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TWC - Free Previews We provide the free previews for you to get a feel for the kind of content that makes The Writers Channel such a great community, and show you why you should join now. The Writers Journal is a series of bi-weekly member contributed articles, offering us a look into your experiences as a writer. This is a platform for you to vent or share, comically. Writers Journal - Walt Heffernan 
I have a day job, and I suspect I'm not alone in this. It is one of my best excuses, along with filing junk mail or watching "paid promotional programming" on off hours BRAVO, for not writing as I should. At the moment my day job requires a fair amount of travel to various locations between the eastern edge of the Mediterranean and the Southern tip of the Arabian Gulf. No matter how you work it, it takes a minimum of two flights, of at least six hours each, plus a layover to get where I have to go. Flights to Europe from Chicago all leave in the evening with continuations early the following morning, creating some interesting opportunities.
Modern air travel offers a number of diversions to keep your mind off the tedious journey. There is the constant music in at least two languages, but since I can barely speak one that sort of knocks out half the menu. All airlines have their latest news briefings so if you are on the flight leaving from its home base you can get the most up to date news, the same stories that you just watched in the lounge for the last half hour before boarding. There are a number of in-flight movies to watch and if is the beginning of the month it may even be something you haven't seen yet. However there is something about seeing "The Lord of The Rings" on a screen the size of a postcard, with sound that reminds me of my eight grade transistor radio that makes me want to wait for the DVD to be released. So you're basically left with a lot of time to do whatever it is you could possible want to do, as long as you stay strapped into the seat in an area of about two feet by two and a half feet. You are stuck in an aluiminum tube 34,000 feet above the surface of the earth and while you may be traveling at 500 miles per hour, you are not really going anywhere for awhile. So once the plates have been cleared away, the coffee passed, and the duty free has been declined you are still left with about four hours to destination. Of course there is the option of doing all the work I didn't get done in preparation for the trip but like all good procrastinators I rationalize time when I'll be able to get it done, most likely in-between meetings over the next few days. Sleep is always possible; the guy next to me doesn't seem to be having any problems. But even with all the modifications in Business Class and marketing promises, the seat stops reclining long before it turns into a bed. I've been playing with the lumbar support adjustments since take-off and am relatively comfortable. Then something remarkable happens, the cabin lights are turned off, and you find you're alone amongst the other 283 people on the flight. This is one of those rare times when you are truly isolated, the phone can't ring, the wife doesn't have a "little" chore for me that "will only a second". I can't hear the kids arguing or have to tell them if they can't get along together find something else to do. This is exactly what I'm always wishing for, time to myself. It's a somewhat surreal environment, sitting in the dark with the occasional pool of light coming from the overhead, breathing recycled air, and the feeling of constant motion. But this is my time, and no one can get to me, no distractions, no place else to go, and absolutely no excuses. I've got a couple of notebooks, both spiral bound and electrical and while it may be more efficient to use the ThinkPad, in these conditions it is a spiral bound journal that seems to provide a good counterpoint to all the technology the is keeping me streaking across the sky. I use a fountain pen to scratch my thoughts across the page; the deep black ink soaking into the paper brings richness that I haven't found with my words yet. You can't get that from a computer no matter what font you use. In the solitude it is just you and your thoughts so you might as well just put them down. Once I get start the ideas usually continue to flow but occasionally I need a little external help. I've had my headphones on since the flight attendant offered me the complimentary glass a Champaign on boarding. It could be the Allman Brothers, James Taylor or Crosby, Stills and Nash, a short lyric that sparks an emotion or most likely a memory that sets the thoughts flowing. If I need a harder edge there is always Bob Seger. Pages of ideas get recorded, some good, most not, but that doesn't matter, it's the process that matters. If I'm lucky this time provides me with the seeds of a story that will be developed later or rewrites that help with something I've been working on. Getting started has always been the hardest part for me. I have a ten-minute promise with myself, that I will spend at least ten minutes a day, every day, writing something. These flights provide me with the opportunity to make up for the days I may have missed. And if nothing else I am exhausted when I arrive which works better for me than Melatonin for combating jet lag. :: Walt Heffernan has always been a storyteller, just ask any of his teachers from Sister Michael Anthony to Sister Mary Thomas. It has only been with in the last 15 years that he has finally started putting stories down. The fact that he has strung three sentences would shock all of the dear Nuns. |
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