Bestselling author Amy Tan swears by her notebooks. She has hundreds of them to help her not only remember fleeting thoughts but the deep research she did on a topic of interest for her books. It is truly a good idea. Every writer knows that the brilliant sentence that popped into there head will be gone the next second if they don’t write it down. I tend to hit the record button on my iPhone but I believe a notebook is a better idea. Like anything else it requires you to develop a practice around it. 

The practice of writing down and organizing your thoughts in a writer's notebook (as opposed to scraps of paper all over your desk or multicolored post-it notes decorating your walls) can be highly beneficial for writers for a various of reasons:

     1. Safe Space: Notebooks or journals are private, so it’s a safe space to express thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment. This kind of freedom can lead to more authentic writing.

     2. Self-Reflection: Writing in a notebook enables you to review your thoughts, emotions, and experiences at the time of writing. Insights into one's own psyche then and now can  lead to deeper and more authentic writing.

     3. Idea Generation: Writer's notebooks are excellent places to capture fleeting thoughts, ideas, and inspirations. Anything and everything that comes to mind is fodder for a project now or for a future project.

     4. Practice: Regular journaling hones writing skills. Jot down new words, play with sentence structure, try out different styles and genres before committing to the work.

     5. Tracking Progress: Do you think you started that project a few months ago?  Your writer’s notebook won’t lie!  It was over a year ago! Writers can use their notebooks to track timelines and progress for deadlines. This can be motivating since it shows how far you've come and helps set goals for the future.

     6. Catharsis: Writers can express their feelings, frustrations, and anxieties on paper, which can be therapeutic and alleviate emotional burdens and the best part they don’t have to make it into a book…but wouldn’t it be nice.  Authentic you say?

     7. Overcoming Writer's Block: This is a biggie and far less intimidating that staring at a blank screen. Using your writer’s notebook to “write down the bones” as we call it is a good way to brainstorm ideas to break through unrelenting creative barriers.

     8. Documenting Experiences: Many writers actually visit the locations of their stories and keeping a notebook will be most useful to capture the minutia, details, and brio of any great novel. Take a picture too and stick it in your notebook. Paying close attention to the surroundings of where your book is set not only leads to improved observational skills but will do wonders to enrich your writing with vivid details.

     9. Brainstorming and Planning: Naturally as a writer you have heard of the dreaded outlines for plots, character, and other story ideas. I particularly love this because when working on longer projects, it is convenient to just go to the character sketch to be reminded about their archetype. God forbid you have a nun in a mini skirt. It happens! 

     10. Documentation of Growth: I know you’ve been there so don’t deny it.  Have you gone back to some of your early writing and want to crawl under a rock? Looking back at old entries is a good thing, one, it means you’ve never gave up and two, it will .keep encouraging you to continue to get better and better  when you see how far you’ve developed as an artist.  

So, keep on keeping on and use consider using a writer’s notebook for all the reasons stated above.

We'd love to hear from you about your writer's notebook experiences. Write to us at contact@wordeee.com.