As I was starting the writing process,
I started to think of the final product. Since I was going to have at
least 30 poems, and front and back of a piece of paper, I would have
a minimum of 15 pages.
Last June, I was at The San Francisco
Center for the Book. I had a week long intensive course on how to
bind books. So, I knew I would bind the poetry chapbook by hand. I
thought about all the styles that I learned, and all the different
structures for a book. Which one was going to be the best was left up
to debate.
Then there was another issue. I have a
manual typewriter and when the keys, some more than others, hit a
piece of paper, it leaves a big imprint. I found that sometimes the
key would tear though the page. There was no way I would be able to
type on the front and back of a single sheet with any success. Sure,
I could have found thicker paper, something with a better bond, or an
appropriate tooth. Or I could only use on side of the page.
Ultimately, I decided to use some 8.5 x
14 paper we had here. I would fold it in half, making each page 8.5 x
7. So, in a way, I was only typing on one side of the paper.
I decided to fold the paper, make the
loose ends go into the binding, and leave the folded edge out. And
with that, with the necessity and with the confines, I chose to do a
Japanese stab binding.