Writer’s Diary

I’m a professor of anthropology. This is my diary about writing. When I transitioned from writing my dissertation to my first book Shifting Livelihoods, I often felt lost in the writing. It was hard. Time consuming. Difficult. At the time, I found inspiration in Virginia Woolf’s diaries, which I devoured hungrily. Years later, I remember the mental challenges that plagued her life, but also her thoughts on her process, the books she was working on, and the challenges she faced in doing the work. I was reminded of that diary, when I came across David Smith’s Design Notes Diary. Smith is a iOS app developer who keeps a blog inspired by the slogan of the Field Notes brand of notebooks: “I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.” The Design Notes Diary is a place to reflect on the work that goes into writing iOS  apps. With this in mind, as I began a sabbatical year, I have begun my own diary about my writing. This to be a place were I come, most days, to reflect on my writing process. It’s about process, it’s about practice, it’s about craft, and it’s about the difficulties of writing. I am writing for a public, because having audience—real or imagined—helps me refine my thoughts, and finish them. Perhaps these notes will be useful to you.