RadicalEd: Spice Must Flow: So, I 've been living in a homeless shelter for the last month, and observing this Pandemic from that perspective is amazing as a journalist, but a bit unsettling as a human being.

But I have learned something about my writing process which I wanted to share. Because it is difficult to keep charged with so many people competing for a very limited number of plugs, I have been writing pen-to-paper, and have never been so prolific. For the past few years writing for this smallville newspaper on a deadline, I always did all my writing on my laptop. In college, doing court reporting, I likewise did all my "serious" writing on a computer.

But writing with a pen works on slightly different part of the brain than typing does - at least, it seems to for me.

If I were superduperstitious, I would say that it is easier for the Goddess of Scribes to guide my quill when I am actually holding one. Luckily, I don't really believe in that kind of stuff. I only pretend to believe, because it seems to  brings results.

I kept a couple full-sized notebooks, one for my journal and the other for my short stories, but they got stolen. Now I use 5x7 composition books, 88 cents each at WalMart, which I can handily keep in my pocket.

I'm rewriting my Fark anthology story, which was in the stolen notebook, and it seems to be improving.

And I keep smiling every day, and telling incredibly stupid jokes to make people laugh.

I have at least 3 notebooks of small size in my purse - I agree writing by hand is a very different experience and mindset. I was trying to trend back to that before all this hit. I wish you well in your endeavors (also, depending on area of US to help out?).

tdyak:What got me back to writing, and really helped as a writing exercise, was writing flash-fiction.

I started here (https://365tomorrows.com/), where I was published several times, by people I never met and didn't know.  Then, I just kept on going, writing a small flash fiction every day.  Then I took that and grew it until was writing a bit every day.

Setting a goal, then achieving it helped start the process for me.

Thanks, I will check that out. I was trying to do a writing prompt a day for a bit, but that fizzled when I hit junky writing prompts. I do need a kick in the pants in regards to writing. I think about writing and stories before I fall asleep - its the only way I fall asleep, but I never get around to writing any of it these days.