Exactly! At times when writing is progressing smoothly, it's easy to abandon this piece. But in some ways, even more significant then. Because at other times, when it feels insurmountable, you can review the "smooth" times, and come to know what makes that happen--even if nothing more than accessing the mental and emotional space. Interesting to read through Steinbeck's, to know that so many thoughts we have about this, other writers have wrestled with too. We are not alone.
“And the physical of walking is significant. Charles Dickens’ love of walking is well-known.” This. On a trip to Italy, we walked about 20,000 steps per day and at night, sometimes long after my wife fell asleep, I’d write on my phone (a slow hunt and peck) until it ran out of power.
And running. Recently a 10-km run on my 66th birthday turned into a satisfying piece about going for a run on my 66th birthday.
Maybe one might get metaphysical about this or perhaps it’s just increased blood and oxygen to the brain.
I am discovering that process journaling is embedded in my writing! I usually have a draft of the piece I am working on and a side word document where I record snippets that aren't working or thoughts I need to come back to. And sometimes this additional word doc is just an extension of the colour-coding or comments I am making in the draft of the manuscript itself. After reading this really wonderful piece, I am eager to try jotting thoughts down both before and after the writing sessions. Perhaps I'll learn something new about my process!
On a totally different note, I am finding handwriting for both reflection journals and drafting more and more irreplaceable! To the extent that I bought an iPad and an Apple pencil to still use convertible technology while I maintain handwriting. Thanks Alison for this great piece!
Njamba, thanks for sharing this. It's so good that you were doing some form of this already, and the post was just a nudge. We learn, and even re-learn, from each other. I appreciate the note about hand-writing being irreplaceable (I do my picturebook "dummies" by hand-writing), and experimenting with the "when" of it.
Thank you for this! It is a most helpful article indeed. And, sorry for taking about 10 years to finally write this comment! I have started doing this as an experiment. It is a most wise idea to have an official notebook that is separate from your story. I suspect I was doing something sort of like this, except in a not very deliberate sort of way, so that I would print out the story and find a bunch of random sentences in the middle of a page that says something like, "find out what the name of the beer was." Then I would realize that it was probably some note to my future self, except it was hard to tell as it was mooshed in with the rest of the story.
Some while ago it was the middle of the night, and I felt very grumpy and did not feel like writing anything. And then I started listening to protest music from the 1960's on these giant headphones (so that it would not wake up my family), and it made me feel nice and rebellious and thus, like writing again. So now I have made a note in that process journal that if I am grumpy, it is a good idea to turn on annoying/rebellious hippy-ish music.
Ah!! Very good, Kathryn! Now, of course, to remember to read your notes next time--that's always the tough piece for me :) When I do leave notes, mid-manuscript, to myself, I leave them in different colours. Glad you posted this! That was a quick ten years....
This is super helpful for me! 1 process journal per project. I’m onto it now! Funny you talk about having to remember the crap out of something cos you didnt have recording device. I just read Gulag Archipelago and author and his mates in work camp used to compose and carry poems and long form writing in their heads and gather to whisper to each other to remember cos no pad and paper.
I was talking with someone the other day... and remembered this two year old post! I need to do this re=posting more often, I think. They do get buried!
What a great story--using other humans to talk through and to remember ideas/poems. Thank you!
Yes. a sad flaw with substack - doesn't reward long-tail content. Check out convertkit - I'm looking at that in the moment, seems to suit evergreen stuff - so people could sign up anytime for a twelve week cycle of relevant emails.
This is so interesting. So am I grasping the idea correctly - this is like stepping back and writing about what you are writing?
Exactly! At times when writing is progressing smoothly, it's easy to abandon this piece. But in some ways, even more significant then. Because at other times, when it feels insurmountable, you can review the "smooth" times, and come to know what makes that happen--even if nothing more than accessing the mental and emotional space. Interesting to read through Steinbeck's, to know that so many thoughts we have about this, other writers have wrestled with too. We are not alone.
I have found when I review my journals this way I can access what I was feeling like then - that is very valuable!
“And the physical of walking is significant. Charles Dickens’ love of walking is well-known.” This. On a trip to Italy, we walked about 20,000 steps per day and at night, sometimes long after my wife fell asleep, I’d write on my phone (a slow hunt and peck) until it ran out of power.
And running. Recently a 10-km run on my 66th birthday turned into a satisfying piece about going for a run on my 66th birthday.
Maybe one might get metaphysical about this or perhaps it’s just increased blood and oxygen to the brain.
LOTS to be said for blood and oxygen!
I am discovering that process journaling is embedded in my writing! I usually have a draft of the piece I am working on and a side word document where I record snippets that aren't working or thoughts I need to come back to. And sometimes this additional word doc is just an extension of the colour-coding or comments I am making in the draft of the manuscript itself. After reading this really wonderful piece, I am eager to try jotting thoughts down both before and after the writing sessions. Perhaps I'll learn something new about my process!
On a totally different note, I am finding handwriting for both reflection journals and drafting more and more irreplaceable! To the extent that I bought an iPad and an Apple pencil to still use convertible technology while I maintain handwriting. Thanks Alison for this great piece!
Njamba, thanks for sharing this. It's so good that you were doing some form of this already, and the post was just a nudge. We learn, and even re-learn, from each other. I appreciate the note about hand-writing being irreplaceable (I do my picturebook "dummies" by hand-writing), and experimenting with the "when" of it.
Thank you for this! It is a most helpful article indeed. And, sorry for taking about 10 years to finally write this comment! I have started doing this as an experiment. It is a most wise idea to have an official notebook that is separate from your story. I suspect I was doing something sort of like this, except in a not very deliberate sort of way, so that I would print out the story and find a bunch of random sentences in the middle of a page that says something like, "find out what the name of the beer was." Then I would realize that it was probably some note to my future self, except it was hard to tell as it was mooshed in with the rest of the story.
Some while ago it was the middle of the night, and I felt very grumpy and did not feel like writing anything. And then I started listening to protest music from the 1960's on these giant headphones (so that it would not wake up my family), and it made me feel nice and rebellious and thus, like writing again. So now I have made a note in that process journal that if I am grumpy, it is a good idea to turn on annoying/rebellious hippy-ish music.
Ah!! Very good, Kathryn! Now, of course, to remember to read your notes next time--that's always the tough piece for me :) When I do leave notes, mid-manuscript, to myself, I leave them in different colours. Glad you posted this! That was a quick ten years....
This is super helpful for me! 1 process journal per project. I’m onto it now! Funny you talk about having to remember the crap out of something cos you didnt have recording device. I just read Gulag Archipelago and author and his mates in work camp used to compose and carry poems and long form writing in their heads and gather to whisper to each other to remember cos no pad and paper.
I was talking with someone the other day... and remembered this two year old post! I need to do this re=posting more often, I think. They do get buried!
What a great story--using other humans to talk through and to remember ideas/poems. Thank you!
Yes. a sad flaw with substack - doesn't reward long-tail content. Check out convertkit - I'm looking at that in the moment, seems to suit evergreen stuff - so people could sign up anytime for a twelve week cycle of relevant emails.
I try to keep my indexes up-to-date, and to remind people they exist... where to find them and how to use them! But you're quite right.
I'll check out convertkit--thank you for this!