In my previous posts, I wrote about keeping a personal journal and a journal of fun. This post is about keeping a writing journal.
So far, I have written in ten writing journals and am ready to start number eleven. I prefer a spiral bound, unlined sketched book about 6 by 8 inches in size. They are portable so I can write anywhere I happen to be. Unlined gives me more freedom to use the page in any way I’d like. I can tear out pages easily if I want to, but I never do.
These journals are messy. I use different color inks. Some of the writing is scribbled, almost unreadable, especially if I’m in a hurry to get my thoughts on paper before I forget them. Sometimes the writing is a bit neater if I’m trying to puzzle something out. There’s a lot of crossing out. Some entries are repetitive as I work out thorny sections of books.
I record memories because they might be material for later, and I don’t want to forget the details. I record observations and pieces of conversation. Even if I don’t have a particular need for it at the time, I find them interesting enough that I want to capture them. Years ago, I wrote some character sketches just because they fascinated me, not knowing what I would do with them. Now I’m playing with them for another book.
I tried organizing the journals into sections. It didn’t work so my journals are not organized. I tried index cards years ago, but they ended up scattered everywhere. The journals keep everything in one place.
I love my writing journals. They are my writing life, recording my progress as well as times of being terribly stuck. They are a glorious jumble of ideas and observations. And even though I wrote them, I sometimes find surprises among the entries. When I open them, looking for inspiration, it’s like combing through beach sand, looking for the shells, whole and in bits and pieces, that will become my stories.
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Lynn H. Wyvill grew up in Washington DC where her favorite activity was sitting under a Japanese red maple tree, watching clouds create pictures in the sky. As a writer, she finds peace and inspiration when hiking in the woods, strolling on sandy beaches, and observing nature’s show in her backyard. Those experiences are captured in her first book, Nature’s Quiet Wisdom. Before writing books, Lynn worked as a radio/TV reporter and writer for the US Department of Agriculture and owned a consulting business that trained professionals on the creation and delivery of effective presentations. She is a lifelong learner, avid reader, small town explorer, and dedicated theater attendee who lives in beautiful Virginia with her husband.