Pages Waiting for Words

Because I write, it is not uncommon to receive blank books as gifts. These books come in a wonderful variety of shapes, sizes, and decorative styles. Despite using assorted blank books in my early years, since beginning my first memoir two decades ago, I have used steno pads. I buy them in bulk from my local office supply store and use them for all my writing. 

This past holiday season, I was gifted two lovely blank books. As I went to add them to the unused collection, I hesitated. At a holiday book club gathering, a dear friend presented a blank book to each member suggesting we write moments of joy during this difficult pandemic, something I readily agreed to do. As I fingered the texture of the cover and admired the floral line drawing adorning it, I could not stuff it into that tight drawer.

The same month a writer-friend on the opposite coast invited folks to join her in a year-long Artist’s Way workshop. I'd read Julia Cameron’s book early in my writing career, but I'd completed the 12-week program alone. I was curious about taking a 12-month zoom journey with this distant friend, and I decided to write my “morning pages” in the beautiful floral book. Within seven weeks, the pages were full of joy and anger, dreams and disappointments.

After filling the final page, I returned to the desk drawer and extracted a stack of blank books. I will use them for personal writing, for “morning pages” whether I write in the morning or evening, whether I write daily or less-than-daily. I will journal in these thoughtful gifts just as I will continue writing first drafts of my public writing on the pale green pages of steno pads. It will be interesting to see where this leads me.

Do you keep a journal? Do you write longhand? What kind of notebook do you prefer? 

Perhaps you’re wondering how to organize those journals into memoir. Or perhaps, you have a story you’re struggling to get on the page. If so, and if you’re in the Seattle area, I invite you to join a one-day memoir class I’ll be teaching at Hugo House.

To learn more and register, CLICK HERE.  

For information on scholarships, CLICK HERE.