Margin Notes

If you have no idea what my title refers to, that’s ok. Margin notes are what people write and doodle in the margins of their notes during lectures. Sometimes I try to avoid them because I like my notes to look neat. But sometimes I embrace them, like lately, and when I embrace them I’m always glad that I do.

Lately my margin notes have been a lot of lists. I like playing the word association game; you know, you write down a word or phrase and see what stems from it? And I type the lists up on my iPad and file them away for later use. The word associations make for really great writing inspiration which in turn leads to really great writing. And I really love when I have great writing moments.

BrittanyM

Pondering the Writing Process

For as long as I can remember, I have written. Of course there was some writing that was done exclusively for school assignments, and as time has gone on the amount of writing for school has increased. That’s what happens when one chooses to be an English and Journalism double major. But a lot of the writing I do is for myself. I keep a real paper and pen journal that I write in daily and I have for a long time. I have this blog where I write daily. And in general I tend to write a lot. I write lists and outlines and stories and (sometimes) poems. A large part of my life centers on writing.

And with writing comes the writing process. Sometimes the writing process is great and sometimes it really isn’t. I love compiling lists and writing out different story ideas. For me that’s a lot of fun. And I love writing the initial draft of something. What I’m not as good at is finishing stories once I’ve started them and I’m even worse at revising my own personal writing. These are things I can do when I’m writing for school or writing for an internship. But when it comes to my own writing that no one else ever really sees, I’m not as good at those things. I think it has to do with the fact that no one sees the stories or poems that I write.

Ultimately I do love the writing process, and writing in general. It’s something that I’m confident doing and feel that I’m good at. It’s often how I sort out things and decompress at the end of the day. I love to write and plan on doing it for as long as I can.

BrittanyM

I Am A Listmaker

It’s sort of an unquestioned truth for me, like I have blue eyes or I’m the shortest one in my immediate family (at 5’7″ nonetheless!) But at the end of the day I am a list-maker. I make to do lists. I make lists of books I want to read. I make lists of words for future stories. I make lists of movies I want to see and things I want to do. If it can be made into a list chances are I’ll make it into a list.

Some people would (and do) think it’s a little weird. But over the years I’ve found the best way for me to stay organized and get things done is to make lists. And sometimes I make sub-lists of the bigger lists. For example, I’ll make a master to do list for the week and then make daily lists on my whiteboard. Having the big list in smaller, more manageable chunks means that everything actually stands a chance of getting done.

So for now and ever and always I am a list maker. It’s how my life continues to run smoothly, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I like my lists. They’re familiar and they’re helpful and they’re an integral part of my life.

BrittanyM