Writing Practice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I write almost every day in some form whether for work or pleasure. But over the years I have established a much-cherished writing practice that has sustained and nourished my work as a writer and author.

First Things First

My best time for writing is first thing in the morning. I always have a journal on the go, which is either lined or unlined depending on where I am at. Lately I have taken to writing in unlined journals loving the freedom and open space that writing without lines gives me. I really got this under my belt after completing a brilliant online Journal Your Life course with Susannah Conway a course I would highly recommend www.susannahconway.com

Toast and Tea

Most mornings when I am not out delivering face to face training courses I will head off to one of my local cafés, Gail’s Bakery in West Dulwich and order a pot of Jasmine tea with some toast and jam and start writing.

Morning Pages

I normally start by emptying myself onto the page in a practice I have been doing for over twenty years now, Morning pages.  Morning pages are three pages of fast writing without editing or censoring your thoughts onto the page. This is a great way to off load many concerns, worries, anxieties onto the page in a safe and constructive way. I often feel clearer, more focused and grounded once I have completed my early Morning pages and this gives way for me to be creative in other ways on the page.

Creative Connections

Once all of the angst and worries are out of my head it then makes space for more healthier thoughts and ideas to come to the forefront.  The practice of writing Morning Pages makes it easier to access my creative data, which can often get buried under all the other stuff that fills up the space in our heads.  For example I might get an idea for a blog post, recall something I read about earlier and make a note to follow it up or come up with ideas for a new exercise for a training course.

Writing in this way I also helps and guides me to streamline my list of things to do for the day. It seems that once I get my things to do list down on a page I feel more in control of how I will approach and go about my day.

Many ideas for posts for my blog have emerged from the daily practice of my Morning pages including the content for articles and even chapters for books I’ve written.

Cultivating My Writing Voice

My journals have also been home to the space where I have steadily cultivated my writing voice and gained more confidence in my writing ability. I value my journal for many reasons, most of all as it is the where I can be more of myself without expectations or judgments from others. It’s where I don’t have to explain, where I can off load and make sense.

Business Journal

Since completing Susannah Conway’s Journal Your Life online course www.susannahconway.com I now have a Business Journal. Where as in the past all ideas for my business would be included in and amongst my personal musings in my journal I now have a bright green Leuchtturm journal where I plant all of my ideas in luminous pink.

Having this journal has made a big difference the manifestation of many of my ideas for my business. I feel far more organized about my business and creative ideas. I am inspired each time I open the pages. It feels like a place where my business thrives and where I can easily see the progress I am making. The journal feels playful and engaging to work with and I love opening it’s pages and flicking through ideas, which turn into projects and articles. 

Writing In-Between The Gaps

When I am out delivering face-to-face courses I write in between the gaps and cracks of my day. Taking the Over ground train from my local station often lends itself to at least twenty minutes where I can use the journey to write my Morning pages. I find it easy to cocoon myself in a bubble and get lost on the page surrounded by already weary morning travelers. I find this is an excellent way to unravel myself graciously into my day. I feel a better person when I look up from the pages. I am more alert and more attentive to myself, and everything around me. I see writing Morning pages as a kind of tuning in.

Dusk In The Library

In the evenings if I am not home too late I love to head for my local library. Once the students have finished revising for their exams our local library becomes a quiet haven and sanctuary where I can retreat to and be creatively inspired. An hour spent in my local library at the end of a busy day can amount to 3-4 hours of quality work. I will often create a new to do list for the next day, finish a task that I have been procrastinating in a 30-minute block or start writing something I have been avoiding.

On the days when I am working from home and not coaching I will retreat on all day writing marathons to my favourite spot in my local library. I’m obsessed with securing the same writing spot that I’ll queue in front of the library doors ten or sometimes fifteen minutes earlier before the doors open. There’s something anchoring about settling down into my favourite spot, which sends out the signals to myself of my clear intention to write. 

Always Be Prepared

My family think I’m weird because I don’t seem to turn off as a writer. On the days when I’m relaxing these are often the days when grand ideas come to me. So wherever I go I’m never without some kind of instrument to write things down in whether it’s a notebook, journal or my iphone.

I remember many years ago reading a story by Paul Auster the novelist as a child meeting by chance his favourite baseball champion after a game and asking for his autograph and then being mortified as he didn’t have a pencil or a pen and neither did his hero. Why would we want to miss an opportunity of capturing the creative download that occurs constantly throughout our days?

The Creative Collective

One of the things I recognize is that the same creative ideas are dispersed to hundreds even thousands of people at the same time across the globe. What makes a difference is who acts on what. So the first part of taking action is to record the ideas somewhere where they won’t be forgotten.

Your Writing Practice Task

Here’s your task for today. If you don’t have a notebook then your task today is to buy yourself a notebook or set yourself up with a Notes App on your iphone or Smart phone.

Set aside ten minutes every day where you write as fast as you can any thoughts or ideas that are in your head.

Pull out your notebook whenever an idea or thought comes to you.

Look back over your week’s notes and recordings. Ask yourself what difference has working with a notebook or journal made to you and your work?