Scribble Scrabble: Writing in Other Formats

Posted by Guest Writer in WBN News & Events      2 comments

Mar
1

Hey, guys. A while ago, I was wandering around UT Campus area, waiting for whatever, and I stumbled into the CVS looking for a new notepad to fill with poetry about selfish bus drivers and crude drawings of odd faces. The notepad selection was horrible, however. I couldn’t find one decent, non-lined bunch of paper bound together to save my life.

I did decide, however, to pick up a short order ticket book, normally used by waiters and waitresses named Doug and Alice. Something about the book leapt out at me, inspiring me to fill its cells and spaces with words and drawings. What was even better, though, was the addition of two pages of carbon paper. If one pressed down hard enough on two separate but consecutive tickets, the carbon paper beneath the second ticket could contain impressions from the first as well. This idea of overlap, intentional or not, sparked some wild fun in me as a writer. Soon enough, I filled the whole thing with random words, random orders from aliens, drawings of concentric circles around concentric circles, and episodes of a strange character who kept accounting his bottom line over stanzas of carbon-poetry.

So, long story into short point: the adoption of a new format for my writing led to new ideas about how I could utilize writing. Because the short-order ticket pad had its cell structure, along with its carbon paper duplicates, I was able to fill the pages in fun and unique ways. I guess what I’m getting at is this: the fresh idea of writing in an order ticket made writing fun. Play is a key part to writing, I find, especially in that our freedom to play loosens the parameters of how we view writing. Filling the void, be it a blank computer screen or a Waffle House order ticket, can open the possibilities of the writing mind.

How about you guys? Any interesting formats you’ve processed your writing through? If so, how’d it enrich your writing style? Filling the void is a lot of fun, don’t you think?

Christopher Savage is a writer living in Austin. He writes poetry, short stories, non-fiction, film scripts, comic books, and one long novel, among other things. He is the founder of the Boho Coco literary zine and blog and is currently attending UT Austin as a Sociology major, English minor. He is survived by his cat Cashew.