- A writing log records sessions: progress, decisions, and questions.
- It rebuilds context quickly at the start of each session.
- Logging decisions prevents relitigating settled choices.
- Open questions captured at session end are easy to resume.
- Over time it becomes a record of the project's history.
Keep a writing log by jotting a few lines after each session: what you worked on, your word count, key decisions you made, and any open questions or next steps. At the next session, the log rebuilds your context instantly, so you resume instead of re-orienting. Logging decisions stops you from relitigating settled choices, and noting where you left off (especially mid-scene questions) makes restarting easy. It need not be elaborate — consistency matters more than detail.
Chapter i·Why it matters
Writing happens across many sessions, often with gaps, and each restart loses time to "where was I and what was I thinking?" A writing log closes that gap, preserving momentum and the decisions and intentions that are easy to forget. It also prevents the frustrating cycle of re-deciding things you already settled. Over a long project, the log becomes both a continuity tool and a record of how the book developed — small effort, real payoff.
Chapter ii·What to include
- Session date, focus, and word count.
- Key decisions made.
- Open questions and next steps.
- Where you left off, especially mid-scene.
- A consistent, lightweight habit.
- A running record of the project over time.
Chapter iii·Example
After each session an author logs three lines: what she wrote, her word count, and a note like "decided the sister knows the secret — next: her confrontation scene." Resuming days later, she reads the log and dives straight in, instead of spending twenty minutes remembering her own plan. The log keeps the project moving across gaps.
WriteLoom keeps a session log beside your manuscript, so you rebuild context fast and never relitigate settled decisions.
See the Plan studio