Unfocuse- Ooh Shiny!

Should I be embarrassed that I don't have a writing process? Should I be embarrassed about the things that my miniscule process includes? It's not that I lack a writing process, it's just that I've never explicity followed one every time I have to write a huge paper. My process involves me taking the laptop, sitting down (nowhere special, usually just at the kitchen table), and opening up many tabs (facebook, Mrs. Cardona's blog, dictionary.com, bubble spinner) that I can spend time on when my paper gets to be too much for me to handle. I'm not a procrastinator: I like to start working on things as soon as possible so I can spend more time on beautifying them, but sometimes I'm surprised that I do finish my papers with time to spare because I open up so many distractions for myself and I'm unfocused (usually) by nature. I can be very focused when I want to be, but in the first steps of writing a paper, that focus is virtually nonexistant.

So I don't have a writing process of things I have to follow any time I delve into a paper. There are, however, certain things that are never and will never be part of my writing process.

• I can't handwrite drafts. Never have and never will. It bugs the small amount of OCD that I have. That was why I was so complainy when I went to Orlando because I had to handwrite my draft on the plane ride. Doubly worse.
• I can't edit on the computer. Something about the screen bothers my eyes and makes them glaze over after a page or two. I always have to print out a copy of my draft to edit it. Doing that is also better because you can draw lines and arrows and see all the changes you have made.
• There has to be either complete silence or crazy loud chaos. One extreme or the other. If two people are carrying on a conversation right next to me, bad things happen because I either start writing down their conversation or can't write at all because of the distraction.
• I can't write at dinnertime. That's because my dad comes into the kitchen and turns on his music and starts cooking away while singing "Will it go round in circles? Will it fly high like a bird up in the sky?" His so-called cooking music. Now, don't get me wrong, I like his cooking music. In fact, when I cook with him, I insist on having some background tunes to chop and mash along with. It just doesn't help when I'm trying to write a paper.
• Don't talk to me. Please. I get very testy when I am in the zone and writing away and someone comes up to me and says "Now what time does your thing start, again?" Wait until I'm awkwardly unfocused and staring off into space to ask me a question like that. Please?

Now, if we're talking about writing a poem or something like that, I am very lenient about the process because I think it's best to just let your creative juices flow. Whatever trips your trigger at any point in time is bound to have a lovely effect on your poetry writing.

There's a tidbit for ya.