A writer’s notebook is a place for you to collect ideas and thoughts and tiny snippets of inspiration for writing in the future. It is a place to mess about with words, phrases, and record your reactions to and interactions with the world. It is your chance to notice, pay attention, listen, collect, muse, wonder, and play with language. Include significant things in your writer’s notebook. It is not a diary or chronological record of your life but a collection of what is meaningful to you. Aim to add something every single day.
What will go into your writer’s notebook?
- ideas
- interesting facts
- statistics
- intriguing words/words you haven't heard before/your favourite words
- great lines from poems or novels you’ve read
- sketches – of your lunch, plants, a scene from your favourite game, an important place, your desk
- lists of things you know, things you don’t know, what you like, what you dislike
- think like a detective as you live your everyday life - what happened just before you entered a room Who was there right before you? What were they doing/saying/thinking?
- up close observations of things around you – people, objects, events, experiences
- family recipes/stories/jokes
- timelines (real or fictional)
- interesting quotes from books, poems, television shows, films
- bits of overheard conversations
- an interesting line of dialogue from something you have seen or read
- mind maps to generate ideas about a topic
- research a setting (place or time) or a character you are developing
- sensory description of the world around you – what do you see, hear, touch, taste, smell?
- letters – to your younger self, to your older self, to a family member, or long-lost friend
- found objects – clippings from magazines/newspapers/catalogues, tickets, a handwritten note, shopping list, paint swatches of colours with interesting names, etc.
- observations of your belongings – how is your wallet organised, how are apps sorted on your
- smart device home screen and why they are worth this prime real estate, what books are on your bedside table, do you have a secret chocolate stash and what is worthy enough to be included in aforementioned stash
- lyrics from the songs that move you
- your favourite time of day, season, month, sound, smell
- anything else that comes to mind!
- erasers – there are no mistakes
- perfection
- spell check
Sample Writer's Notebook pages:
A larger version of the pages can be found here: Sample Writer's Notebook pages
References
Fletcher, R. (2001). The Writer’s Notebook. School Talk, 6(4), 1-6.
Grant, S. (2007). Notebook Know-how. https://partnershipforinquirylearning.org/resources/writerly-life/gathering-notebook-entries/
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