Writing Wednesday: Writing as Habit

Last week, Josh Nudell (whose blog “Noodlings” I read quite frequently), commented on my distinction between writing as habit and writing deliberately. He suggested that for him, getting into the habit of writing helps him create a space (and time) where he can write more intentionally. I understand this. For me, the challenge isn’t making time to write. Since the very end of my graduate school career, I’ve always managed to make time to write. In fact, it is so baked into my daily and weekly routine, that when I don’t write, I get anxious and distracted and feel off. Most of my daily writing appears on my blog or, increasingly, in my little notebook. Even as I take time to handwrite in my little notebook, the output is mostly low level writing and reflects what I consider to be low level thinking. This means it’s thinking without the benefit of research, revision, or careful consideration. In many cases my writing here represents “warm takes” conjured on walks, preliminary drafts of…