NOTES. on writing // A daily practice
A regular writing practice can be hugely therapeutic. Writing about nature double the feel good factor. Finding it hard to get started? Come write with me through a new series of Just. NOTES.
Writing and nature are the two most important and consistent cornerstones of my practice, upon which the building blocks of authoring, editing and commissioning books, writing articles, delivering workshops, making botanical art, and working as a school gardening teacher and planting consultant all sit. I write because I am compelled to get words down on pages, to turn sentences into paragraphs, to follow the journey from beginning through middle to end, but also because it is one of the most powerful methods of communication. A 5,000-year-old invention that by its habit of being incorporated into almost every other form of technology since, transcends the new.
I also write because it helps me express myself, especially on the days where I might feel more introverted or shy but also when I have something important to say. To me, writing is the same as talking, I’m just recording it on paper or a screen by way of pen or keyboard – the documentation of thoughts but with the volume turned down. When I read my writing out loud, which I always do at the end (the best filter for editing my own or someone else’s work), I’m always blown away by the power of words to articulate an idea, or a series of them.
It sounds obvious; writing and articulation go hand in hand, right? In fact the word ‘articulate’ is, in my experience, more commonly associated with speech – but under pressure of face-to-face conversation, or presented with those who shout loudest, it’s not always easy to get the most eloquent or effective words out. Writing provides the space and the sanctuary to go a little slower, try words on first, formulate an idea, roll it around under your tongue, find your rhythm, and then weave it all together. It’s sometimes hard to begin but when the tempo picks up it’s easy to get lost in the composition; not unlike playing the piano. It might just be the only way I switch off. That and washing up while staring out of the window (a tale for another day).
Writing is my profession but also my therapy, a regular practice of which I always recommend to other. But as all good writers know, there’s the show and there’s the tell. Telling you to write every day may simply become another instruction or even chore. Showing you what a daily writing practice looks like, through a new series of Just. NOTES is ultimately more inspiring. There’s an example and imprint – of writing style, perhaps, which can be taught or learned – but coupled with an insider view that all doesn’t have to be shiny or perfect. This is writing just for the self. Anything goes. It’s just about giving that expression somewhere to go.
Writing about nature is almost impossible not to do –it’s all around us after all, and includes me and you, and you and yours. But if you’ve been staring at a blank page for a while and nothing is coming out, turning to nature as subject matter is a good place to start. And if that still feels a little wide for focussing your thoughts then hone in on a particular detail. A copse of trees rather than the whole forest. A particular tree. A branch upon that tree. Or a single flower or leaf.
Doing it every day might seem impossible given your schedule. Yes, I know your schedule because it looks like mine. But establishing a routine for your writing, a structure in which it must sit, can actually enhance clarity and organisation in other areas of your life. It does require a modicum of self-discipline but once the habit is set, then that self-discipline can easily morph into an urge that must be met – and so you will find the time. Time to write and time to seek out that which you want to write about if your head is not full of thoughts and ideas already (the ones you were dwelling on at 4am this morning . . . ). Time that might have been taken up by aimless scrolling or feeling lonely. Time that is allowed to be spent on you.
Writing about nature also leads to immersing yourself in it. An excuse to take a slot of time out of your day to go for a walk, be inspired be the world around you. The swaying grass, the unexpected chorus of starlings, the light and space that are both humbling and make you feel part of something. All the nature you need may be in your own back patch, the one you haven’t visited for a while because of all this greyness. The one you had grand designs for or ordinarily love tending. In writing about the nature of your home, you are actively observing it, and from there it is one small step to actively caring for the nature you have been given stewardship of too. Gardening and writing, intertwined like a double helix of wellbeing.
And within those ramblings on nature and plants, gardens and flowers, will come deeper insights and ideas. There will be feelings, and there will be desires. It could get very personal. And so it should. This is your life after all.
On that note (or this NOTE as it were), as well as writing informatively, I’ll also be publishing my daily thoughts each day. Just. NOTES from me to me. But also from me to you, if you want to write along with me.