Before I explaing a 'gathering journal,' let me explain a 'gratitude journal' for those of you who have never heard of it before.
A gratitude journal is a way of cultivating an 'attitude of gratitude,' as the phrase goes, by sitting down each night just before bed and writing down 5-10 things you are grateful for. Most people suggest 5 as that's fairly manageable, but others say 10, if you're ambitious. I say go for 5. Why make it a competition with yourself? That defeats the purpose.
The reasoning behind this is that, if you are feeling gratitude, you will draw more things to you to feel grateful for. You will be appreciating all the positive things in your life that you love, that make you feel cared for (by yourself and by others), and you will see, feel, and receive more positive things. I think we're all familiar with, and have experienced, the truth of the idea that if we are looking for the negative, we will find it. If you decide you're having a bad day, all sorts of things will happen to support that: spilled coffee, traffic, a fight with your spouse. Same with positive.
So where does a Gathering Journal fit in?
This way: if you can do this with gratitude, why not apply it to your writing as well? What if you took a few minutes every night to write down 5 things you know and like about a piece of writing you're working on?
Maybe you're working on a poem and you know exactly the theme and tone you want it to have, but you haven't yet found the right way to convey one or both of these? Write down that you know exactly the theme and tone. And maybe you have a killer opening or closing line but the middle is muddy. Write down that you have a killer opening or closing line.
Focus on what is working. Focus on what you know and like and you will draw in - from that mysterious place from which writing comes (part us, part the collective unconscious? you decide) - more that you will know and like about your piece.
I believe that, when we are working on a writing project, if we keep our eyes and ears and hearts open, we are provided with direction and information that will guide us through the process of writing the piece. Too many times I've heard a song, or picked up a book, or overheard a conversation and known immediately that information about my character, or the plot, or an image or phrase belonged in what I was working on.
But you have to stay open. If you're too rigid about what you think the story or poem or essay should be, there's no room for anything you haven't planned on to enter. And the unplanned or the 'mistake' is often where the best stuff is.
The Gathering Journal is a place to collect that information, as well as recognize yourself for what you do right as a writer. What you are good at. Too often we focus on our weaknesses - in workshops and critique groups - and this is useful, to a degree. But you need to receive balanced comments about your writing; that's the only way to get better. If you're not getting that in workshop and critique group, then do it for yourself!
And you need to believe - and should believe - that you do certain things well. That you are growing as a writer, rising to meet the challenge of - if not mastering - what were once weaknesses.
You decide how you want to construct the ratio of your list. 4 things you know and 1 thing you like about the piece. Or 3 and 2. Maybe you do 6 things and 3 and 3, or 10 things and 5 and 5. But both what you know and what you like need to be represented.
The Gathering Journal also serves two other purposes:
-when you're stuck and can't seem to move forward on the piece, you can reread the lists and review all that you know. This will most likely jumpstart and inspire you. I bet you find something you wrote down that you forgot to incorporate and now you have a place to begin.
-if you're feeling down on the project and your skills as a writer, you can reread the lists and see all the successes (what is going right) you've already had in your work - and this is crucial - whether or not you finished the piece or it was or wasn't accepted for publication.
THERE IS NO FAILED WRITING. All writing is practice and practice moves you forward. Teaches you. Increases your level of skill. We rarely attempt something and do a stellar job the first time. There is always something of value in what you've written, something that propels you another step forward.
So try it. It will be a record of your evolution as a writer, and keep you on the lookout for tips and clues to further whatever you are working on. A little like a treasure hunt, only the treasures find you and you just have to collect them. And they will come.
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