Kinds of writing

I write. It's what I do and it's not limited to novels. I write all day in one form or another. It comforts me.

I write in my journal at my computer each day, making five or six entries a day which amounts to about 30 typed pages per week. What do I write about? Everything. For one, I live-blog my day for a nonexistent audience. I can always find out what I was doing on a given date by searching my journal. It's also where I hash out plots and scenes and ideas. I discuss them with myself and find this helpful. Often I copy a paragraph from my journal into Scrivener and then work from it the next day.

I email with interesting friends and enjoy coming up with funny stories. Email should cheer people up.

I write my ideas in notebooks. As I've said elsewhere, I keep five notebooks in use at all times. This is how I capture my ideas and begin turning them into stories.

I have a scene book where I lay out coming scenes from my novels when I'm actively writing. This is a great help when it comes time to write.

And I write my novels. That's the big item in my writing world, a six- or seven-month haul, and I love every minute of it.

Also, because I'm a fountain-pen nut I write with each of my 14 fountain pens every day. It keeps them flowing. This writing is almost gibberish -- whatever occurs to me at the moment. I enjoy forming the letters. To me, it's a sensual experience to feel the pen slide across the paper. It calms me down, like petting a dog or holding a baby. I'm convinced it lowers my blood pressure.

And of course, I write here. It's what I do: write. What do you write about and do you do it in many places?