A writer's notebook is a beloved instrument. A repository. A magical tool. Something that liberates and binds. It connects us to our thoughts if we honor it with attention and trust. What is it? A simple notebook that you like. One that has paper that feels good to your touch. One that is not too difficult to take with you while you wait at the dentist's office. One that you make a vow not to rip any pages from and write with abandon what is important in your life. It is not necessarily a diary where you spill your guts but it can be a place where you do that. More than anything it is a collection device that allows you to go about the day and not forget the small details that often are left behind in the recesses of our memory because we are too focused on the immediate big thing in front of us. The writer's notebook is a place as Randy Bomer explains in Time for Meaning where one can write down
Memories
Reflections
Self-definitions
Questions
Lists
Experiments with language
Discovered words
Snippets of language heard
Insightful quotations
Plans for the future
Writing again about something from an old entry
Overheard conversations
Interviews
Notes
Free association
The writer's notebook invites a certain kind of rhythm into one's life. It opens one's eyes by calling attention to the need to write things down.
Source: Inspired by years of practice and Andy Bomer's Time for Meaning.
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