A New Year to Write

I love beginnings and this is both the beginning of a new year and a whole new decade. All the possibilities.

This year is going to bring a lot of change to my life but then it is good to have something to turn to and to me that has always been writing. No matter what happens good or bad I turn to my notebook. This January is no different. The pages are already filled with musings, tarot spreads, wishlists, brainstorms, daily lists, ideas for the blog and most importantly snippets of prose and poetry.

2 Ways to fill the notebook

This use of the notebook is one of the ways I go about my work as a writer. I open the notebook every morning and let whatever wants to come up spill out. This is like stretching the body in the morning but it is also a somewhat random way to produce text

I always found the first way the easiest and most naturally to my rhythm but I also realized that I needed to devote more attention to the learning of craft and my WIP if I wanted to take my writing from the notebook out into the world. The two ways still intertwine and the second one is not as rigid as it perhaps sounds. It is imperative to me to keep the magic of writing alive and luckily I feel it happen both ways.

Next week I take up my WIP again after a Christmas holiday of long mornings with my notebook. I am going to map it out this Monday using these printables. I made them for myself and other dear fellow writers.

Printable download | For best result when you print set the paper size to A4 without border.

Plan the first writing date of January

The Month |

First, take out the “Month of _____ ” Printable and write January. Then write all your appointments and other important dates in. With a more clear view of the month, it is easier to gain a sense of clarity as to when it would fit in to get some writing done.

The Week |

Then it is time to fill out the weekly schedule. In the right column, you can write what project you are working on, what book you are reading and where you plan to find some inspiration. The days you fill out with the specifics of your writing date.

The Writing Date |

I like to print out three pages and make it my goal to fill out the three pages for one writing date. Then I start with the theme, topic or writing prompt I wrote in my weekly printable and then I start to write. Preferably in nice surroundings. To me, that is one of the writing spots in my home or at a cafe.

I hope this will inspire you to start out the year with some of your own writing

My First Writing Date

My first free day of writing is the 6th of January. On Tuesday I have an appointment but luckily the rest of the week is without extra engagements.

This is also the week I am reading Devotion by Patti Smith. I am hoping to learn something from “Your Creative Writing Masterclass” by Jurgen Wolff and gain some inspiration. On Friday it is a full moon and that is also going to be a writing date for me. As a reward for starting the year, this focused I will order Michelle Obamas Journal on Sunday

To fill out the three pages on this first writing date of the year I took a prompt from the first part of Your Creative Writing Masterclass “Finding Inspiration”. My title became The Loss of my baby brother.

I shared last year on the blog that I was writing a thriller as a fun project between other obligations. It is still alive in a folder on my desktop and I keep it in the back of my head when I scroll Pinterest for writing inspiration and watch television. But what I didn’t share last year was that I was taking the first steps to get brave enough to start writing and sharing my memoir. As opposed to the thriller who was more of a hobby and a learning experience I have the time and space this year to make room for the vulnerability this book invites me to embrace for me to devote my story to paper. This first writing date was a gentle way to begin.

Whether you are tackling a fun project in stolen slopes of time or have carved out a rhythm filled with words and writing I wish you the best writing year of this new decade one writing date at the time.