We’ve been talking about creative-friendly productivity this week, and my very favorite tool for getting more words written is the creative journal.
Most professional writers I know keep some kind of journal. It’s the perfect place to find your own balance of creativity and strategy. Unfortunately, it can also be tricky to get a journaling practice started … or to keep it going.
From time to time, I teach a workshop on what I call the Portable Writer’s Studio. That’s a collection of 10 recommendations for how to use a journal to support your creative work (writing in particular), without getting bored or stuck.
Because when our kind of people get bored, bad things happen. (Usually to our own projects.)
Today I thought I’d share a couple of the major components of the Portable Writer’s Studio.
Starting with the BuJo
You might have heard of the Bullet Journal (BuJo), or tried it out for yourself. I love how endlessly adaptable the bullet journal format is. If you get bored with a particular way of using it, you just flip a page and start using it differently. This is a magnificent advantage for creative brains.
There are two potential downsides to the BuJo, and they’re both fixable.
The first is the perception that a bullet journal is something to spend hours a day on, doing special calligraphy or other decorative elements. But while there are plenty of ultra fancy BuJos on Pinterest and Instagram, Ryder Carroll’s original version is downright minimalist.
I caution folks against getting too “pretty” in their studio journal, unless posting beautiful layouts on Instagram is actually your job.
The second is that it doesn’t explicitly include journaling exercises for writers. Again, not a real problem, because it’s easily addressed by just adding them into the BuJo framework.
If you’re not familiar with the bullet journal, this is a good explainer. It comes from an ADHD point of view, but so many of these points are applicable to nearly any creative person.
Why the Bullet Journal is the Best Planner for ADHD Brains (YouTube, How to ADHD)
If it sounds like something you might want to try out, you can learn more about the format on Ryder Carroll’s site.
Adding creative juice with a sublime Syllabus
Another magnificent resource for writers and creative journalers is Lynda Barry’s book, Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor. It’s part memoir, part education, part art project, and entirely fabulous.
I have borrowed and adapted (always giving credit to Barry, of course) a few of her exercises for the studio journal format. I also follow (and recommend) her advice to finish every notebook, rather than starting fresh at an arbitrary point like the new year.
Syllabus is in print and available where you like to buy books.
What are the best tools?
I’ve tried all kinds of journaling or creativity-boosting tools, and a simple paper notebook with a pen is the best I’ve found. No tech can match it for flexibility, or for the ability to bring words and visual marks together without a learning curve.
There are two notebooks I think are particularly good for writers’ journals:
The A5 Leuchtturm1917. This German notebook has a hard cover, a preprinted index, and 251 numbered pages of perfectly decent paper. It’s relatively easy to find and comes in multiple line formats (blank, lined, grid, or dot), including one that’s designed for the bullet journal. Try your local stationery or art store. In the U.S., Goulet Pens is a good source to get them online
The THINKERS Notebook. This is a project started by my onetime business partner, Sean Jackson. The paper is smoother and more ink-friendly than the Leuchtturm. The 256 pages are also numbered, and the cover is soft, but good quality. THINKERS also integrates with their own iOS app, so you can back up or share pages. You can pick this one up on their website: ThinkersNotebook.com
My free journaling workshop (soonish)
I teach a free class on the portable writer’s studio, with tips and refinements to get the most out of your own creative journals.
If you want an invite the next time I hold one, make sure you’re on my email list and I’ll be sure you get an invitation. My guess is it will be in the next month or two.
Hope to see you there! That’s it for this week in The Fierce.
