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jon_chaissonI think I may be putting a few things aside pretty soon.
As much as I enjoy the daily 750 Words exercise, I don't think it's completely helping. There's been more days than not where I feel forced to think of something to write about, and it ends up either sounding forced, or I'm blathering on about something I've written about countless times before. [More to the point: I've always been horrible at spontaneous writing. I need at least a shred of an idea that interests me to write about, or else I'll write maybe two sentences that go nowhere.]
Also, even though I have it written up on my whiteboard schedule, I'm rarely writing poetry anymore. I think with this, I'm too stuck in old habits and I'm writing the same damn thing over and over again. Perhaps it's a good sign that I'm no longer a young, lost Gen-Xer trying to figure out who he is and what the hell he wants to do with his life? Heh. Seriously, though...for a good couple of years it's felt like I've been forcing myself to write poems and the end result has felt kind of lifeless.
That's not to say I won't do daily words anymore, or write poetry. I'm just thinking I should stop forcing myself to write things when they're not serving any real purpose, however small.
There's also the fact that I've been on a big analog kick lately. That is to say, wanting to do more things offline and more in the Real World. This manifested itself a year or two ago when I chose to start handwriting a daily journal. This was partly to bring more of my personal life offline, but it was also a way to free up my writing from restrictions and expectations. And I should probably save my eyes from staring at screens all day long.
And lastly, I've been really jonesing to do more artwork and music. I've let them slide for far too long.
So, I'm positing this: what about, instead of forcing myself to work within the constraints of whatever platform I'm writing in/on, to get myself a companion notebook like the moleskine I use for journaling, and use it as a catch-all for things I'd like to work on? Something I can use at any time of day offline. Daily practice words, idea crunching, drawing, poetry, songwriting...a Notebook of Infinite Knowledge, as one of my friends used to call it back in college. Perhaps this weekend I'll check out some of the nicer hardcover notebooks out there and pick one up. And release the rules: no censoring myself, no forcing myself to make word count.
Something to think about.
As much as I enjoy the daily 750 Words exercise, I don't think it's completely helping. There's been more days than not where I feel forced to think of something to write about, and it ends up either sounding forced, or I'm blathering on about something I've written about countless times before. [More to the point: I've always been horrible at spontaneous writing. I need at least a shred of an idea that interests me to write about, or else I'll write maybe two sentences that go nowhere.]
Also, even though I have it written up on my whiteboard schedule, I'm rarely writing poetry anymore. I think with this, I'm too stuck in old habits and I'm writing the same damn thing over and over again. Perhaps it's a good sign that I'm no longer a young, lost Gen-Xer trying to figure out who he is and what the hell he wants to do with his life? Heh. Seriously, though...for a good couple of years it's felt like I've been forcing myself to write poems and the end result has felt kind of lifeless.
That's not to say I won't do daily words anymore, or write poetry. I'm just thinking I should stop forcing myself to write things when they're not serving any real purpose, however small.
There's also the fact that I've been on a big analog kick lately. That is to say, wanting to do more things offline and more in the Real World. This manifested itself a year or two ago when I chose to start handwriting a daily journal. This was partly to bring more of my personal life offline, but it was also a way to free up my writing from restrictions and expectations. And I should probably save my eyes from staring at screens all day long.
And lastly, I've been really jonesing to do more artwork and music. I've let them slide for far too long.
So, I'm positing this: what about, instead of forcing myself to work within the constraints of whatever platform I'm writing in/on, to get myself a companion notebook like the moleskine I use for journaling, and use it as a catch-all for things I'd like to work on? Something I can use at any time of day offline. Daily practice words, idea crunching, drawing, poetry, songwriting...a Notebook of Infinite Knowledge, as one of my friends used to call it back in college. Perhaps this weekend I'll check out some of the nicer hardcover notebooks out there and pick one up. And release the rules: no censoring myself, no forcing myself to make word count.
Something to think about.
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Date: 2016-09-29 04:34 pm (UTC)What I like about it is that it lets me keep one "notebook" for many things, but have a degree of internal organization and changing out to what is appropriate at any given time. When I tried to do it all in one bound note, I just found it too jumbled.
Also, re: 750, notebooks, and all of that... Over the years I've found that some things work well for me at some times and other times they don't. It's just a matter of pivoting and doing what is most satisfying and productive for you at time. Whenever we take up a routine or system or hobby or anything, we don't have to commit to it for the rest of our lives.
My biggest problem right now is that I've "journaled" (outside of 750 words) publicly for so long now that doing it offline/privately feels weird, but I'm trying to work on that.
no subject
Date: 2016-09-29 05:18 pm (UTC)Right now I use a softcover moleskine (this one in particular (https://store.moleskine.com/usa/en-us/notebooks/journals/cahier-journal-xxl/p1027?ic=xDTrKg%3D%3D)) for my daily journaling, which our local bookstore sells. And I have one of these (https://store.moleskine.com/usa/en-us/notebooks/creativity/sketchbook/p39?ic=arKvSg%3D%3D) for my artwork (and the one I'll be using for Inktober). I was thinking an 8.5 x 11 version of the latter for the Big Notebook I'm planning on. Something I can keep next to the former as a way to remind myself that I need to use it at least once a day, even if it's just a doodle or a few random lines of thoughts and ideas.