Does journal writing make you feel tired?

[Silver]

Hi everyone,

I've been a lurker for a while but finally decided to pitch in & join
the discussion a bit :)

I've read much about the benefits of keeping a regular journal & I do
try my best but sometimes I start to get really weary halfway through
some of my heavier entries, particularly those exploring deeper
issues. I figure that it's either writing about heavy stuff simply
burns more emotional calories or I'm facing some inner resistance of
some kind to put those thoughts & feelings down on paper.

I would really want to get everything down in one sitting but
sometimes I just can't! And then when I try to come back to it again
later or the next day, the wave of inspiration's just gone.

Does anyone experience the same dilemma?

Cheers,
Silver

[David Gonterman]

Tell me about it. That happens to me all the time. I just try to put
what I can as fast as possible. Sometimes I even have to use a
telegraphic style of writing or just scribble a chicken scratch of a
sketch.

--
Daveykins Foxfire of FoxFire Studios
http://foxfirestudios.net
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This is my VIP E-Mail address. Please refer to my primary E-Mail
address of daveykins (at) foxfirestudios [dot] net for the general
public to use. Thank you :)

[Leisureguy]

Interesting: if I were a psychologist, I would guess that the
tiredness is internal resistance: a psychological roadblock to keep
you from going there. Lots of defense mechanisms in the mind.

Some thoughts: Obviously, picking a time of day to journal is
important, a time when you're not already tired. But, with a work life
and a family life, the optimal time may not be available. So you might
want to try picking a time on the weekend: a dedicated hour or two to
delve into areas that have aroused resistance.

Another possibility is to write faster: a telegraphic style, for
example. Essentially writing reminders that you can return to on the
weekend.

Another possibility: a digital tape recorder to switch to when you are
finding resistance. I don't like this idea much, but I thought I'd
throw it out. The problem is that listening takes a long time.

It's an intriguing topic and problem.

[biffybeans]

I understand exactly what you are saying - and if I may make a few
suggestions.

1. Push through it. You'll be glad you did, because if you don't
express the emotion now, it will just pop up again later at a time
that isn't appropriate.

2. Use the smoothest writing pen so you can write as quickly as you
can with very little stress or resistance by way of the pen. I
suggest using a fountain pen - Lamy Safari's are a good start.

3. Remember to breathe as you are writing. Stress and emotion can
shorten our breath into short gaspy breaths. Consciously remember to
breathe deeply in through your nose then out through your mouth.

4. If this continues to be a problem, then just get general ideas down
on paper, like an outline, and then come back and flesh them out again
later.

Cheers!

[Silver]

@David Gonterman: I'm sometimes reduced to chicken scratch too,
coupled with an aching wrist!

@Leisureguy: I agree totally about internal resistance, it must be
inside here somewhere working its insidious magic.

I try to do a round a "morning pages" first thing in the morning,
though admittedly there have been days I either woke up late & had to
rush off or simply had too many things to do. I also write on & off
throughout the day as stuff hits me but those entries are usually
shorter. I've had moderate success with just picking up & letting go
on & off on the same topic throughout the same day but sometimes I'll
just get interrupted.

As for alternative styles of writing, unfortunately I just happen to
be one of those folks who feel the need to get everything out the ol'
traditional longhand way *shrugs* I don't know why either. I've tried
shorthands & speed writings, even my own invented codes, but they
never leave me feeling as fulfilled.

I've tried recording things down in digital audio, it's really fast
but transcribing everything later just takes too much time, not very
sustainable like you said. I've heard some people have a lot of
success with recording down their thoughts in audio though. I am
looking for ways to audio search like in Microsoft OneNote but the
quality usually leaves much to be desired. For voice recognition to
work well, you have to dictate in a very strict fashion & me
blabbering on & pouring out stuff like liquid just doesn't make the
computer software very happy.

@biffybeans: Yeah perhaps I should try to just push through the
"resistance barrier" but ooh it can really feel like a brick wall
sometimes! And the aching wrist doesn't help.

Yes I realized that the current ballpoint pens I'm using (Uni Laknock
1.0 & Pilot Super Grip <M>) are causing my wrist to hurt. They are
just not totally smooth to write with for long periods of time (I
easily hit 2 hours most of the time in one shot). I use the pocket
Plain Journals & after reading around this group & some other sites on
fountain pens, I finally decided to invest in a Pelikan M200 with an
extra-fine nib & 2 bottles of Noodler's Polar Bulletproof from eBay.
Will be a first time FP user though, hope I don't create a mess!

Thanks for the advice on breathing, never thought about that & I'm
sure it'll affect writing for long periods of time.

I keep separate Plain Cahiers just for getting down the smallest ideas
& inspirations in point form as soon as they hit me. Goodness I think
I'm starting to tote too many moleys around! Need Moley Anonymous soon
LOL

Cheers,
Silver

[Smitty]

On Aug 11, 10:41 pm, Silver <silhuang...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I finally decided to invest in a Pelikan M200 with an extra-fine nib & 2 bottles of Noodler's Polar Bulletproof from eBay.

Be aware that fine nibs are a lot scratchier than medium ones. If
you're not happy with that one, you can get a wider nib and replace it
in the Pelikan, though. Just wanted to set proper expectations.

I recently got a Reform 1745 from a forum on the Fountain Pen Network,
and it's really a sweet little number.

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=71415

I got it tuned and refirbed (these are new, but old stock (NOS) so
they need checking out), yet the total was under $20, with some sample
ink and shipping. It's a small, light pen, but such a joy to write
with. I've also found that using different inks can help get things
out. Seeing the colors change at each entry or two shows progress, and
it's neat to re-read older passages and think of where you were and
which pen you were using when you wrote it.

With the portability of the Moleskine, I have found taking notes and
journaling happen more readily, and try to vary the places where I
write. Much of my travel time is solo, however, so that's fairly easy
for me, but it takes a little fighting to get through the resistance,
as was said, just to start each entry. Then, suddenly, there's 3, 4, 5
pages in no time. It's amazing what thoughts you forget, if you don't
write them down. Re-reading them, even only 2-3 weeks later is almost
like re-thinking them and further digesting them, though, so it's a
great habit, IMHO.

Pushing through,
Smythe

[Mike McG]

I can share one technique I use to get the juices flowing - and stay
flowing. I pull out an old journal. I have some more than 45 years
old, when I was a budding biologist - we called them "field notes."
They are so important to me now! This motivates me to continue this
habit - if not for me alone - then for my heirs someday. I still have
my Father's notes when he was farming and some are now 65 years old -
precious!

MHM

[Silver]

My Pelikan M200 just arrived today & I wasted no time in trying it
out. It's lovely, definitely so much smoother & lighter to write with,
no need to press down on the page at all. Lovely blacker than night
line, no feathering, doesn't seep to the other side of the page much
(can see that there's writing on the other side of the page but mostly
no darker than a light grey) & dries very quickly too so no smudging &
no need for a blotter.

@Smitty: Thanks for the heads up on fine nibs. Lucky for me my EF nib
runs very smoothly on my plain journal paper. I always choose the
pocket sized moleys for their portability & I love having my pocket
plain journal around when I end up having nothing to do & waiting
while I'm out somewhere. Even if I didn't have a human friend with me,
being able to whip out my little moley & start scribbling anything
into it is as good (if not even better) than a human friend LOL. The
ultimate companion.

I also agree that once the initial wall of resistance is broken
through, pages do spill out in the multitudes like a river out of a
dam. Amazing isn't it. I haven't really re-read my entries much at
all, I only started serious journal writing in a moley at the start of
June. I was thinking I'll wait at least 3 - 4 months first before I
start re-reading.

@Mike McG: That's nice. Like I wrote above, I don't have much entries
to look back upon, so my current motivation lies purely in the
knowledge that as I persist in writing, the unfathomable value of
journal writing will continuously unfold for me. It's one of those
things that age like fine wine I guess, it can only get better with
time. :)

Cheers,
Silver

[Leisureguy]

The Pelikan is a fine fountain pen, and a good fountain pen makes
writing a pleasure. I have several of the M800, which I think is among
the best fountain pens available. Having a replaceable point (you can
screw it out, at least in the 800 line) is a big plus. You might want
to try italic handwriting: more legible at speed. See http://tinyurl.com/4l3vf6

If your wrist is getting tired, then you might try holding the wrist
still and using the muscles of your arm to move the pen---when I was
taught penmanship, this was called "muscular movement" and it was
specifically taught so that one could write for long stretches. The
fingers and wrist are still, and by using the larger muscles of the
arm to write, you can go for much longer.

[Silver]

@Leisureguy: Thanks for the link. I read your post & am very
interested. I already write in a sort of slightly upright, not quite
slanting, cursive sort of way & my speed is quite okay I guess. With
italic handwriting, I'll need to get nibs that are used for
calligraphy usually, is that right? Do you know of any images of
italic handwriting that I can take a look at? I did a Google Image
search but I'm not sure if those are what you are referring to.

I tried writing with my arm muscles for a bit, felt a bit awkward & my
speed definitely went down, perhaps I just need more practice.

Already the M200 is making a huge difference in my journal writing
life & I love it! It's going extremely well with my Moleskine Pocket
Plain Journal (with Noodler's), no feathering, no bleed through &
being able to write with a featherlight touch, as compared to the
ballpoint pens I used to use, has enabled me to write much more & much
longer than ever before with minimum stress on the wrist. Helps a lot
with getting the material out of my head when I don't even need to
think about the physical act of writing.

Cheers,
Silver

[shinobi77]

I have been trying to fill my journal notebooks for years and end up
archiving half-filled notebooks. Lately, I bought a plain large
moleskine to restart recording my thoughts. As I entered an important
phase in my life being a practicing physician and a new father to a
lively little boy, I realized that I have allowed many precious
thoughts to fly away and many internal conversations left unrecorded.
Many of these would have been useful clinical "pearls" for students,
fatherly advice to my son or emotionally-recharging sparks for my
wife. This prompted me to make it, as much as possible a daily habit
of entering my thoughts into my new notebook.

The Moleskine design is prefect since it fits my bag easily and I can
write practically anywhere thanks to the original hard cover of the
notebook. This helped me a lot retain some of the interest momentum
not having to wait to get home to write down my thoughts. Sometimes,
I even wish it were twice as thick so it becomes a lifetime notebook
but I guess it defeats the portability feature.

The issue of fatigue is in my opinion due much to thinking of "what is
the most significant event?" This is especially true when writing at
the end of the day when recalling the day's events meets competition
with TV shows to catch up to or family members who want to talk or
simply wanting to sleep after a hard day's work. My recommendation to
remedy this problem is write as soon as the thoughts appear in your
mind and to do this, you have to have your notebook and your trusty
pen ready and with you all the time.

Happy writing!!

[Silver]

@shinobi77: I know exactly what you mean when you mentioned allowing
many precious thoughts to slip by unrecorded. So much inspirational
energy gone to waste if not recorded on the page in ink!

I do carry my moleskine journal & fountain pen everywhere with me, I
can't leave home without them! However I think the fatigue for me
comes not from pondering too much but rather from the sheer volume of
thoughts & emotions that scream to be unleashed upon the page while
pummeling me with their volatile force. I simply write non-stop as the
sensations crest but it being such an emotionally taxing exercise, I
find that I first get emotionally drained & then even physically
drained. Note: This occurs when I'm tacking very deep issues, which I
try to devote a large block of time to once a day or at least every
other day. Lots of stuff to clear out of my head & heart. Writing
yourself well can take a lot of work!

Most times however, my journal writing can be quite mundane,
occasional notes, thoughts, observations, recording events etc. Those
I have no problem with & I write all those constantly throughout the
day, at home or on the go, except in moving vehicles LOL, I'd puke.

Yes, a lifetime journal would be huge beyond compare LOL. I can fill
out a pocket plain journal in less than a month easily, if not 2 weeks
if I really let myself go. I just label the date range of the entries
on the spine & line them up all in a row on my little shelf. I'll
probably stash them in boxes once I have too many, probably by years.
I've got 2 right now, side by side, keeping each other company.

Cheers,
Silver