Sunday, July 11, 2010

This Writer's Affliction (Ways to Avoid Writing) -Part Two

I love journals.  
In truth, I have a drawer and closet full of them:
large and small, hard and soft cover, spirals
cloth covered, bound journals
tiny 'little black book' spirals
artful plastic covered spirals
and the list goes on. 
Every time Borders had a clearance sale, I was there looking for journals.  
I had collected such an inventory; I began giving them away as gifts.
But I didn't have one that continued to inspire me once I brought it home.

I needed to FIND THE PERFECT WRITING JOURNAL.

Writing guru, Natalie Goldberg advocates 'writing practice' in a cheap spiral notebook with a fast writing pen because the writing is the most important thing.  
I considered this advice as I entered the book store but forgot it quickly as I gawked at leather journals with thin leather straps.  
Besides, I wanted to do serious writing, not just practice.  
I perused the shelves, turning, opening and smelling the leather bound journals.  
As I was checking out a particularly expensive one, the bound pages fell out of the leather cover.  
A problem! 
Then I saw a tall turning rack full of Moleskine notebooks (hadn't Hemingway used those?).
They too came in all shapes and sizes.
Plus, the insides didn't fall out
I settled on a large, black, thick, hardcover Moleskine planner.
Each ruled, page was dedicated to one day of the year.
Perfect!
And, it fit in my purse.

Finally I needed to FIND THE PERFECT WRITING PEN.
That was easy.  
I already had it...
a TUL, Stick Ballpoint Pen
(actually several in black, blue, purple, red and green).

At last, I sat in my 'Jeep' chair,
opened my new Moleskine planner/journal,
clicked the top off my TUL pen and realized I had a problem.
Here was an inspiring writing space, and I had nothing profound to say...only 'writing practice' ideas.
No way was I going to mess this journal up with random thoughts.
What I needed was a cheap spiral notebook!

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. You are not alone Shauna. Just know that time and experience will change your perspective as a writer. Soon you will find yourself concentrating on the writing, rather than the writing surface.

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