The test is at hand for one of my resolutions: to create and stick to a writing schedule during the semester while I teach. Today, I succeeded. I actually added “Write” to my “to do” list for the day, and I made myself sit in the chair until something crawled onto the page. At first it was an ugly mess. I had a bunch of phrases scattered in my journal, but nothing was coming together. It was painful, yet I stayed in the chair. Then, SHAZAM, it coalesced before my eyes. Who knows what will come of it, but there are ten lines that weren’t there before.
One Resolution
I’m curious. Is your journal hand written or on your computer? I still love to write in a journal, but it seems like such a waste of time…
Almost everything starts in a hand-written journal for me. Usually a very sloppy mess of phrases with only a hint of what might become lines. Once things start to come together, I switch to the computer to actually draft the poem. If I go to the computer too early, it becomes forced and falls apart.