For the new year, I have committed to spending 30 minutes in writing a day. Something that makes this commitment easier to keep is another commitment I’ve made: to keep a list of ideas that I want to write about.
One of the hard parts in writing is sitting down and feeling like I’ve got to come up with something to say. Sitting down to write is a whole lot easier when I’ve already “said something” – i.e., had an idea. Then all I need to do is just get it down on the page and wrap some words around it.
My mind is often “saying” all sorts of interesting stuff: observations, insightful suggestions, stupid jokes. The problem is that there’s a mismatch between when I’m sitting down to write, and when my mind is saying the interesting stuff. My mind gets chatty when I’m driving or putting laundry away. It goes mute when I put it in front of a blank screen and expect it to perform wonders.
The way I deal with that mismatch is to jot down the interesting stuff when it occurs to me and to save it for later. The chipmunk gathers up its acorns in the spring and has them ready when the winter comes. Same thing with me: I store up the insights so I’ll have them when I face the blank, white page.
(If the chipmunk metaphor seems strained or unexpected, I apologize: I watched a documentary about squirrels last month, and it had footage of chipmunks storing up acorns.)