Amy and I were having a meta-discussion of why we do what we do on our various logs. A small reflection of that can be seen here, where Amy talks about her writing practices. With that in mind, I’m going to do a little IJSM meta-discussion.

Mine’s much different; having edited online for four years, I compose almost exclusively on a keyboard. The only times that I don’t are when I’m in a classroom situation and unable to peck at keys. Then, it’s almost always verse. Thinking on it, I’m not actually much into verse writing on screen; like Amy notes, I end up marking out lots of words. If I’m scrawling [and if you've seen my handwriting, you can't call it anything but that!] something down, I’m thinking as I do it, or usually pushing the hand to go as fast as it can while the words come out from my heart.

With a keyboard, I’m a bit different, and that’s probably why writings done electronically have a different bent to them. With a keyboard, I’m a bit more extreme–I push, I pull, I prod, I plumb. I use devices to excess, not realizing that I’m doing it while I’m going. Why? For one, I type much faster than I can write, so the brain tends to run along and just do what it pleases. When the brain’s working quickly, it tends to rapidly spew out sentences of the fame variety. For example, realize that every sentence in this paragraph uses dependent clauses, including this one.

It’s a trap, and it’s one that I’d like to avoid. I’d like to write using simple sentences. I find that I cannot unless I force myself to do so. I’m forced to ponder: “Which writing is truer to the soul?” To be honest, I don’t know.

The words you see here are almost exclusively done on-the-fly. For example, my celebration of my parents’ anniversary was written in about fifteen minutes on the spur of the moment Wednesday morning. I woke up, it was on my heart, and I wrote about it. It wasn’t until later in the day that I had a full appreciation for what I’d written, but I surely say that it’s my favorite entry so far [as if that's really fair, with only 46 entries counting this one, probably only 15% of which are entries on the order of seriousness for which "Thirty-two Years" would strive] on IJSM.

As I prepare–and believe me, preparation is merited–to go to Mission Fest in a week, I am reminded that I often come away from my time at Millsaps College and Galloway Memorial UMC with verse and a refreshened outlook on life. As such, let me pass along to you, dear reader, two pieces of errata that often guide me as a would-be writer.

First is from Sir Francis Bacon, on the nature of human communication: “Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” If you think on this, I think you’ll find it to be true. We read for opinions, discuss them with each other, and we write them down–whether on paper, in bytes, or on our souls. Ever wonder why spiritual journeys last a long time? One must read, then discuss, then write upon the heart. Most folks don’t get religion, faith, what have you on a whim. I know I sure didn’t.

The second is from Wordsworth, on poetry: “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings…reflected in tranquility.” Most poetry is initially written in times of significant emotional bubbling; until it is more carefully carved into the wooden words that make the sculptured output more pleasing to the eye and ear, it remains unnoticed.

You’ll probably be able to tell when I’ve had Baconian day or a Wordsworthian day. =) My time in Mississippi will be very Wordsworthian, I’m sure–I’ll probably come back with all sorts of verse for discussion. But some of the discussions that I’ll have with Paul in the middle of the night–maybe even in a box city in Jackson’s Smith Park–will be Baconian in nature as well.

I promise to put prime reading material on the list of things to carry along with me.