Bird by Bird Lesson #4

Help Along the Way

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

Yay, some practical help from Annie. First up:

Index Cards

I like to think that I’m the kind of person who uses index cards the way that Anne does. She has them stashed all over the house, and carries them with her wherever she does (folded lengthwise, to minimize bulk). Because:

“One of the things that happens when you give yourself permission to start writing is that you start thinking like a writer. You start seeing everything as material.”

And, of course, some of these things will be slightly or really weird and you might have some resistance to writing them down because of that. But do it anyway because you never know when you might need that weird image…or it might morph into something else.

(Brief aside, often when I’m coaching with a client one-on-one, weird ideas will pop into my head. I used to squelch them, because, well, weird. But I’ve learned to say them. Because often either my client will say, “That’s it exactly!” or my weird idea will lead the client where she needs to be. I’m a big fan of not squelching, in coaching sessions and when it comes to noting things out in the wild.)

Anyway, I am not the kind of person who carries index cards around, much as I like the idea. But I am the kind of person who needs to write things down to connect with them. So I make notes on my Google Keep app on my phone, or in the small journals I carry around in my purse. So why not index cards? Because to me, they are the devil to organize. I’ve been known to take brilliant notes on index cards (back before I realized they are not for me), put them in a tidily organized index card holder, only for them never to see the light of day again until years later when I’m going through all the crap on my office shelves. And then I wonder what the note meant and why I saved it.

And I would love, love, love, to know if Anne still uses index cards. Or has her own smart phone replaced them?

But the point she makes here is a good one: you need to find some way, whatever way works for you, to note the things that you are noticing out in the world.

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Calling Around

I’m with Anne on this—people love to talk about their work, or their passions. Because too often, we don’t listen to each other. And we especially don’t listen to each other if we perceive that what the other person is talking about is boring to us. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been that person, and then suddenly keyed into the conversation and realized I was missing great stuff.