Ian LeTourneau : A typical writing day

A typical writing day for me does not exist. I work as the graphic designer/secretary at The Fiddlehead 4 days a week (Monday - Thursday), which means Fridays and Saturdays are my days to get creative. The absolute necessity is to start off by brewing a pot of coffee after I’ve taken our dog outside for his first morning walk. I take the first cup (always the best) into my office and close the door. I will try to not look at Facebook or check my email and look through the latest drafts of some poems or through my notebook to see if something gets the poetic engines fired up to work on. Sometimes that works; if not, I will read a book. Throughout the week, after getting ready for work and helping my wife get our son off to school, there is a half hour between when she goes to work and when I go to work. I find sometimes that I can get super focused and do some good work (perhaps get a few lines or edit a poem-in-progress) in that limited space of time. Sometimes at night, after the kiddo is in bed, I can do the same for an hour or so, but this is often a more conducive time for editing.

PS – I sit in the chair my grandfather had as a foreman at the pulp and paper mill in my hometown of Dalhousie, NB

Ian LeTourneau is the author of Terminal Moraine (Thistledown, 2008) and the two chapbooks Defining Range (Gaspereau, 2006) and Core Sample (Frog Hollow, 2017). He lives in Fredericton, NB with his wife and son (and new dog), and is coming to the end of a two year term as the city’s inaugural Cultural Laureate.