Sara Ann O'Sullivan

So what does, my writing look like behind the scenes? A mess
No, but in all seriousness, I do find it fascinating to learn where or how writers do work their magic. Charles Dickens had his favorite desk and would ship it with him if he had to leave for an extended period of time. Stephen King wrote in a laundry room at the start of his career. Ernest Hemingway would write with the rising sun. We all had heard the story of J.K Rolling starting Harry Potter on a napkin.

Interestingly enough for me, I have found that while my poems do have settings, a line or a view will spark a thought and then I feel compelled to write it out.Barbados, where I am currently going to school, has views like this all over the island and I always felt compelled to write about it. There is something about the way the sun dances off the water and twirls through the air that stays with me and I can quickly type up a poem about it.

But I do not have a favorite desk or a favorite time to write. Writing seems to come and go with me. There will be times when I can sit down at for hours and just pour my heart out while there are other times when I will have 20 tabs open and I will be doing anything but writing. I have learned a lot from those 20 tabs, like the history of Honeymoons. It is a process for sure. I have learned that going into the second book of the Chronicle of the Blessed. I have started and stopped. Questioned and Pondered. Where to go. What’s even worse, in a good way, is when people you meet inspire you, and suddenly the story changes. Someone says something in a conversation and it sparks you to think about how to add that to your story.

So in the simplest terms, writing is a messy business. It has its ups and downs. It can be very straightforward and other times you are questioning if you doing it right. But at the end of the day, it is a craft and the best way to do it is to get better at it. So while my table can look like the mess below (I promise that coffee was not all drunk in one sitting), it can also be a peaceful event. It is fun and always changing. It is an adventure.

Thank you to all who support me!!