A Room of One's Own: WriteRoom Makes Writing Distraction-Free

For all writers, and poets in particular, composition is as much an act of concentration as it is one of creativity. Many poets often talk about needing "time to write," but what most of them mean is "time alone." Poetry is both reflexive and reflective: solitude and concentration are usually just as important, if not more important, than the creative spark.

It's for this reason that most poets I know prefer hand-writing their work in a notebook [usually a Moleskine] to typing it into a word processor. One of the main reasons for writing this way, beyond the tactile pleasure of it, is the effortless concentration it provides. In a notebook, it is you and the page. If you've managed to find a solitary spot, there's nothing to get between you and your writing.

On today's computers, there's really nothing analogous to a blank page. Our operating systems are filled with dings, whistles, and flashing notifications; our browsers are almost always open, luring us to look at what the world is saying; and our word processors are bloated with so-called features.

Poems on the Open Road: Writing While Traveling

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I'm currently on a small road trip to the East Coast. While packing, I decided to leave my larger Moleskine notebook, which contains most of my creative work, at home in favor of the smaller, more compact model I have. The choice reminded of an article I wrote for this blog back in April, in which I discussed the differences between a low and high tech approach to writing.

Since then, I've had a bunch of conversations with readers about the different tools they employ when writing poetry. Unsurprisingly, most are big pen-and-paper fans, but there are some who say they only compose electronically now. I was delighted to discover that a fair number of people are still using typewriters, but we all know that those don't travel well.

All poetry is tied to experience in one way or another, and the way we record those experiences says a lot about us as individual writers. Some people prefer to write as they go, while others take in all they can and save the writing for afterwards. To quote William Wordsworth: "Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility." Whether you agree or not, Wordsworth's preference is clear: experience now, write later.

Because of technological limitations, many writers have done the same. Jack Kerouac, after living the events of his novel On the Road, sat down and composed the entire book on one continuous role of paper. It just goes to show you that sometimes the story of how something was written can become just as famous as the writing itself.

With all the technology available to us today, recording something as it's happening has become easier than ever. That's really what Twitter and smartphones are all about. And we all know that "realtime" is probably the most popular term used in the tech community today. Certainly being a realtime poet while traveling has its advantages, but Wordsworth wouldn't have approved of that initial observation becoming the final poem.

It seems to come down to a single question: is your poetry an observation or a recollection? The answer is in how you write. In our realtime world, there's certainly nothing wrong with a quick spurt of emotion, but there's also something to be said for a more sluggish reflection. Which do you prefer?

iPod vs. Moleskine: False Dilemma?

I have two Moleskine notebooks which I guard and love like children. One is the classic pocket-size that I use for everyday notes, passing thoughts, or writing ideas. The other is a larger, journal-size version in which I keep my more formal creative writing. I wouldn’t trade either of them for the world: they are perfect for my purposes and their simple, elegant design is completely inspiring.

I could say the same for my iPod Touch. In the short time I’ve had it, it’s become an indispensable little gadget. It functions as an mp3 player, game console, remote control, netbook, and much more. As the Moleskine notebook is to writing, so is the iPod Touch (or iPhone) to portable computing.

Up until now, incorporating the two into my already gadget-ridden life hasn’t been a problem. That is, until Touch Poet came along. This fantastic little iPhone app has thrown my conception of what each of my devices is for out the window. Until then, the iPod was the information aggregator: it answered e-mails, looked up words, updated Twitter, and checked my calendar events. The Moleskines were the creativity engines: they expressed my individuality, explored my own brand of poetry, and generally helped me take a break from the hustle and bustle. But Touch Poet made things altogether different. This app allowed me to create little mini poems from words that were brought in from all corners of the internet. Take a look:

Granted, the phrases I have up there don’t really constitute poetry, but you get the idea. Words are generated from various news sources, your own e-mail accounts, the works of Shakespeare, Poe, and Kipling, and social bookmarking site Digg. You take those words and arrange them in any way you like. It’s a simple concept, and a very nice looking app. It even lets you post your final poem to Twitter, which is the most thoughtful feature.

So why did this throw my creative life into (slightly exaggerated) disarray? Because beyond the initial fun of it, I actually found Touch Poet to be very useful to my creative process. I started to use the app to find useful phrases that then got incorporated into my larger work. I wound up with two competing devices, both serving my creativity, to and from which I spent a great deal of my time transcribing.

As you know, oftentimes writing is about rhythm, both structured and unstructured. At first I found that the cacophony of these devices working against one another was interrupting this rhythm, and I felt a strong urge to get rid of one or the other. With time, though, and even as I’m writing this post, a new rhythm is emerging. There’s a great partnership to be had between the high tech and the low tech, and slowly but surely I’m learning to balance my time. Until then, I’ll keep writing with my iPod in one hand and my Moleskine in the other. After all, the important thing is that we all keep writing.