Why Writers Should Keep a Daily Journal
Harnessing ten minutes a day will change your life, I promise.
As writers, the seemingly simple act of writing regularly can be a daunting challenge.
The answer?
Ten minutes a day.
Committing just ten minutes a day to writing can transform your creative practice.
The Power of Getting Your Butt In The Chair
During my time at Sarah Lawrence College, a creative writing professor introduced us to a transformative exercise: maintaining a daily journal.
Unlike Julia Cameron’s morning pages (which have their use, don’t get me wrong), this was a different approach.
Instead of filling three lined pages of 8X11, he asked that we buy a much smaller composition notebook.
And, a good pen.
With this, we were to commit to writing one page every day.
One rule was constant: we were to write about the events of the previous day, not our thoughts about them.
This method, he explained, helps preserve memories more vividly: “If you focus solely on your thoughts, you might forget the events. If you document the events, you’ll naturally recall the thoughts.”
