Back to basics with pen and paper

I came across an interesting bit of trivia recently that caused me pause. The island nation of Iceland has more writers per capita than anywhere in the world. With a population of 375,000 over the course of their lifetime, one in 10 Icelanders will publish a book. A possible explanation could be the country’s 21-hour-long dark winter nights provide ample time for indoor activities like writing.

For the past year, I’ve been writing a book, the first several chapters drafted. What I’ve discovered is when writing about a traumatic personal experience, the writing isn’t what’s difficult, the reliving of each detail to write is what’s hard. This book is not a true crime tome in the traditional sense, although it’s a true story and there’s no shortage of criminal acts. It’s the view from my front-row seat to a yearslong saga of betrayal of trust, and cunning criminal enterprise that ended in murder.

So I’ve stepped away from the computer and picked up a pen and old-school yellow legal pads to help focus. It seems I’m in good company with Ernest Hemingway, although his alternative was a typewriter instead of a computer. It’s said he found that the process of typing what he’d written by hand gave him a chance to improve his words. Writing by hand is less distracting and slower but I find I’m not constantly editing and re-writing in real time. It feels familiar since for the first years I wrote this column each week starting in 1990, every column was handwritten on yellow legal paper and input by the Press copy desk for publication.

Something Hemingway and prolific writer Stephen King share in common is they both wrote/write each morning for three or four hours, then step away for the day.

On Feb. 3, my friend, David Kilmer, author of "A Peril to Myself and Others," finished the last chapter of his second book, "The Way of the Sailor," while sitting in the lobby of a hotel with a fiesta in full swing all around. David and Rebecca live in Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico, in the winter months. He’s such an adventurer and a most wonderful storyteller and wordsmith. David’s secret has been to commit to a focused 60 to 90 minutes twice a day to writing. Then walking away from the keyboard to enjoy life.

Another local friend who’s published his second book is Doug Eastwood. His first book, "North Idaho Centennial Trail," is quite different than his second effort, "Closure Can Be A Myth: The True Story of a Family Tragedy in the Las Vegas Desert."

“Writing this became more like a journey than writing a novel,” said Doug on his Facebook page. “It took a little over three years to complete it.”

Local author Raydeane Owens has published two beautiful books in the encouragement and inspiration genre, "Heaven — Earth" and "Brave One."

In 2022, Jerry Jaeger published his third thriller novel, "Red Diamond Justice," a process that spanned almost four years.

I love sunlight too much to move to Iceland, so I’ll take inspiration from David, Doug, Raydeane and Jerry.

And my buddy Mr. Hemingway, who famously remarked, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”

• • •

Happy birthday today to Megan Reagan, Diane Zell, Jerry Moss, Paige Watkins and Donna Pfeiffer. Feb. 22 is the big day for Mark Sales, Tami Crawford, Joseph Louck, Billie Jo Campbell, Jim Clark and Jack Lash. On Friday, Corinna Hunter, Sydney Knox, Janet Curry, Shawn Telford, Diane Mort, Louise Robeson, Bill Kaufman, Holly McNee, Denise Wilbanks and Marion Brendis celebrate. On Saturday, Ingrid Allen, Sheila Wooley, Betty Leonard, Tamara Booth and Barb Koerner sing the birthday song. On Sunday, Ella Allred , Nathan McLeod, Peter Braunlich, Barb Dietrick, Rosalie True and Jimmy Conrow mark their special day. Brad Medlock, Tina Hough, Lauren McShea, Jeremy McComb, Carolyn Peterson, Peter Braunlich, Clara Hester, Sherry Wallis, Sunny Day and Ron Gonzales blow out the candles Monday. John Darlas, Karen Cocoran, David Sheridan, Tawny Brown, Camille Hutchison, Steve Lux, Eddie Jerome, Hailey Pierce and Mary Herrick are celebrating Tuesday. On the last day of February, Don Pischner, Bridgette Lowry, Dave Brubaker, Gary Dagastine, Bob Flowers, Bill Reese, Al Telles, Maurie Bruce, Dean Walsmith, Allison Gerzina and Robin Gerzina take another trip around the sun.

• • •

Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.