Write With Me: on starting a writing practice #freewritefebruary
A few years ago, I started a daily writing practice. Each morning I’d write 3 - 5 pages without stopping. This practice is called Morning Pages. When I started working in person, I moved my morning writing from a notebook to a google doc on my phone and spent my morning commute on the train writing each day. It was a great way to clear my mind before work, organize my thoughts, and set some intentions for the day. Doing my daily writing on my phone meant that I always had it with me.
The best tool for any habit is the one you have with you.
With the arrival of a new baby in my life, I’ve stopped commuting each day (thank you, Parental Leave!) and have gotten out of the habit of writing every day. But now I miss it and am ready to jump back in — without the structure of a commute.
To restart my practice, I’m writing every day in February. It’s a perfect 28 days (unlike January which somehow has 300 days) so it feels doable. I started last week just to see if I can do it, and I’m already at 8 days in a row!
And because writing is better with friends, let’s write together — join me for #freewritefebruary!
What is free writing? Are there rules? Free writing is a strategy similar to brainstorming, but with words. Try to keep going without thinking. Write anything that comes to mind. Don’t edit. Just keep going. For this February exercise, there are no rules other than: write every day.
Is there a minimum? No, just write what you can, when you can. But try not to forget. I keep a daily log and check in with it throughout the day. It has my plans for the day, things I want to get accomplished, ideas I’m focused on right now. This log ends up being my jumping off point for small free writes throughout the day. I write whenever I can, most often just a paragraph or two at a time.
Throughout February, I encourage you to try a few different ways to see what works best for you. Try Morning Pages. Try writing prompts. Try everything and pay attention to what you like.
Do you have to be a writer to join me? Absolutely not. Writing is good for everyone and free writing is probably a lot harder for writers who will get stuck in a new writing idea or feel pulled to write something worthy of publication. Free writing clears your mind and makes you a better communicator. Everyone benefits from a clear mind.
How is this different than journaling? It doesn’t have to be different from journaling, but free writing is more of a writing exercise than the feelings deep dive that journaling can sometimes be. You can certainly write how you feel about a certain situation or your life, but you can also write fiction or poetry or anything at all.
What tools should we use? Part of this is to figure out what writing tool works best for you. If you can handle the chaos, I’d encourage you to write in a few different ways this month - by hand in a notebook, on a tablet if you have one (I use an iPad and Apple pencil), and a google doc or note on your phone. Try different apps like Apple’s new Journal app or another journaling tool.
How do we keep track? I use the app Day One Journal (it’s free!) to keep track of how I’ve written for the day (since I go back and forth between google docs and the iPad), and use Apple’s journaling app to set a few reminders for the day to help me remember to write. You can also keep track in a bullet journal or on a calendar. Use whatever helps you start and keep writing.
Why February? It’s short! January is too long for a project. No one should do anything in January. And February starts now, so you don’t have time to forget about it or convince yourself not to. After these 28 days, the goal is to get to know yourself a little better and get some momentum to keep going — maybe not every day, but a little more than now. Because writing is always good. And more writing is always better than less.
"I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means." - Joan Didion
