

This is ecstasy, and behind the ecstasy is something else, which is hard to explain. “And the highest enjoyment of timelessness…is when I stand among rare butterflies and their food plants.

Both of these interests informed his work his novel, Zashchita Luzhina (The Luzhin Defense), features an insane chess player. Instead, he loved to solve chess problems and study butterflies. The Russian writer Nabokov had little time for eating, socializing, or drinking coffee with friends. “I do have trouble with the dead hours of the afternoon without skating, skiing, bicycling, swimming, or sexual discharges or drink,” he writes. Woolf chronicled her long walks while Cheever wrote dozens of entries about swimming, cycling, and meeting friends. When you’re in danger of burning out, taking time to pursue a side-interest will stoke the embers of what inspires you. And I’m OK with that.Įven if you’ve found a passion, side-interests are essential. Now, I spend time running, reading, traveling, meeting friends, and sitting quietly. For a long time, I thought there was nothing more important than filling a blank page with sentences. Yes, discipline is important, but not at the cost of day-to-day life. I do not understand what has happened to the discipline, or character, that has brought me here for so many years,” he writes. “I have climbed from a bed on the second floor to reach this typewriter. However, in an entry written shortly before his death in 1982, he recognizes he possessed this essential and departing personal strength that comes with adhering to a writing routine. So it will be done, written over that is, in 3 weeks, I forecast from today”Ĭheever bemoans his lack of discipline throughout his journals. “I generally write with heat and ease till 12.30 and thus do my two pages. She wrote about her routine, her ordinary moments: She recorded entries every morning until the early afternoon. Like many famous journal writers, Virginia Woolf kept hers with a pencil and paper. They rose early or worked late into the night and they wrote because they had to and not just when they felt the hand of inspiration.

Journaling Cultivates a Daily Writing HabitĪnytime, I avoid writing because I’m tired, bored, or devoid of ideas, I remind myself of the importance of discipline.Īlmost every writer I’ve read about sacrificed to pursue their work. To answer that question, let’s explore how some famous journal writers approached this craft. But why should you keep a journal in the first place? It’s easy to start a daily journaling practice, and it doesn’t take much time. I’ve journaled for years and recommend it to many writers. Journaling is a great pursuit for writers and creatives.
