not fingers-to-keyboard then I am not doing the work since I don't necessarily have something to show. But reminding myself how much work NEEDS to happen internally for me helps reframe creation from capitalistic output.
I wonder how many writers–creatives more broadly, even–are among the 30-50% of those with an inner monologue. How do those who don't have one write?
(& I am a "pad of paper with a pen around me at all times" for some of those thoughts, though I, too, have taken to Notes as of late).
We have so many kinds of fatigue available to us. I saw a story in one of my alma mater's student newspaper today written by a senior. To summarize his first two paragraphs, he has only been using the library as a place to study, but he JUST NOW found out about all of the resources the library has to offer. I'm sure the library staff was horrified to see this in the newspaper. I'm thinking about all the outreach and marketing they do. It's not their fault but Im sure they cringe to see this feedback. On the other hand, Christian extremists are trying to gut libraries. It's all too much, even if we have good leadership, which many of us do not.
We will read whatever you write. We've got you.
I really like your first line here, "we have so many kinds of fatigue available to us." It's not just spot on, but a nice reminder that we're all working with or against different elements. Somedays, you're the teenager discovering the library resources and other days, you're the library workers who have tirelessly marketed those resources and wondering why it took so long for that teenager to discover them.
Right? Sometimes, fatigue changes by the hour.