Thread by @SuneAuken

#WritingStudies is a an interesting topic (is it not @Katja_Thieme?), so here's a fun personal observation about writing.

I have been going with my daily reminders for more than a year. By consequence, I must have written approximately 400 reminders. 1/

Added to each reminder is an "Also" - something I think it is worth reflecting on on that particular day - or just something worth hearing in general. The reminder is verbatim stable but the also varies wildly from day to day. 2/

And here's the fun thing: In the overwhelming majority of cases I haven't the foggiest notion what is about to be today's "Also" when I start to write the reminder. It seems I can only come up with it after having typed "This is your daily reminder that you have ... etc". 3/

Only when I have typed that out in full does my brain kick in and an "Also" appears. I have some stock variations of the "Also", but even they need pacing and variation. 4/

I have very little background in the psychology of writing - even if it is very much a genre thing - but it seems to me to be a learned response. 5/

My brain receives the "go" order for the "Also" from having written the stock opening. It does not generate "Also"s at any other point during the day. 6/

Thus on most days the "Also" is as new to me as it is to my reader. I look on with some amazement as yet another "Also" appears - 400 days in a row. 7/7