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My daily journal habit crashed and burned along with my memoir
I started journaling every day to gather stuff for a memoir I wanted to write. It worked for a while, and I had tons of notes about my old jobs and family stories. Then I got lazy and skipped days until I just quit completely. Now the memoir is half done, and I can't seem to touch it. For example, I found my last journal entry from six months ago and felt too stuck to go on. Does anyone have tips for restarting a dead habit to save a project? I'm tired of seeing this pile of paper and need real help to finish.
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sage6277mo ago
My friend Lisa had a similar thing happen last year. She was writing a novel and her daily writing habit just died after she moved apartments. I mean, she had boxes of notes but couldn't open them for months because it felt too big. Then she started by just reading old entries without pressure to write new ones. After a week, she wrote one sentence, and it slowly built back up. Now she's back on track, and she says starting small broke the freeze.
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michael_campbell7mo ago
What part feels hardest right now? My own journal turned into a napkin with one sad sentence from last year.
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the_susan7mo ago
Honestly just opening the journal feels impossible sometimes. Try leaving it somewhere you'll see it, like next to your coffee maker, so the pressure's off. I started by scribbling one dumb observation a day, like "the neighbor's cat looks grumpy," and it got easier.
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