Revise with Me: A Writing Log Can Keep You Accountable and Kind
Are you working on revising writing for publication? Hey, so am I! And I’m writing a blog series on the revision process. In between my freelance editing work, I’ll be turning a dissertation chapter into an article, and I’ll write about the joys and challenges of writing and editing as well as any tips and strategies I employ (successfully or not) along the way.
As part of my “Revise with Me” series, I wanted to devote a post to a tool that has been with me during my most successful and sustainable writing periods: the writing log. I will use excerpts from my own writing log as examples, pulled from different phases of writing my dissertation.
Where do I keep a writing log?
You can keep a writing log anywhere (digital or handwritten) as long as it’s somewhere you will use it. For me, I started out using Google Docs, but ultimately moved it to Scrivener, which is where I was doing my writing. [I could write a whole other post about Scrivener, but for those who aren’t familiar, it is writing software that offers extra tools for drafting and organizing your writing. You pay a one-time fee for lifetime access. It really helped me conceptualize ideas and organize my writing.] I made it so the writing log was the first and last screen that I saw anytime I was in my dissertation document.
What do I put in the writing log?
Writing goals: I found it helpful to begin a writing session by briefly writing out my goals for the session. Careful! You want to have already set these goals at the end of your last writing session. But I always took a few seconds to just reiterate what I was planning to do and sometimes specified how many pomodoros I was expecting to spend on each task.
Pep talks: I was honest in my writing log about how I was feeling, but I did try to keep the complaining to a minimum so as to energize and empower my future self. I think the writing log encourages you to be kind to yourself. Somehow it is a little easier to be nice to yourself if your intended audience is your future self.
Updates after work sessions: How did it go? Sometimes good and sometimes bad, and either is fine. The point is that you worked, and the more times you sit down to work, the better your chances of having a good work session.
Goals for next session: set out what you plan to do next and when.
In what follows, I present three excerpts from my writing logs as examples. These were chosen from three very different phases of the last two years of my doctorate program. It’s not important, of course, that you know exactly what I was writing about, or who these authors are. I just want to share the kinds of things that were helping me get through the day-to-day of writing.
Excerpt 1: Desperately trying to build a sustainable writing practice, with mixed success
Tuesday 2/20/24: Spent time in the “how is photography disruptive in general” section, organizing Richard and Donoso Macaya. Realized that “how are photography and mountains compared in Cordillera” section has to do with Salas, and now I feel like I need a Salas intro near the thesis and then to move into close readings of how he is compared with mountains later on. Did not manage to solve this.
What’s next? Add the “How is landscape similar to photography” section and see what existing writing fits in there or what you think should be added. Also, continue to think about what should go in the “how are landscape and photography compared in Cordillera” section.
Monday 3/25/24: I don’t have a very good plan but I’m going in to keep working on the section I was working on on Friday (strengthening opening argument) for a little while. Update: Okay, I kind of fixed the hook, but it still reads like something is missing. I expect this is where the refinement of the argument comes into play. Tomorrow I can try to figure out how to make the argument more explicit. How to say more than I’m already saying? Now maybe I should move on to Chpt. 3 OR prepping for student office hour. Update: looked up things on La resta for Ch3. Not useful, will not pursue. Started looking up things about how landscape is read in films. Lost steam, but should return to this route. Think about writing out what your argument about landscape is, or pulling it from Ch1, or returning to SOME Andermann (Spanish physical copy or the English one you have?)
Monday 4/15/24: Welllllll I went on a trip and dropped this for over a week and now I’m back. I promised Kate I would develop the photography section, so that’s what I’m going to work on. What exactly do I mean by that? If I am arguing that we understand better how landscape is an archive by its comparison to photography, then I need to explain why I think photography is so important…how is it similar (although not identical) to the characteristics of landscape? What is it about photography that helps us better understand landscape as (a rethinking of) archive?
At this time, I was teaching and I wasn’t necessarily managing to get good writing sessions in every day. This phase of the writing log was a good early effort, but as you can see, I wasn’t using it that often. It was helping me to pick up where I left off, but it wasn’t contributing to a sustainable writing practice (yet). However, I did make some decisions (not to pursue one possible source; what I should do next) and asked some important questions that otherwise might have been lost in a notebook somewhere.
Excerpt 2: Committed to making daily progress during a writing boot camp
Thursday 5/9/24: Good morning. I’m going to try to get through more writing today, starting with Furtado (I guess, run with that as long as you can); I should probably send Kate writing this afternoon.
Did some section organization (thanks Scrivener)
Feeling like I have no idea what I’m talking about, but at least I’m finally wading through this spatialization of time/temporalization of space section, and I should just keep going I think (although the more PG I could bring in, the better. Or connect with Ciudad, too…I wonder if I could have Ciudad help with the non-tangible traces part of the landscape-as-archive bit…)
Today went okay, I seem to run out of steam after 3 pomodoros (at about 10:30) and I also got tired enough in the afternoon that I had to close my eyes for like 15min. I did send 4.25 pages to Kate.
Tomorrow goals:
Work in what Andermann you can (in two places?)
Make goals for the coming week, start Ch3
Maybe think about organization of Ch2? Or pick another goal from list you made on Tuesday.
Wrote maybe 0.75 pages? In different places
Monday 5/13/24: Welllllll I’ve had a slow start this morning because I’ve been doing my least favorite activity, Making Goals. I guess I’m going to look over the Donoso Macaya section and see what I should be doing with it. I guess I can just keep doing that for all those lost sections.
Rough day today for whatever reason, and now I’m leaving early for the optometrist. Can pick up reading Anarchaeologies, but tomorrow I would start with the writing to support reorganization that I wrote at the bottom of the notebook page today.
Tuesday 5/14/24: Had to walk to campus unexpectedly because I have misplaced my ID, and now I’m trying to settle, I think I’ll take until 9:30. I do think I could start by writing those sections I identified yesterday. After that, maybe Donoso Macaya since I finally brought in my copy. At 11 I should prep for my meeting with group leader Kat at 11:30. For the next 10 min, maybe some meditation or something…
Okay, I am also now keeping track of what I did today in my Google spreadsheet To Do list (so I can start tracking how many pomodoros it takes to do tasks)
Tomorrow, see goals schedule
Wednesday 5/15/24: I’m going to start with a pomodoro or two about Cordillera reviews. We do have a meeting at 10am though so if it could be one pomo for reading and one for writing that would be great, I don’t want this to take too long. After that I have some other pomodoros planned.
Okay, so not quite the clearcut thing I had planned—classic! I was surprised by today’s meeting at 10, and I will think carefully before going next time because I was doing fine until 10 and then I did not recover after the meeting or after lunch.
However, I did do two pomodoros of reading reviews this morning, and I’m not sure I have enough of a general summary to put it into a paragraph. I could just write what I feel and see if that is right, but otherwise maybe skip to the next pomodoro goals tomorrow?
I seem to be avoiding watching País. Gotta do it though, gotta get that writing started. Tomorrow afternoon. Maybe start with just 25 min and then 25 min of writing, to make it less painful?
Thursday 5/16/24: I’m going to follow my pomodoros plan (hopefully better than I did yesterday; the goal is write!)
Decent in the morning, can start again on that track tomorrow. Rough in the afternoon…need to get back to office by about 12:45 to start working by 1. Fell asleep while watching movie and then was reluctant to start. Perhaps I should watch the WHOLE movie at once and then write about reactions? Not picking it apart quite yet, but getting some bigger picture thoughts…
Friday 5/17/24: Pomodoro on! Where do we want to end up after this Salas section? I guess I’m establishing how PG establishes the mountains and Salas as an archive and a witness, but then I probably have to make a move like, “beyond a figurative comparison, what else can we take from the juxtaposition of the mountains and Salas?”
Well now I’m stuck and unmotivated. “Pomodoro on!” was such a hilariously incongruous way to start this absolute wreck of a work day lol. I did admin all day and watched the clock.
Okay I managed to watch some of País and I added a few comments to my nascent freewrite on the movie. Now I’m going to try to write out some goals for the coming week.
Monday 5/20/24: What a productive weekend [I think this was non-work-related productivity]. Trying to carry that through, humbly, to my work this week. Also carrying some Yoda energy—faith!
This morning I’m planning to keep stretching the Salas section and figuring out where to go next. I suspect Donoso Macaya is not far away on the horizon.
Today went much better than Friday! Yay. Gotta keep it up this week… Tomorrow’s morning writing is a little less mapped out, so I need to manage my expectations.
So, yes, at this time I had 5-6 hours a day to fill with writing tasks. If you are ever lucky enough to attend a writing boot camp/retreat-style program, it may well be a game changer. I learned a lot about managing time and making goals, things I had struggled with for years prior. And the writing log contributed to that success: I was honest about how I was feeling, but I wasn’t hard on myself when I fell off track; plus it helped me keep track of what I had done and what to do next. You can see the roller coaster of the week playing out, but the result is net positive because I moved the project forward. What a relief to have evidence that not every day has to be a smashing success!
Excerpt 3: Within the last month before submitting my dissertation to my committee
Tuesday & Wednesday 3/4-5/25: Used Kate’s comments to make goals for Parts II and III and put them in the calendar.
Thursday 3/6/25: I’m here to work on goal B (updating thesis section of part II) and A (rethinking the title of Part II).
Goal B, I did a great job of smoothing out the entire beginning of Part II and rewriting a chapter map paragraph.
Goal A…I think I have to bump it to later. I don’t know exactly what I do in this chapter until I work with it more. I’ll see if I can exchange an easy goal for today.
Friday 3/7/25: Today are goals E and F. If I can blow through them, I should move onto the large amount of grading I’ve left until the end of spring break.
I did knock out E and F in about an hour. I added just a little in both cases; not sure how vital or comprehensive either of those additions were, but they exist.
Work until 11am on D-M (Goal I) that you started yesterday, then grade.
Um, yay me! 3 goals done by 11:30am today. I finished Goal I. I think I ended up with more than I expected, and I think I incorporated it okay. Anything weird should get caught in a flow check, I would think.
I chose Goal I, about D-M, and wrote notes in Zotero about every time Ciudad was mentioned in her book. I can refer to that when I take on Goal I again.
Monday 3/10/25: Today I have Goal K and then some misc. ones before my meeting with Kate.
I have finished Goal K (added sentence and source near Keenan quote)
Spent some time looking up marrano, got some leads although I’m not nearly done.
Look at Alturas de Macchu Picchu and some related lit. I see that Neruda is “speaking” for the Andes at the end. I could potentially add a paragraph about Alturas as the second paragraph of the “intro & interviews” section of the Andes description (like, “the cordillera is portrayed by Neruda as…” and then can contrast against it later).
Tuesday 3/11/25: Goal C (Alturas) and Goal H (Gaddis) for this morning. C could get me stuck but I’m gonna try to blow through. Starting with H though.
I did Goal H, and am satisfied with it.
Goal C was a bit of a slog and I’m not done, but I made some progress. I have notes on what Kate described and I can write down the important lines of the poem. I think freewriting it wouldn’t be a bad idea. I also need to remember to find a place to contrast what Guzmán is doing with the cordillera later.
Wednesday 3/12/25: Goal J (Ciudad and Salas) and continuing with Goal C.
Said “no” to Goal J
Started a “freewrite” about Goal C, but really I started writing the section for real. Not done yet.
Thursday 3/13/25: Said no to two goals (D and G; I can talk about them, but I don’t feel compelled to add any text in those places. Re: the whole extractivist thing, if it comes up with Neruda, so be it). Which gives me time to keep chipping away at Goal C—could I finish it today?
SITREP: I have finished the initial paragraph about Alturas, and dealt with the transition into PG. Next I will need to find a place to connect back to PG’s contrast with Neruda later in the section.
I added a “response” paragraph comparing PG to Neruda. It’s a little freaky—I’m not sure if I’m out on a limb—but I think it’ll stand for now. I can always tweak it as I do a final read through.
I also tried to think up a better title for Part II. I changed it mildly; I’m still not feeling inspired. May need to return on final pass but okay for now.
Part II is “done”! And on time no less.
Friday 3/14/25: Moving on to Pt. III. Officially I am working on goals L (flow/add) and N (editing out the sweeping statement on p. 15). I could also think about the bonus goal that I missed when I made my list (self-citation, p. 8). I think N is easiest so I’ll start there.
11am: L and N are done (enough), after a short break I will take a stab at the bonus goal.
Said no to the bonus goal, now moving on to adding a footnote about teatro del futuro.
Done the teatro del futuro footnote (also enough).
By this time, I was working under a deadline and firing on all cylinders. I had a list of revisions from my advisor and I had assigned each one a letter. I had placed all those letters onto a calendar so that I wouldn’t fall behind or get bogged down. I was probably devoting 2-3 hours on all weekdays to writing tasks and then teaching and doing prep work in the afternoon. Here the writing log helped me keep track of all of that, and also showed me my own progress: I was actually sticking to my timeline! It also shows when I “said no” to a revision that I had given some thought to and decided was not important enough to devote time to in the last weeks before submission.
The Pitch for a Writing Log
Here I share three phases of a tool that I helped me develop and maintain a regular writing process. Two important caveats: first, I struggled for years before arriving at the writing logs I showed here from May 2024 and March 2025. If you are still finding your groove, that’s okay. Honestly, I think you have to find a different groove for every new project anyway. Second, the circumstances (like time, stress, etc.) were different at each of these stages, just like they are different for my current writing project, and would be different still for future projects. Rarely can we approach projects the same way twice! All that is to say, a writing log will likely look different for you. If you are interested, I encourage you to try out your own version and see if it helps keep your writing practice on track. And if you take nothing else out of this post, I hope it at least shows that progress is not linear. We have good days and bad days, but we can still get things done, and I find that to be very comforting.
If you made it to the end of this extremely long post, well done! One of the many things I like about writing logs is that they turn you into your own collaborator/cheerleader. But it’s hard to beat having an actual person to help you move through a writing project. I’d be glad to learn what stage your writing project is at so that I can figure out how to support you. I can help you with organization and big ideas, line editing, or copyediting before submission. Subscribe below to hear from me occasionally about my own revision journey and other editing-related topics!
