Our Part of the Night, Part 3

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.