When I think about the Joan Didion quote, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down,” I think about keeping a journal. To me, this quote embodies everything that journaling should do: reveal what’s going on below the surface. It’s scratching at the inner life, not just writing a log of daily activities (though that can be a part of it). Keeping a journal is asking hard questions, probing for answers, letting your messy thoughts run free on the page. In your journal, you can be your …
literary happiness project
Discernment in Using Your Voice: February Recap
For being such a short month, it seems like February should have flown by. I feel like I should look up surprised that March is here and wonder where the time went. Instead, each week of February felt like a month unto itself. The weeks felt disconnected and I got to the point where all I could do was ride it out. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, only that my expectations for the month (if I really had any, honestly) were nothing like what happened. Nothing. The theme for the Literary …
How Our Voices Connect Us: February
If you’re a writer, developing your voice is an important part of your craft. It’s a process. It takes time to cultivate it, and the only way you do is through writing. The more you write, the more your voice emerges. The general writing advice around voice includes: How to find your voiceHow to use your voiceBe clear in your writingInfuse your writing with your personalityYou should sound like you It seems obvious: our voices should be clear, strong. We don’t want to sound weak or …
How to Measure Happiness: January Recap
I don’t think I’m a very happy person naturally. It’s not a word I’d use to describe myself, and I’m always surprised when someone uses that word to describe me. I think it goes back to my Christian upbringing, which placed a higher premium on contentedness and joy than happiness. Happiness was fleeting, but joy could endure. I wonder now, as an adult and still a believer, if that’s true. Can we feel other emotions and still be happy? Can we feel the darkness and still be filled with joy? …
Rules for Literary Happiness
When the idea for the Literary Happiness Project came to me, it was filled with so much energy that my mind was spinning. That’s how all ideas should come: swiftly and with some life to them. I’ve heard the advice over and over again, if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no. And this idea was a h-e-double-hockey-sticks yes. But all that excitement and energy was just the beginning. I quickly realized I needed a framework, so I brainstormed all the ideas I had about happiness, literature, and what …