Kaizen: Method Writing Journal Entry

Side-Stepping Writer’s Block

According to “One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way”, an eBook about Kaizen and self-improvement by Robert Maurier, I need only write a measly ten words or so to begin laying down neuronal grooves in my prefrontal cortex that will, in time, lead to a sustainable and enjoyable writing habit.

Phew! That long sentence blew well past ten words. Guess I’m on my way.

I sit up ramrod straight in a comfy black office chair, the type that comes with lumbar and neck support knobs. The coffee machine beast hums to my right; I can smell the beans it’s busy shuffling to and fro.

I put down my pen, ending this method writing journal entry and record the word count in my Hobonichi Techo 2025 diary: one hundred and thirty-one words.

Journal Entry Afterwords

A method writing journal entry (I shorten the name to mw jentry) cuts writer’s block off at the proverbial knees.

I write each jentry in first person and start with where I am, how I feel, and what’s on my mind. That’s the secret right there.

Throw in some transformation lines (I didn’t do any this time), add an image moment or three (see the last two paragraphs), and stir in a dollop of dreaded association (there are none in today’s jentry) and expect to be surprised.

Story starts, essays, non-fiction bits and bobs, flash fiction - a world of creative output gets its chance to bubble up into the conscious world.

I’m sold.