It was an accident—a string of unfortunate incidents leading to my little discovery. Are you ready for a story? Then stick with me. When I started my planning for 2021, I discovered they changed the format of my favorite planner. The changes were deal breakers for me, and so I embarked on an exhausting, pain-in-the-butt process of finding a new planner that checked all my must-have buttons. I didn’t find a year-long calendar to fit my needs, but I found a 90-day, undated version I thought I might like. Apprehensive and not wanting to commit, I ordered one copy.

Q1, 2021 saw me venturing outside my box and loving it until it came time to order the book for Q2. Cue the dramatic music. They listed my new favorite as sold out, with no availability date noted. I contacted customer service, and they said they expected a shipment in June or July. They might as well have told me it was gone forever because I was back to beating the bushes to find a suitable replacement. I settled on another 90-day planner and ordered 4 of them. You understand. I wasn’t going through this chore again, and the company offered a buy 3-get-1 free deal.

Being between a rock and a hard place, I figured I would make it work. Each day is on a 2-page spread. It turns out I like attempt number two, even better than my first trial version. I liked the page one layout, but I was dubious about the second page that they billed as a spot for doodles, overflow information, and—cue more dramatic music—an area to journal.

Yeah, I hate journaling, and I have burned my previous journals in sacrificial bonfires for self-serving vanities. But this is different, and the additional blank space is an enormous advantage. I use it for notes, scribblings of idle thoughts, and random, half-formed mental images, or what I call word vomit. I have learned this insignificant exercise, un-kinks the hose, and lets the words I want to write gush onto the page. It is becoming part of my writing ritual.

How do you start your writing session?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer