Keeping A Writer's Notebook
On Monday I asked via Instagram Stories whether you’d like a post on searching for literary agents or how to keep a writer’s notebook - as you can see, the writer’s notebook won!
I’ve kept a writer’s notebook, in various guises, for years. Essentially, it’s a notebook to jot down any story ideas or inspiration you don’t want to forget. If you’re a writer, chances are your drawers are overflowing with notebooks already. Why keep another? Why not just record ideas on a Notes app? For a start, it’s helpful to have a notebook purely for ideas. In the past I’d jot inspiration in the margin of the notebook I was using to draft my story, and inevitably the note would get buried and I’d forget about it. Or I’d write an idea on scrap paper and lose it 😱 You could use a Notes app for ideas - I do sometimes, but always transcribe them into my writer’s notebook, because my mind is messy enough without having things recorded in multiple places. I’m also a pen and paper woman at heart. There’s something about the scratch of pencil on paper and smudged pages that sets my imagination alight.
How you keep your writer’s notebook is up to you, but this is how I use mine.
As an inspiration diary - all story ideas are recorded in my writer’s notebook. I recently switched to a more portable pocket notebook so I can carry it with me everywhere. You never know when inspiration might strike, and I think keeping your notebook close to you and using it often makes you more alert to the ideas that are all around.
Character sketches - most of my notebook pages are filled with scribbled character bios and portraits. A story takes off for me when the characters become real people. Many of these pages don’t make it into my stories, but knowing a character’s history, likes and dislikes and what they’re keeping secret is essential knowledge to write believably.
Dialogue - I love writing dialogue. It’s my favourite technique to get into a character’s head, and once they start talking I have trouble shutting them up! I always keep an ear out for flavourful turns of phrase or expressions that make me laugh. Genuine conversation and individual patterns of speech are one of my favourite things to experience in life, and I’m always hopelessly trying to recreate it in my fiction
Noting down interesting folklore - I’m a folklore boffin, as you know, so it’s no surprise that I use my notebook to record that you should always stir your porridge sunwise or a telephone call from beyond the grave. It’s getting rarer that these kinds of things will crop up in daily conversation, but if you know what and who to ask, you’ll be surprised with what folk come away with.
Drawing - my notebook is filled with wee landscape drawings. I’ll sometimes add the odd word above a mountain or loch because, for me, landscape and language are inseparable. I’ve come to realise that my fiction is driven by this notion that people, language, history and landscape are bound together. I’m not quite sure why or how, or how to articulate it, but drawing my favourite landscapes sometimes gives me a route into this subconscious feeling.
Fairy words - I like to make up my own words, blending Gaelic and Scots. I call them fairy words and sprinkle them into my fiction for characters to discover. I’ll also note down any word that interests me. My favourites are nature specific e.g. breunloch - the Gaelic for a dangerous bog. I actually wrote a short story inspired by my love of nature words (appropriately named Fairy Words).
For my eyes only - the pages in my writer’s notebook are private. I used to share them in my monthly newsletter but the trouble with that is that I found I’d started creating for an audience. I think a writer’s notebook should be a place free of expectation, where you let your imagination run free. It’s a fertile garden where you plant seeds that might eventually grow into stories - a cold breeze might kill them off!
If you don’t already keep a writer’s notebook I encourage you to start one! A quick Pinterest search will yield hundreds more ways to use a writer’s notebook, but as you probably know I’m a fan of just finding your own way of doing things. If nothing else it will give you a handy ‘inspiration catalogue’ to flip through for when your creative well needs refilling.
p.s. thank you for helping me decide this week’s blog topic, much appreciated 😘