Three Lines a Day

I heard one of the best writing tips of my life this week listening to an old episode of On Being. Naiomi Shihab Nye suggests to try writing just three sentences a day.

That’s it. Three sentences. What happened today, what you see out the window, what you’re worried about. Whatever.

I just imagine if I had three sentences for every day of the last year. Or for every day of a child’s babyhood. That would be an amazing record, but not overwhelming to write or to read.

The thought of keeping a running journal has been overwhelming to me for a long time, but three sentences I can do. It’s never too late to start, right? I’m on day three, and so far, so good. Here are the three from yesterday:

It’s raining so gently that even on the porch I can barely hear it.

The yard-long beans are starting to climb.

“We’re not going to make much noise,” they said. And proceeded to giggle.

Technically four, I know, but the third one didn’t make sense without the fourth. It feels like writing poetry, without the pressure to make it into “something.” Much easier than writing a good closing sentence for a blog post. 🙂