Fully Leaded

I love writing. 

Not just the craft of writing a story. I’m talking about putting actual pen to actual paper. Or in my case, pencil. Something about a freshly sharpened pencil lead gets me in the mood to write. (Maybe it's the act of blowing off the excess shavings when the pencil has just come out of the sharpener.)

Although the lion’s share of my writing time is spent at the computer, I love scribbling ideas in my journal or on little stickie notes.

To me, there’s something beautiful about the written word and I can’t imagine never again pushing ink or lead across the page. When I was in school, cursive writing was still part of the curriculum. And my mother the teacher, had me spend countless hours perfecting each loop and swirl, making sure to stay within the lines.

While my penmanship is still awe-inspiring, it’s evolved. I’m comfortable with my Art-Deco inspired capital “B”. It doesn’t matter that my capital “L” touches the lines above and below it. And don’t get me started on my lowercase “z”.

It’s gorgeous.

That’s how I feel about the craft of writing. Learn the rules of grammar and punctuation and the traditions of your chosen genre. Then change them to suit yourself.

Because at the end, you must be happy with what’s on the page. Er, screen.