Thursdays* with Jen: *Monday** Edition **Wednesday Edition
On creating nerdy writing systems as a means to track progress amid the slow slog of creation.
Dear reader,
It is neither Thursday nor Monday, but rather Wednesday. Whatever, here’s your newsletter and a fulfillment of one short-term goal – writing this newsletter twice a month. On that note, February, why do you have so few days? Let’s count this as the 29th day of February.
Last time on Thursdays/Mondays/Wednesdays with Jen: I summarized writing journey lessons I learned in listicle form, which is the easiest, laziest, and most delicious form of writing. Then, I covered the first lesson, which discussed changing my definition of short-term and long-term success in form of fuck your dreams (kind of). Today’s episode of the newsletter covers the creation of a system to document progress and valuing the process as much as the outcome.
When I think of popular depictions of writers, I think of disheveled men absorbed in intense creativity and sleepless nights filled with the consumption of alcohol and books. I am not an embodiment of the aforementioned. I work full-time, which naturally disrupts the rhythm of artistic flow. I am also incapable of doing anything while consuming alcohol except puke between two parked cars and go on non-sensical rants on “the concept of time.”* If there was a still-life of my writing practice, it would be me sitting at my ergonomically poor computer set up, hunched over while typing and clicking occasionally. There are days when I stare at my computer and wonder, what am I doing? What even is time?
As it turns out, I may be doing a lot even on the days when I am a just moving a cursor. One of my most productive suggestions from a fellow writer was to start logging my daily writing activities so that I had tangible documentation that I was progressing. I began by creating a simple Google Sheet that looks like this:
I set my browser settings so that the Google Sheet is the first thing that appears when I open a new window. The sheet has evolved over time, but the concept is that every time I sit down at my table at my designated writing time, I start a timer and add a date to the log. Then, after time elapses, I “log” what I accomplished both quantitively (i.e. number of minutes writing) and qualitatively (i.e. notes on what I specifically did). The most important column is the newly added “Next Steps” where I think and write about what I will do at the next session. As a result, I don’t spend time thinking, what will I do today since I should already know and feel excitement about the plan.
For non-writers, I have adopted the log for a few other dimensions of life where I feel the progress can feel slow or where I need to develop patterns – more specifically a running log and a “did my dog poop today” log. If helpful, the latter log has helped my partner and I determine that the optimal time for pitbull poopin’ is every five hours during the daytime. YOU’RE WELCOME.
What do I do with all this information?
First, the log is merely a comforting ritual. It is a consistent practice that my brain now associates with writing. Like a healthy poopin’-every-five-hours Pavlovian pitbull, the moment I see the timer and log the anticipated time of writing, I’ve officially punch-clocked into the world of creation.
Second, the log shows me that despite the negative messages I tell myself about not doing something, I actually…am. The sheet has offset a lot of the negative self-talk about my writing practices and has transformed my internal conversation into a far more productive dialogue. The log is helpful in developing a far more accurate narrative of where I am – both good places and places to improve.
Finally, I can make charts and develop themes. Without further ado, here’s my Spotify Wrapped-Style 2022 Year in Writing:
Click here for a larger version.
I am not an advocate for the specific log that I use nor logging for all parts of life. There’s enough data-mining/optimizing/bullshitty things in the world. That said, for large long-slog goals, I am a big proponent is developing useful systems to track movement. As a fellow writer relayed to me, substantial writing projects take years of immense psychological will to finish and the key is to feel like there’s progress and celebration of the small wins.
That said, this newsletter is a celebration. I have loved writing more than 40 editions of this newsletter (this is the 41st) and spending 3.5 years and, in 2022, 24 sessions, 687 minutes (or 11.45 hours) producing this low-stakes and all-around joyous project of short, punchy writing that directly engages with audiences. Thank you all for reading.
Next time, I’ll talk about cultivating community that serves an accountability mechanism – and try hard to be in community with mutual accountability and respect. That includes all of you!
Until then, *time is a construct and what even is a Thursday, Monday, or Wednesday?
With appreciation,
JTVN