On Daily Notes

A writer would be well-advised to do at least some writing every day. Even if it seems like utter dross. Perhaps even especially if it’s dross. Writing has a curious capacity for turning dross into something if not brilliant, then at least somewhat interesting. And there’s always something to be said for interesting somethings.

These Working Notes represents a new attempt for me towards the cultivation of a writing practice.

My intentions for them are vague, and intentionally so. Mostly, I’m simply curious about what might happen were I to allow my writing a certain roughness. Which is to say a certain freedom, a certain uncertainty, a certain gusto (after Haziltt).

I’m conscious of wanting certain things from this attempt. I’m wanting to develop a sense of discipline, and practice. I’m wanting to experiment with different voices, postures, styles. I’m wanting, also, to discover what else it is I might be wanting, and what I might be avoiding and looking away from.

These desires — and this attitude — are firmly essayistic. Out of all the literature and philosophy I have read, the essay as a form has held the most resonance and sway in shaping how I think, and how I think about thinking. It’s where I feel most at home; as a reader, as a writer, and as a thinker.