If you were to ask me if I collect anything—stamps, coins, rare first editions, beer cans, that kind of thing—I’d say no. Our conversation would move on, but in the middle of the night I’d wake up and rethink my answer. Because here’s a list of things I’ve collected over my writing life. The list isn’t all-inclusive or alphabetical, but it is partially annotated.
Books
Voices. For example, the voice of a
friend, driving one dark, foggy night along a winding country road, who said as
she took her hands off the steering wheel, “I felt murder in my hands.”
Characters. For example, that same
friend.
Overheard conversations. They’re
the best, aren’t they? You don’t necessarily hear the context and are left to
wonder (see entry under Voices above).
News clippings
Hope
Readers (one hopes)
Advice. Any kind of advice. It
doesn’t even have to be good. I’m happy to ignore any kind of advice at all.
Coffee mugs and teacups
Thick skin (again, one hopes)
Other writers. I love knowing other
writers, learning from them, listening to them, discovering commonalities,
having lunch.
Pictures of writers writing
 |
| A picture I've had since 1993. No idea who he is. Or the writer. |
Pictures of writers knitting
Deadlines
Books about how to write
Grammar and style books
 |
| Terrific book. Dreyer's wit makes it even more fun. |
Quotations about writing from writers
Recipes for chocolate desserts. Contact
me if you’d like a recipe for Tunnel of Fudge Cake, Chocolate Whiskey Cake, Puff
Pastry Triangles with Mini Chocolate Chips, or Double-Dark Chocolate Devastator
Cookies. Or all of them.
Back issues of Alfred Hitchcock
Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I’m slowly
passing them along to local Little Free Libraries.
Cats, one or two at a time. I’m
between cats, now, and have been for several years. I need a cat.
Penguins, apparently
 |
| Still life with penguins |
Questions. Some of my favorites are “What if?” “And then what?” “Says who?” “What else?” and “Why?”
Situations. Especially funny or
uncomfortable situations. Funny and uncomfortable are even better.
Writerly truths—for example, “Nobody
but a reader ever became a writer.” To this I would add, “Nobody but a listener
ever became a writer.”
Listening skills
Words—those to use and those to
avoid
Names. The obituary page is a good
place to find names—wonderful first names like these in our local paper: Stub,
Pearless, Phyleta, Lear (female), Lingle (male), and Oakney. And these last
names: Wurmnest, Mayworm, Tipsword, Brimberry, Vermillion, and Stump.
Notes from workshops
Small notebooks
Pens
Short pens and pencils
Small pieces of paper for quick notes
I haven’t set out to collect most of the things on my list.
I have them, find them, sometimes buy them, or they’re given to me. I keep my
favorites, the ones that need to be fed, the most helpful, and the most useful
of them. There’s no need to explain the ones that need to be fed, but “favorite,”
“best,” “most helpful,” and “most useful” are subjective. The person using those
descriptors gets to decide which things they apply to.
Given all that, I’d call myself more of a haphazard keeper
than a collector. What about you? What do you collect and/or keep?
