A visual journal, in the personal mapping space, is a personal noticing container - a physical place where you gather raw material that may later become your own personal maps.
Loved this post, Debs. Absolutely agree that a journal or whatever you choose to call it "lets you begin with attention, rather than certainty or clarity."
Generally, I keep a 'book workbook' which contains my all the structural notes, ideas, research material... anything re. the book I'm writing. This is where I also track edits/mistakes... I keep a 'journal' which is kind of 'rough book' - remember those from school? - and this is where I draft out reviews of what I'm reading, ideas for essays and this and that... and I keep a 'field notes' notebook for when I'm out and about, or on holiday etc.
All of these notebooks get messy. I've learned to embrace that, but there was a time when I wouldn't have been able to work unless everything was neat and in order. I've noticed that my workbooks have changed with me, if that makes sense.
When I've finished a big project, save for my 'book workbook', I've got this ritual where I burn pages or whole notebooks, I need to let go of it at that stage and move on. That said, I've several precious notebooks, eg gifts from my husband and I can remove the leather covers and keep those in preparation for a new pad. Meanwhile I wouldn't burn the old pads because I write poetry etc. in them and sometimes paint with watercolours.
I love to write by hand, with a fountain pen if I'm feeling particularly organised, or a pencil... whatever is at hand. When I'm working in the county archives I can only use a pencil of course.
I love digital too, and I'm working on digitising some of my workbooks so, at the end of summer, I can make flip books out of them for my website. A way of keeping things that I might burn, anyway, it's a pretty loose idea at the moment.
Thanks for this, Bee. I love reading the details about other people’s rituals and processes for their journals / journaling, because if we’ve been doing it long enough, we end up with a system of some kind, don’t we? Messy or not!
I must say, I have never been able to bring myself to destroy or burn a journal - that feels courageous to me!
I’m sure if we were to speak IRL we’d have plenty to say on this topic!
Loved this post, Debs. Absolutely agree that a journal or whatever you choose to call it "lets you begin with attention, rather than certainty or clarity."
Generally, I keep a 'book workbook' which contains my all the structural notes, ideas, research material... anything re. the book I'm writing. This is where I also track edits/mistakes... I keep a 'journal' which is kind of 'rough book' - remember those from school? - and this is where I draft out reviews of what I'm reading, ideas for essays and this and that... and I keep a 'field notes' notebook for when I'm out and about, or on holiday etc.
All of these notebooks get messy. I've learned to embrace that, but there was a time when I wouldn't have been able to work unless everything was neat and in order. I've noticed that my workbooks have changed with me, if that makes sense.
When I've finished a big project, save for my 'book workbook', I've got this ritual where I burn pages or whole notebooks, I need to let go of it at that stage and move on. That said, I've several precious notebooks, eg gifts from my husband and I can remove the leather covers and keep those in preparation for a new pad. Meanwhile I wouldn't burn the old pads because I write poetry etc. in them and sometimes paint with watercolours.
I love to write by hand, with a fountain pen if I'm feeling particularly organised, or a pencil... whatever is at hand. When I'm working in the county archives I can only use a pencil of course.
I love digital too, and I'm working on digitising some of my workbooks so, at the end of summer, I can make flip books out of them for my website. A way of keeping things that I might burn, anyway, it's a pretty loose idea at the moment.
Thanks for writing this article, speak soon.
Thanks for this, Bee. I love reading the details about other people’s rituals and processes for their journals / journaling, because if we’ve been doing it long enough, we end up with a system of some kind, don’t we? Messy or not!
I must say, I have never been able to bring myself to destroy or burn a journal - that feels courageous to me!
I’m sure if we were to speak IRL we’d have plenty to say on this topic!