Tips for a New Notebook

You always hear people complaining about how difficult it is to start a website or blog. You seemingly never hear people complaining about starting a notebook.

Notebooks are a great way to write down ideas on the spot. You’ll never know when an idea will hit you from behind and fling you unconscious. They’re there every day and we don’t notice them.

The sad part is that so many ideas hit you every day that you don’t only forget them, but you forget that you ever had them. Without a notebook, I would forget about 100 ideas for a novel monthly.

Are you regularly facing writer’s block? Do you sit in your desk for hours with a dead brain? No wonder. People rarely have ideas with zero brain oxygen. No matter where you go or what you’ll do, you’ll need one.

Why?

1. You just met the most inspiring person in your life. Where will you write down their phone number?
2. You just had a great idea for Chapter 2.
3. Some extremely hot Asian girl just agreed to give you her email.
4. You came up with a great character diagram.
5. You had an amazing idea for Chapter 3.
6. You’re in a meeting and it’s high time for a paper airplane.
7. Oh no! It’s Super Magic Water and he’s going to give you a papercut! Defend yourself with your quill.
8. Chapter 4 alert.
9. Superb idea for a powerpoint presentation.
10. Yet another idea for a childhood drawing.
11. What do you know? Hi Yoda .
12. BEEP BEEP BEEP CHAPTER 5 FTW!

No matter where you are, there’s always room for pen and paper. You don’t have to keep a Table of Content or anything fancy. You don’t even have to write page titles, dates or numbers. As long as you have a little bendy spiral notebook and a pen or pencil, you’ll never forget another idea.

If you are completely fine with your memory, you don’t need to worry about a notebook. I can usually tell whether something needs to be written down or is okay to be memorized.

Another possible idea is to use a cell phone. If you have an electronic organizer or some other way to access the internet or your inbox, you don’t necessarily have to carry a notebook instead. Yes, you’ll have no way to bomb your boss with inkular bombs, but if you tend to forget to look at your notebook, but electronic notebooks do have certain advantages.

• Email. This is a really easy way to write stuff down. You’re driving down the highway and WAM! Here comes big momma idea in her truck of carrots. You frantically let go of the wheel, pull out your handy dandy organizer/phone and email yourself the idea. Some phones will allow you to send pictures too, so if you see a particularly inspiring stop sign…
• Google Docs. The advantage of Google Docs is that you can create stuff in forms of PowerPoint and Excel in addition to Word. It’s sometimes easier to view stuff in different visual methods.
• Voicemail. This method is particularly good if you can’t concentrate on writing at the moment, like if you’re on a bus or subway. Sometimes it’s easier to voice out your ideas before you can put them into writing.
• Google Notebook. I’ve personally never tried Google Notebook. You can create separate notebook if you want to dump your ideas into general categories, convenient if you blog or write for different genres or subjects.
• Journal Programs. There are countless programs out there that are used for keeping computer diaries or journals. Use them.

EDIT: Follow up article! https://quillsareswords.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/beep-beep-inspiration-alert/

And another: https://quillsareswords.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/how-to-write-faster/