Posts Tagged ‘Becoming a writer’

Journaling as a Professional: An Interview with Raquel Pidal

Thursday, October 31st, 2024
Emerson at night, a beautiful campus!

Raquel Beatriz Pidal (She/They) is an assistant professor of publishing in the Writing, Literature, and Publishing department at Emerson College. Pidal has been a professor at Emerson since 2018, taking on a full-time role in the fall of 2023. Their career in publishing and literature has taken on many forms in the last two decades, from distributing, designing, and ghostwriting all the way to editorial directing, small- and large-press publishing, and writing coaching.

In addition to Pidal’s accolades and credentials, they are an avid journaler! I sat down with Pidal for an insightful conversation on how journaling has influenced her professional and personal lives, all starting with a diary at 8 years old.

Pidal: I started keeping a diary of sorts when I was very small, and I’ve probably been keeping some form of journal or diary ever since then. I’m not super consistent with it. There have definitely been years where I haven’t done very much journaling, and then there are other times where I do it every day. It’s more about how it helps me and serves me as opposed to having to keep a routine.

Q: Have you kept all your journals since you were 8 years old?

Pidal: I pretty much keep them all. I don’t necessarily reread them, but I have gone back and looked at some of them sometimes, especially if I’m like, “What was going on at this point in my life?”

An old picture of my journal from 2022 that gained character development as my unstable bedside coaster.

Q: Have you noticed a pattern in when you tend to journal more, or if you change the way that you journal throughout different stages of your life?

Pidal: A lot of times, I have turned to journaling if I’m having problems. It’s a good place to vent, put problems down, brainstorm solutions, and figure out what I’m thinking. For example, if I’m having a challenge, or if I’m trying to figure out what my feelings are about something. I also use it when I’m trying to make a decision. It’s very helpful for pros and cons lists. I certainly use it for many other things, but those seem to be times when I really use it and get very prodigious with it in terms of everyday journaling and working through that stuff.

Q: what’s your favorite thing about journaling? What’s your least favorite? 

Pidal: My favorite thing about it is that it’s a good way to know what you’re thinking. It’s a good way to have a conversation with yourself. A lot of times I’ve not realized I’ve had a feeling or a thought until I’ve written it down, and it’s been really helpful in that way. 

Maybe my least favorite thing about it is having a really fancy notebook and then feeling anxious about what I’m going to put in it. Am I going to use it for writing about stuff and then it’s going to get messy, or am I going to keep it for something special? The feeling of having a pristine notebook and what you’re going to put in it seems very silly and trite, but I think people understand that.

Everyone experiences writer’s block, even my dog, Goob!
(He stole my papers.)

Q: How has journaling influenced your writing?

Pidal: I use journaling a lot when I’m writing, and it helps me figure out my ideas. I use it for drafting pre-writing, and figuring out what it is I want to say. I’m an editor by trade, so I’m not a big fan of the blank page and the draft. That’s my least favorite part, which is funny because I know a lot of writers, and their least favorite part is revision, but that’s my favorite part. 

I like to revise, and it’s hard for me to get stuff down on the page, so a lot of times, I use specific writing notebooks or journals to keep track of my ideas, or actually just write about the writing process, which seems very meta, but can be really helpful. By working stuff out in advance, it makes it easier when I sit down to do the drafting.

Especially for non-fiction projects–I’m working on one right now–the act of just keeping track of ideas, not solely trusting my brain to keep track of them but putting them into a notebook when I have the ideas, is really key. Right now I’m trying to determine what kind of content my book is going to have and how I’m going to structure it. I can’t know that until I figure out some ideas, and I need a place to put them where I’m allowed to be really messy and figure out what it is I want to say, and that’s what the journal is helpful for. If feel like it feels too official to sit down and start typing, I’m allowed to just kind of meander when I’m in a journal; I can just poke around and explore and have that conversation with myself. 

Q: What advice would you give to people who are just starting to get into journaling, whether it be to push their creative endeavors or just to manage their day-to-day lives?

Pidal: I would say people shouldn’t feel daunted or afraid or worried that they’re doing it wrong. It’s really for you; you can use your journal in whatever way you want. There are lots of books of prompts out there that can be really helpful. So, if people are like, “I really want to start journaling, but I don’t really know what to write about, I have nothing to say,” there can be really good books out there that help people with big, open-ended questions.

Also, a journal can just be a book of lists: “Here are five things I saw today that are really interesting,” or it can be a place where you keep track of stuff you want to do. There are so many different ways to use a journal. So I think for people who are just starting out, there are no rules. It’s really up to you. And I have all kinds of notebooks for all kinds of stuff. And if it feels daunting to call it a journal, just call it a notebook. It’s just your “notebook of stuff,” and that can be helpful.


Boston students! Get a free coffee from Taiyaki in Cambridge!

Brenna Sheets is a graduate student in Emerson College’s Writing and Publishing M.A. program. She is also a teacher, currently specializing in middle school history. Her hobbies include going on long walks, reading and writing, and watching bad television.

Share

On Becoming a Writer

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010


Photo courtesy of cesc!

Written by Megan Soyars

I’ve loved writing since I was very small. I have a particular memory from my toddler-hood, which I believe sparked my passion. I was watching my mother at the kitchen table, playing with a strange machine. The machine was small and gray and covered with the letters of the alphabet. I remember feeling a certain pride as I surveyed the letters. I knew them all, A-Z, and I even knew how they magically paired together to form words, and those words paired together to form sentences, and those sentences made stories that I could read and enjoy. Thomas the train, all these stories were my favorites.

As I watched my mother type away on the mysterious machine (it was a type writer) I noticed she was actually creating something. Sheets of paper came out of the machine, covered with the words my mother had typed. The sheets looked almost like the pages of the story books I read. As my mother pulled the sheets out of the typewriter, I asked her what she was doing.

“Writing!” she explained to me with a smile. “A story just like the ones we read together, only this story for grown-ups.”

I was amazed. I’d never considered that my story books were created by real people like my mom. It must take an enormous amount of talent to create a story, I figured. I was proud of my mother, and promised to read her story once I was a grown-up. And maybe I could become a story writer when I was a grown-up, too.

Seventeen years later, I’m a officially a grown-up, and (officially??) a writer. No, I’m not Neil Gaiman or Stephenie Meyer and maybe my works aren’t on the Times bestseller list or gracing the book shelves of the Barnes and Noble where I work, but I’m not really asking for fame/fortune. That’s rare for anybody to attain. But I’d like to know that some people are reading my stuff and enjoying it. I’ve had a couple writing internships (right now I’m working for the Campus Clipper), and I’ve messed around with fiction and poetry, and I’ve self-published a children’s novel. If you’re interested, you can check out my book at www.lulu.com/content/5494236.

Maybe you’ve been inspired to express your creativity through writing, or you’re a starting-out writer like me who needs some tips. I’ve added some that’ve helped me below:

BROADEN YOUR RANGE

You don’t always have to write on what you consider to be your “subject matter.” If you’re a short story writer, try your hand at news writing. If you’re in journalism school, take a poetry class. By exploring a different genre, you’re stretching different mental muscles, which allows for a better all-around workout (just like your gym teacher told you!). Then, once you’re versed in a new style of writing, you can incorporate it into your original technique.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

Write (and read!) as much as you can. Take classes, seminars, and workshops. Practice on your own at home by starting up a blog or journal. Some writers set a specific schedule (such as a hour a day) that they spend writing. I don’t personally recommend the “set schedule” since it often made me feel like I was “forcing” myself to write out of duty rather than enjoyment. But if you discover you haven’t put your pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) in awhile, sit down and make time to write, even if you aren’t feeling particularly inspired.

DON’T STRESS OVER WRITER’S BLOCK

Everybody gets writer’s block at some point; sometimes the words just don’t flow. Don’t sit frustrated at your desk, tapping your pen against paper. Sometimes your mind works best when your body’s in motion. Get up, talk a walk, go jogging, whatever. Or even take a nice, long shower! It’s true–sometimes your best ideas do come to you while you’re in the shower. Just don’t bring your laptop into the bathroom with you (a la Weird Al in “White ‘n’ Nerdy). I’ve also discovered that taking a brief break helps overcome writer’s block. Put the manuscript away and come back to it in a couple days. That way, your mind’s fresh and has been given a chance to come up with some new ideas. And finally, if you find yourself stuck on a certain scene or paragraph, move to another section and start writing from there. You don’t always have to write in chronological order.

I hope these tips work for you the way they did for me. While working at the Campus Clipper, I’ve learned that there’s so many young people out there with their own distinctive talents. (For example, all the great writers of Campus Clipper’s book The NYC Student Guide.) Whatever your passion, whether it’s writing, or dance, or film, always remember to follow it 🙂

-Megan, Trinity University

Get great more Student Discounts!

Download our NEW App on iTunes!
Become a fan on Facebook and follow us on twitter!

Don’t forget to sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter for student promotions and coupons and download the coupon booklet NOW!

Share