When I was a young teenager, I was looking at Barnes and Noble's reference section, where the books on writing waited. I happened upon Natalie Goldberg's Writing down the Bones.
I'm serious when I say that the book changed my life. Goldberg looks at writing as a practice. She fills mountains of spiral notebooks, often writing in timed, no-pause writing sessions alone or with others. I call this kind of writing scribbling. It usually has no particular direction. It is not product writing (though poems, stories, blog posts, and more can begin in a scribble session).
My students hated "scribbles," at first: 10 minutes of writing, 5 minute break, x3. But a few came to me later to say how much the scribbles eased their stress and helped them learn to express themselves. I wrote right along with them, usually in a "work journal," a spiral or composition book. I used scribbling to push through the day, especially as I became increasingly sick.
Unlike Goldberg, I choose to do my scribbling in beautiful journals. I don't mind filling them with complaints and nonsense. Each journal is a hybrid of the traditional diary and (more so) Goldberg's notebooks. I use a rainbow of pens shades and finishes, but a hotel room ballpoint will do just fine.
Scribbling helps me stay sane, and I believe it makes me a better writer.
Inspiring lists, sparkling reads, and quirky musings from a writer~reader~wife~mama~advocate who wants to seek, create, and savor life's sweet bits.
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