Monday, November 29, 2010

Notebooks

Joan Didion wrote an essay titles "On Keeping a Notebook." I couldn't find a really great link for this essay, so I would recommend googling the essay title and Joan Didion's name to find the essay. Obviously, the essay is written about Joan Didion's views on keeping a notebook.

Keeping a notebook is very important for a writer. My friend Matt used to keep a small notebook on him at all times. Sometimes you would be talking to him and he would pull out his notebook and start writing in it. To tell you the truth, this always made me a bit nervous just in case he was writing about how stupid I was. This probably wasn't the case, and he probably can remember a lot more than I can from situations.

The Lesson:

A notebook will help you jot down things that you might want to remember. Sometimes when I write essays, I struggle to remember details. Memories over time become blurry, and I think that a notebook might keep a writer from forgetting important details.

Now notice how I have refrained from calling this notebook a diary or journal. I don't think it is necessary to chronicle your day. I think it could be useful to record just notes though. I think that a notebook is a great asset for writing.

How to apply this into our own writing:

  • Keep a notebook.
  • Don't procrastinate writing something down
  • Be discreet; Don't make people nervous while your writing
  • Keep your notebook close by: in your purse, backpack, pocket

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