The Best Writer’s Tool You’re Probably NOT Using, a Post by R. Clint Peters

Over the years, I have signed up on perhaps 100 websites (blogs, emails, etc) that I consider beneficial to my progress as a writer.  And each day, I find 6-10 new emails in my inbox.  Some tell me how to market my brand on Twitter.  Others tell me how to write good copy for The Author’s Club website (which I plan to do later today).

Each day, I find 6-10 new emails in my inbox.  I scan the subject and the title, and, depending on how I feel about the title, I either discard the email or quickly read it.  Many of the blogs I post originate as en email in my inbox.  Today’s post came from Write it Sideways.

What is the best writers tool?  And why don’t we all use it?  Perhaps we don’t use it because it is so simple.  And is an EASY tool in our tool box.  What is it?  KEEP A JOURNAL.

Using a journal may be the most obvious writing advice ever, because it’s usually the first writing advice we receive.

To quote suzannah@writeitsideways.com:  “But it’s precisely because this is such a simple and often-recommended strategy that we erroneously perceive the journal to be a beginner’s tool. We see our kids keeping journals at school as part of the curriculum, and we think we’re above it, or that it’s boring because we, ourselves, were forced to do it in school. We’ve so often been taught that reflection and practice are good for us, maybe we’ve just stopped listening. And maybe that’s because we see these things as a duty rather than a delight.”

Suzannah continues:

“But in the past few months I’ve rediscovered this writing tool and have fallen in love with it from a new perspective: the perspective of an experienced writer. The worst part about becoming a more experienced writer is that your self-expectations are higher, therefore you put more pressure on yourself to write well.

“That’s the beauty of the journal—it’s private, so there’s zero pressure to produce quality or quantity. Even writing a blog post comes with a degree of pressure to ensure our writing is free of mistakes, to form logical, coherent ideas others can connect with. Writing something we plan to submit to a magazine or literary agent or publisher is even more pressure.

“Also, because these days it’s so easy to publish our work online and instantly reach thousands, it can be tempting to think that the writing we do in private is less important than the writing we do in public. Why waste time writing something no one will ever read? We worry we’ll spend too many words in our notebooks and have none left for our blogs or our works-in-progress.

“But with the right habits and attitudes, creativity is a renewable resource—something that replenishes itself with use. No need to hoard our words.”

Recently, a friend asked for a copy of one of my books, and then asked if I had written any more books with the same hero as the main character.  I have written three other books with that character, and a fourth book (Murder by Suicide) with a new character, that is getting close to completion.  Unfortunately, I have put Murder By Suicide on a back burner while I focused in re-writing The Alberta Connection.

Two days ago, I went back to Murder by Suicide to see where I was.  After several minutes of staring at the screen, I realized I had no idea where the novel was going, and I didn’t remember where it had been.  I was actually forced to scan back many pages to see what had happened and attempt to remember what I wanted to happen next.

Perhaps if I was writing only one book, a journal would be less important, but with 6-7 books in the hopper, a journal is an absolute.  Actually, I will be working on several journals.

First, I need a journal for each novel I am writing.  There are several programs that allow an author to plan his or her book, but I haven’t been comfortable with them.  I think a simple time line journal for each book would help me keep track of each novel, allow me to read a few sentences instead of several pages to see where my hero has been…… and be able to jump back into the writing experience.

I need a general journal, a place to list the ideas floating around my head, allow those ideas to bubble and foam until they flow over the rim and need to be corralled in a book.  Many ideas will fit many books, not just one novel.  With a several books in a serial, one idea might be repeated (with small changes) in two or three of the books.

I’d like to close with one more thought from Suzannah @ Write It Sideways:

“Your journal gives you the opportunity to work through anything preventing you from putting your ideas down on the page, so you can move forward. I think of my journal as a bridge. As an often burnt-out mother of four, sometimes I feel like I’m standing at the edge of a river; on this side is the self that has no time to write anything, and on the other side are all my “important writing tasks” that I really should be doing. This river feels far too wide to jump in a single leap, to go from writing nothing for weeks to writing something that someone plans to publish. My journal gives me a chance to gently ease across that divide. It provides a sense of accomplishment with little commitment, a refreshing reminder of I can do this!”

Please take a look at other offers from Write It Sideways (writeitsideways.com)

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