#398: The Creative Writing Notebook
Finishing old projects, starting new ones
When I started writing this post, I hesitated. Do I really want my last Object post to be yet another notebook?
Yes. Yes I do.
Why? Because, like my last notebook-themed object, the object of this post is a challenge to myself in tangible form. It is also a marker of what Object has given me: the knowledge that I can write about all sorts of things — when I actually set a deadline, a time for writing, and make myself do it.
Eleanor and I started Object for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones was this: to get ourselves writing regularly, because practice makes better, and we knew that if we held each other accountable, it would be a lot harder to quit. And, oh my, look how far we have come — Object #398. That’s a lot of words, a lot of writing. As we near the end of Object, I find myself wondering: how will I make sure I don’t lose my regular writing practice?
Of course, to answer such a question, I have a notebook. It is no secret that we are notebook lovers here, both having written multiple posts about the delight in a new notebook for a new project. Yet today’s object is not new new; I’ve had it for a couple of years now, and it’s filling up. Luckily, as it’s a Filofax Notebook, I can just replace the pages (which feels a little more eco friendly than buying a whole new notebook). But, more excitingly, it’s filling up with pages and pages of the same story. Maybe, one day, it will be a cohesive narrative. Maybe it will sit in a drawer afterwards, but even if it does, it might just be the first of many — my writing life continues, even if Object may finish soon.
Eleanor and I have a history of doing creative projects together, in various forms, and this is not our last — in our own private time, we do regular creative writing sessions. Eleanor is a poet, and I aspire to write my novella (don’t we all?) — so, we have regular Zoom chats with a bit of creative writing time included. It is our new ‘Object’, and I am excited to see where this next project leads — it is not as public as this one, and it is a slow-burn process when crafting long pieces of written words, rather than 500–800 word blog posts. But I also know from experience that our projects often lead to something good, and perhaps not entirely foreseen.
So, what other object can I end with other than a notebook? I bought my Filofax Notebook specifically for a big writing project, because the fun thing about a Filofax is that its pages are movable and removable. This makes the writing process work more akin to how my brain works: I can write a page or two, and then I can move them around, editing by moving sections in their physical form. This new creative notebook of mine, then, is an object that combines the joy of handwriting with a bit more technological flexibility (and more organisation than a collection of scraps of paper). It is not quite cut and paste, but it does the job wonderfully. (This is no sponsored post, by the way — I just really love good notebooks.)
I won’t say what I am writing in this notebook (where is the surprise, the mystery in that?), but I will say that the project is already in full swing. This notebook is being used, regularly, and I hope that, after Object #400, I will find both the time and the motivation to write my next page, and the next, and the next — building another creative writing project full of thousands of words, and maybe a few objects, too.
Thank you, Ellie, for this blog — on which we have just two posts to go. Thank you, too, for the inspiration not only to buy this notebook — but to fill it.
Katie writes regularly about random objects that she finds in her everyday life. If you’re interested in reading more, check out her blog Object, a collaboration with fellow Medium blogger, Eleanor. You can also follow us on Twitter at @ObjectBlog.
