The Writing Challenge
Over the next few articles, I'll have the pleasure of exploring the broad topic of digital heritage with you. In the previous article, we took a bird's-eye view of this fascinating world, stopping here and there to turn over a stone or two. Today, I'm lifting a larger stone—one teeming with thousands of words. Words I invite you to put to paper in a carefully chosen notebook by taking part in the Writing Challenge.
I'm talking about notebooks, paper and pencils in an article about digital heritage. It may seem unexpected, but you'll see how one naturally leads to the other. The important thing is simply to get started. You can certainly write on a keyboard and save your work directly to a computer or tablet, skipping the need to digitize or transcribe handwritten pages later. But if the goal is to make writing an easy part of everyday life, it's hard to beat a notebook. You can take it anywhere, it never crashes, and it's ready the moment you open it.
Since 2009, I've written one page every single day. Together, those pages have become a significant part of the legacy I hope to leave my children and future generations. Beyond the 40 notebooks I've filled—and the many projects they've inspired—this daily writing practice has brought me a whole canopy of benefits. I'd like to share some of them with you.
Writing to Tell Your Story
To begin with, writing every day allows us to tell our own story and make sense of our memories. This process of sorting through the past brings fresh perspective and helps shape the digital legacy we want to leave behind. Digitizing photo albums and videotapes is a great place to start. But it's even more meaningful to add context—to tell your story through those digitized archives in a dedicated notebook. Start with a single photograph. Take your time to really look at it. Then pick up a pencil and write about what you see and what it means to you: a memory, a small detail in the background, the era, the clothing, the people... Choose whatever point of entry feels right, and simply begin. The most important part—and often the hardest—is this: don't judge what you write. Someone once said, "The ego is always trying to justify itself. It resists criticism that challenges the image it has created of itself." In other words, don't let your ego take the lead when you write. Let your intuition guide you instead. We all have an inner voice that quietly points us in the right direction, but it needs silence to be heard. The more you write, the more clearly that voice will emerge. Trust the process.
Recording Yourself for Inspiration
If a photograph doesn't spark any ideas, here are a few simple exercises to get your creativity flowing and make writing feel more natural. The first is audio recording. Grab your phone and record yourself speaking. Describe what you're doing in detail, talk about your day, or share a memory that's meaningful to you—whether it's life-changing or seemingly ordinary. Then set the recording aside for a week or two before transcribing it. You can keep your words exactly as they are or revise them however you like. Another worthwhile exercise is a recorded conversation with someone you trust—a partner, a friend, or a family member. Take turns interviewing each other. If you need inspiration, you'll find plenty of interview questions online covering just about every topic imaginable. One last simple idea: listen to a song that means something to you, then let the emotions and memories it stirs guide your writing.
A Gift to Yourself
Social media and the news are full of challenges—from Dry February to fitness goals and everything in between. Today, I'd like to invite you to take on The Writing Challenge: write every day for 21 days. No excuses about time or anything else. Commit to the challenge, and above all, do it as an act of self-love. At the end of those 21 days, read back through what you've written and make note of the passages you like best. Gather those favourite excerpts and use them as the starting point for a new page—and a new 21-day cycle. Think of your daily writing as a mine, and each rereading as a search for valuable ore. Some days you'll uncover something precious; other days you won't. Both are perfectly okay.
As you continue writing, you'll gradually discover your own voice, your own style and rhythm. For many, it also becomes the gateway to caring for their digital legacy with the intention of passing it on. It's a meaningful practice—one you can return to every day, while losing yourself, if only for a little while, in the simple act of creating instead of watching time slip by.
Beyond the legacy we leave behind—whether we choose to digitize it or not—writing every day offers countless benefits. It stimulates the brain, strengthens memory, helps us process our emotions, expands our vocabulary, fosters stronger social connections (especially when we share our writing), and even improves fine motor skills. I'd go one step further: taking time each day to tell your own story is an act of self-love. And all it takes is a pencil and a notebook. Preserve one day at a time—one word at a time, if that's what it takes—and trust the process.
Get back to me in three weeks and let me know how it went.
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