Keeping a writer’s notebook is an essential tool for anyone who creates prose or poetry. And keeping the notebook close by, always at the ready, is an indispensable literary habit.
In her book Writing True: The Art and Craft of Creative Nonficiton (Heinle, 2005), author Mimi Schwartz says, “The more we write down, the more there is to work with.” She writes about the notebook being a source of “power” for the author by including entries of overheard conversations, images and memory, notes from travel, quotations, and favorites lines from books. “The more vivid the detail, the more likely these nuggets will turn up – maybe right away, maybe a day, a month, or years later,” writes Schwartz.
Whatever the format you choice, the idea of a writer’s notebook is to document the impressions, emotions, and passing thoughts of our daily existence and then use them in our own writing.
What to Put in a Writer’s Notebook
First, it might be helpful to explain what shouldn’t go inside a writer’s notebook. These random written recordings are not the notes found in a traditional diary. You are not recording the day’s events – Got up a 6:00am. Went to work. Pick up kids at school. The intent is far different.
Instead, record details. Stay away from generalities. If you see a beautiful city garden, note the colors, describe them vividly, and record how the urbanites that walk by react to the garden. And most importantly, note how you feel when you look at this garden. Through details and emotion you’ll be able to recall this moment in time and share it with readers in the most engaging way.
Be aware of the little things. Watch people and how they react to one another. Note the things people buy at the drug store, and be specific. Record what people are reading, listening to, watching. The key is to be keenly aware of what’s around you. These are the details of good writing.
The Writer’s Notebook is the Place to Take Risks
The notebook is the place where ideas begin and it’s the perfect place to explore, be playful, experiment with language. This is the place to break the rules and write anything you want. Forget about grammar; forget about syntax or structure. Doodle pictures of what you see, and how you feel.
You can also cheat a little. If you see a great line in a newspaper or in another book, the work of another author, write it down. This is not about stealing; it’s about acknowledging what is good and meaningful. Recording what you find poignant, wonderful, or engaging in the art of others will help you create your own art.
The Essentials of a Writers Notebook
In her book Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal (Back Bay Books, 2003), Alexandra Johnson writes, “It (the notebook) will reconnect us to the very living we’re too busy…to notice.” That’s important to remember and critical to the act of keeping a meaningful notebook. If the writer simply records daily events, remains too general, and never records how he feels about something he sees or experiences, then his notebook entries will be useless to the craft of writing. It might be a good record of the day, but it’s not a tool for producing the art of compelling prose or poetry.
However you decide to record your notebook entries – in a formal leather journal, in a spiral notebook, on your Blackberry or iPod – be sure to be consistently open to your thoughts and emotions, and be uninhibited. Thinking too much about what to include in your notebook will only put roadblocks in your work. Be free about what finds its way into your notebook and cherish what you can discover.
References:
Schwartz, Mimi. Writing True: The Art and Craft of Creative Nonfiction. Heinle, 2005. (ISBN:0618370757)
Johnson, Alexandra. Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal. Back Bay Books, 2002 (ISBN:0316121568)
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