5.35pm
There are many ways to track experience in writing, and I’m a fan of the various forms that diaries, or proto-diaries, or sort-of-diaries, can take: 17th century printed almanacs with inserted blanks covered with scribbled notes of journeys, illnesses, money; financial accounts that get revised into narrative accounts of a day (this was Samuel Pepys’ method); or unfurling accounts of scandal and gossip, written with a novelistic fullness, like James Lees Milne’s masterpieces covering 1942-49 and 1971-97. (He took a break for an unhappy marriage.)
Like most people, my diary energies have been fitful and undisciplined. My most recent iteration is simple: I write down what I am doing at 5.35pm each day. So far I’ve done January 2025; the plan is to continue for the rest of the year. It only takes about 20 seconds per record. If possible – it usually is, but not always – I take a photo of that moment. It’s remarkably easy to forget, or difficult to remember, so I set an alarm on my phone each day, and record the note on a Google spreadsheet synched with my laptop. Here are the first month’s returns (I missed the first few days).
Sunday 5
Setting up Google spreadsheet for recording these sentences.
Monday 6
On northern line to early dinner.
Tuesday 7
In Cork and Bottle, Leicester Square, paying bill for red wine and pitta.
Wednesday 8
Reading Jane Eyre and drinking tea at home.
Thursday 9
Reading Lucy Lippard's The dematerialisation of the art object, at home.
Friday 10
On train pulling into Marylebone.
Saturday 11
On Piccadilly line.
Sunday 12
Watching Arsenal vs Man United on tv.
Monday 13
Helping Anna with her maths homework.
Tuesday 14
Having wine in bar of Oxford and Cambridge Club after book talk. [no photo]
Wednesday 15
Reading Alan Hollinghurst with cup of tea.
Thursday 16
Walking through Marston on the way to Elsfield.
Friday 17
On packed train from Oxford to Marylebone.
Saturday 18
Reading Peter Gizzi on tube.
Sunday 19
Warming up gumbo.
Monday 20
Making leeks vinaigrette.
Tuesday 21
Listening to Dr Harry McCarthy give lecture on early modern boy actors and race.
Wednesday 22
On train from Oxford to Marylebone assessing research applications to Balliol.
Thursday 23
Cooking burgers for dinner.
Friday 24
In Cork and Bottle wine bar eating pitta bread with red wine.
Saturday 25
Watching Traitors with Anna and Ezra. [no photo]
Sunday 26
Reading a PhD on 17th-century anti-semitism for a viva next week.
Monday 27
Laying the table for dinner.
Tuesday 28
On northern line on way to Tottenham Court Road.
Wednesday 29
Reading student's PhD chapter on train approaching Marylebone.
Thursday 30
Doing emails with cup of tea.
Friday 31
In a PhD supervision with student. [No photo]
I have images for all but two of these 5.35pm’s, so the same span of time – the same slices of each day – could take the form of a staccato list of photographs. I’ll post this as a Substack next week.
Adam,
Thanks so much for those very handy tips regarding memory of things that can quietly slip by us in our busy lives.
At my age ,80, I find this process to really help. From these snippets, you can reconstruct a poem or prose that can be expanded.
I love your thought processes. Keep up your good work, my friend.
peppermiller3011@gmail.com
A friend has a similar approach using 1 Second Everyday (1SE) an application which allows the user to record one second of video every day and then to compile and publish a monthly video.