"We want to find a self in our writing that we like spending time with, whose silly ruminations and bad poems are just part of the slow process of discovering ourselves in language." Truth! I love how you've put this.
"Is it possible that in our journals we combine the two..." is such a helpful extension to me of Elbow's work. It matches what I think I experience while journal writing. Love this!
This article was so timely for me. I, too, have boxes of journals, most never opened again. The earliest, quite embarrassing. Recently I was riding with some birding friends and began telling a self-deprecating story of my failed relationships. I ended with a funny twist on the whole thing, which was satisfying to my audience, but later I felt grief, so it wasn't satisfying to me. I found this essay very interesting and helpful! Food for thought.
Thank you for this... was just talking with a writing client about why the "I" is important. Last year another writing client published this:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/to-design-cities-right-we-need-to-focus-on-people/
; the fruit of how you've emboldened me as a writer is catching on. Thank you, always.
"We want to find a self in our writing that we like spending time with, whose silly ruminations and bad poems are just part of the slow process of discovering ourselves in language." Truth! I love how you've put this.
"Is it possible that in our journals we combine the two..." is such a helpful extension to me of Elbow's work. It matches what I think I experience while journal writing. Love this!
This article was so timely for me. I, too, have boxes of journals, most never opened again. The earliest, quite embarrassing. Recently I was riding with some birding friends and began telling a self-deprecating story of my failed relationships. I ended with a funny twist on the whole thing, which was satisfying to my audience, but later I felt grief, so it wasn't satisfying to me. I found this essay very interesting and helpful! Food for thought.