The Writer's Notebook

The Writer’s Notebook is one of the most important tools that a writer can use. Each person’s notebook looks different, is written differently, and has only one rule. That rule is that you must write in it every day. Some writer’s suggest that writing 1,000 words every day is the best way to improve your skills.

So, if there is only one rule, what goes in a writer’s notebook? This is much like an artist’s sketchpad. An artist draws rough pictures of things that may one day turn into an actual piece of art. They draw things they want to remember. As a writer, your notebook should be filled with the same thing. Pieces of writing that you may one day use, but it might have nothing to do with a story you are currently working on. Here are a few things that I keep in my notebook. While the contents of your own notebook are up to you, I hope this gives you a good start!

Names: I always hear names that I like, and then five minutes later I forget them. On one page of my writer’s notebook I have started a list of these names. I often use this list when naming my characters.

Silly Sayings: One page in my notebook is filled with nothing but silly sayings. These are little phrases that people use, such as “Well, bless your belly button.” or “Dang dawg, that’s crazy.” Why do I write these down? Sometimes characters need a little phrase that they say throughout your story. It becomes their trademark and helps readers remember them.

Story Ideas: Most of my notebook is nothing more than story ideas. Some of them are silly and some are not half bad. I look at some of them and wonder what I was thinking when I wrote down the idea. Still, I keep all of them no matter what my opinion is of the idea. Now and then, I look back on the idea and add to it. Some of these ideas eventually turn into stories. Sometimes I take three ideas and turn them into one story. If you keep them all in one place, it is easy to flip back and forth to form a story.

Titles: There are many times when I am watching TV or driving down the road reading billboards, when something catchy gets my attention. Maybe it is the name of a town or the title of a company. I write all of these together on one page. I have been doing this for years and often I find that the things I write down are useless. I have come to find the benefit of this. I started this when I was 16 years old in my diaries. One day, I wrote down the phrase “Tripping over Daisies”. I had no idea what it meant, if I would ever use it, or ever think about it again. Recently I found it, loved it, and used it.

Reviews: Often when I read a good book or see a good movie, I write a short review of it in my notebook. I always include what I loved about the movie and sometimes a quote from the movie that really stuck in my head. While it is never good to plagiarize anyone else’s work, these often make good references.

Other things in my notebook are poems, a list of topics I want to learn more about, comics that I found humorous, and a list of character traits that I sometimes reference when developing characters. Some people use it as a journal to record major events in their life. Real life situations always make great stories! It doesn’t matter what you put in this notebook. As I said before, there is only one rule: Write every day!

Pretty soon your notebook will become your toolbox and you will wonder how you ever wrote without it.

Rylee Rider

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