Logging Away
Experimenting my way through creative blocks
Hey friends, it’s good to be back. The last few weeks have been jam-packed with consulting work, mentoring online writers and travelling to South Africa for the summer holidays.
Despite the busy schedule, I’ve had a number of invigorating creative conversations and gotten back into a daily writing habit.
Here are a few snippets from my latest writing.
Logging
I travelled to New York for the first time in September.
The city that never sleeps was everything I expected and more. European in the sense that everyone walks and uses public transport, but distinctly American with the faster pace and higher energy. While I was there, I saw my first baseball game (cricket still takes it for me), went to Broadway (Hamilton was incredible), caught up with friends and went running in Central Park (bucket list stuff if you’re a runner).
I also got to meet other writers(!).
I caught up with fellow Write of Passage alums Janahan Sivaraman, Michael Dean, and Chris Wong. We had wide-ranging conversations that gave me a lot of new material to write about and I got to see the city from a local’s perspective. Can recommend.
Inspired by my conversation with Michael Dean, I’ve been trying something new the last few weeks.
He calls it Logging and it’s pretty cool.
Similar to Morning Pages (pioneered by Julia Cameron) where you sit down to write 750 words to start the day, with logging you go one step further and publish the best ideas from your daily writing to your blog.
As Michael says,
“logloglog” is my public stream-of-consciousness (b)log. It’s evolved to become my sole-form of “note-taking,” and it’s one of the most valuable things I do as a writer.
Even though I’m new to the practice, I’ve seen positive signs so far.
My logs are somewhere between diary entries and fully fleshed (‘publishable’) essays.
They are more useful than diary entries (because it’s not all me-me-me) but faster to compose than a well-constructed essay (a lighter lift).
I like this practice for several reasons
Info capture (premium version). I am used to taking random notes in Google Docs and on my phone, but you put in more effort when posting a note in public. These ‘polished’ notes are easier to upcycle into longer writing later on.
Daily writing habit. I did Morning Pages for a couple of months at the start of 2022. The practice was useful but I eventually lost steam. The main thing I regret is not capturing the noteworthy segments from each day’s writing. With logging, you curate the best extracts for future use. Less waste.
Notice-taking. Every conversation, every interaction, every random daydream has value and can potentially be used in a future essay. With logging, I am reinforcing the habit of taking notice of these everyday occurrences.
Low stakes / no rules. Logs can be any length, they don’t need titles, they can be little fragments of thoughts or longer streams of consciousness. I’m still publishing, but there’s less pressure to create a clean, reviewed newsletter. This allows me to get something out in 5-10 minutes (newsletters take 2-8 hours), which is great for momentum and habit maintenance.
Writing with less fear. “Ooh, I don’t know how this will land with people, maybe I shouldn’t write this.” Enough of that. I want to speak my latent convictions. I want to share my thoughts instead of silencing myself. Writing logs has revived my confidence.
Where will this take me?
I’m not sure yet, but the signs are encouraging.
I feel less blocked creatively and I’m writing with more confidence.
For me, especially lately, it has been important to find a way of writing that works. I’m sure there will be more challenges on my creative journey, but I’m confident I can ‘experiment’ my way through them.
I’ll leave you with two extracts from my logs.
Short lesson from East of Eden
[log entry - 31 Oct 2023 - 16:37]
I often think back to this exchange in East of Eden by John Steinbeck.
Adam, father to Aron and Cal, speaks about his sons to his housekeeper, Lee.
Their mother abandoned the family when they were young and the father wonders whose character traits they will inherit.
"[Adam:] But I would like to know what kind of blood is in my boys. When they grow up—won’t I be looking for something in them?”
“[Lee:] Yes, you will. And I will warn you now that not their blood but your suspicion might build evil in them. They will be what you expect of them.”
How often do our worst fears manifest because of overthinking and obsessing over them? Wouldn’t it be better to imagine a positive outcome and let things take their course?
This reminds me of Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Listen to that nudge
[log entry - 03 Nov 2023 - 19:36]
I spoke to an old colleague of mine today. Smart guy. He’s done a lot at the company but feels like he’s reaching a ceiling. The projects are no longer as motivating as they used to be.
He wanted to know about my journey out of corporate. I told him that I felt like I was stagnating in my role at the time. I wasn’t developing new skills and my ideas were shot down.
“It felt like a nudge from the universe to try something different,” I told him.
I started writing and that was the driving force behind my transformation. I didn’t make quit-my-job money from it. Far from it. But writing emboldened me. It gave me the confidence to try things alone and take more risks. It introduced me to other writers and entrepreneurs who I could learn from. I started ghostwriting. I did consulting. I started mentoring and teaching. These projects allowed me to quit my job.
Although I haven’t monetized my writing, I feel like the practice is foundational to my success. It generates opportunities. It’s genuinely good for me (and my mental health).
As we were dialling off, he told me his next meeting was going to be an energy-sapping weekly status update. “Maybe this is my sign from the universe,” he said.
My Favourites
💬 Quote:
“Speak your latent conviction… Else tomorrow a stranger will say with masterly good sense precisely what we have thought and felt all the time, and we shall be forced to take with shame your opinion from another.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you think of something but don’t have the guts to write about it. Only to see someone else share the same sentiment a short while later. Why hold back? What are you scared of? (questions for the guy in the mirror)
✍️ Essay: on meditation and morning pages by Tommy Dixon. Best essay I’ve read in a while. Tommy describes his experience with meditation and silent retreats and how he always felt like he was missing something. He eventually found out that writer Joseph Campbell, an avid student of Buddhism and Hinduism, never meditated. Campbell’s way of meditation was through writing. Even though I’m a proponent of meditation, I love this realization by Tommy. I like the underlying message that there are many roads to Rome or “boats to cross the channel”. As he says:
“Since opening to this idea, I’ve started to see people who have very happy and calm and fulfilled lives who don’t meditate. I’ve noticed more boats. Nature, exercise, love & connection, creativity, animals, and God, to name a few.”
📚 Book. Mythos by Stephen Fry. What a spellbinding, entertaining book. I’ve always missed an overview of the Greek myths in my literary education. Who was Aphrodite and what did she represent? What did Euphesties do and why was Zeus angry with him? I had gaps in my knowledge tree, stories referred to in other books and plays, that have now thankfully been filled thanks to Fry’s storytelling. The interesting thing about the Greek gods is how ‘human’ they are. They are not like the unflappable beings we are familiar with in modern religion, but instead prone to bouts of passion, rage and vengeance. PS: I would recommend getting the Audiobook version. I enjoyed it so much that I’m already onto the next book in the series — Heroes.
📸 Photo of the week: The Oculus, downtown Manhattan. One of the pitstops on my walk with Michael Dean. I was blown away by the scale and detail of this subway-station-cum-artwork.
Until next time - happy creating!
— John
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I enjoyed this inside look at what Michael Dean has been up to with the logging method. I also appreciated you sharing a taste of what that looks like for you and how it's helping. Still not sure I'm brave enough to post my unfinished mental business, but now the idea is working on me.
Love the photos, John! :)