Some people argue that coffee is not a required tool of the writing trade, and that's fair. But if you can do this job without being caffeinated, I'm suspicious of your status as a living human.
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| To each their own. |
I always get a smile on my face whenever I pick up a new pen, receive a notebook, or someone gives me a little bag of go-beans so I can keep this operation going. However, there is something that I think a lot of other writers experience but don't talk about... which is the pressure that having all of these tools of the trade can put on your shoulders when you feel you aren't using them often, or quickly, enough.
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The Pressure of The Blank Page
I won't lie, since I was in high school I've had a box of notebooks that I carried with me every time I moved. I rarely used any of them, but I kept them the way that you keep that box of cables and cords; just in case you need it. While I always had a need for a pen between being a college student, and then a reporter, I never used them as fast as I acquired them. Coffee is a recent addition to this list, but I started drinking it at the beginning of the pandemic and I've almost never had to pay for it since then between people clearing out their cabinets, or sending me gifts when they found out I wasn't picky about my brands or roasting type.
I have come to the conclusion that it is unlikely I will ever write through all the ink in these pens, or that I will use every sheet of every notebook I have stacked up on my shelf. However, I go through a couple of pens a month, and a few notebooks every season. But there's always more. This is both comforting, and a little weighty. Because I feel like it is my responsibility, my duty even, to use these tools to pour forth ideas from my mind and into reality in some way, shape, or form.
The coffee will get drunk, let's not be silly on that score. I may have to share it with other people from time to time, but it's going to be put to good use.
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| Make it good. Don't waste space, or ink! |
I believe there's another word for this feeling, but I've come to calling it the Pressure of The Blank Page. Because all of the pens that stand ready at my desk, and all of the notebooks in a row, stand like soldiers in a line... and it's up to me to call them up for service one after another as the need requires. But while I do need them, and I do use them, I also know that I only have so many words I can write a day. Does my brain have enough ideas to use all of these materials in time?
Maybe.
I'm normally very confident about my skill level, and what it takes to do my job. I also know that I tend to go through a shopping bag of paper and a tin full of pens every year just keeping the assembly line going with things like my 100 Kinfolk project, or supplements like 100 Sci-Fi Cults. But between YouTube scripts, TTRPG supplements, short story ideas, novel layouts, and random brainstorms, I honestly wonder if I have more materials than I do ideas sometimes.
Of course, that's the thing about ideas; they aren't finite.
I'm absolutely certain that if I never had another idea, then I might find myself at a standstill eventually. It might be in five years, ten years, or even twenty years, but eventually I would get out all the ideas I have stored away on the back shelf of my brain until I've caught up on my back log.
That's the thing about ideas in my head, though... the tap doesn't turn off.
I have new ideas fairly often, even when I'm not trying to. I'll be down at the gym when two thoughts spark off in my brain, and I have to jot down the glimpse of the idea I caught in that brief flash. I'll be mid-game rolling some dice, and an outline for a new supplement will come to me. I'll sit down to help a friend through a story they're working on, and by the time we've solved whatever plot problem they're working on, I'll have had a new idea of my own.
I'm not special in this regard, either, and that's something I wanted to tell people this week. Because a lot of us can get overwhelmed wondering what we're going to do with our hoard of supplies and inspirations, and if we should leave them to a friend, a child, or perhaps a favored niece or nephew. Take a second. Breathe. You aren't going to run out of ideas any more than you're going to run out of readers.
With that said, though, if you've got a stack of notebooks you've been holding off on writing in because they're too nice, or your ideas aren't good enough... well, there's no time like the present, eh?
Of Course, More Materials Are Always Appreciated
If you're one of those folks out there who is cursed with spare notebooks or pens, and you want to send them to a good home, feel free to reach out via my email gadget on the page here. This offer goes double for anyone looking for a sponsor for notebooks, pens, coffee, and other authorial accessories. I'm always happy to talk about products that make this hard job a little bit easier, after all!
And for folks who just want to do their part to help keep me making more content like this, as well as the little audio drama above, please subscribe/follow me in these locations:
- The Azukail Games YouTube Channel (where I contribute video content)
- My Daily Motion Channel (longer videos that won't show up on YouTube)
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Like, Follow, and Come Back Again!
That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife, or my most recent short story collection The Rejects!
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