The Writer's Notebook

If you are a writer or any sort of creative, a notebook can certainly be a powerful tool for productivity. It's where ideas are formed, starting out as glimmers of inspiration, pieces of a dream, random thoughts that may capture your imagination. Creatives may not always be the most organized of people, but a bit of structure can be beneficial to your craft.

So I've developed my notebook system to combat "writer's block" and focus my imagination. It has been influenced by the way my brain works, as well as the writing class, Writeriffic, that I took a few months ago. I use this system for everything: the blog, my creative writing, and crafting. Here it is:

1. The Topic List. The first 10-15 pages of the notebook are for your areas of expertise. What genres do you like? What experiences did you have that could maybe one day be included in your work? Who has impacted you? This is the space for merely a list of uncensored topics that you may one day want to use. Every once in a while, rack your brain for anything you can think of that would be interesting to you, and put it here. Then, whenever you are looking for a new topic to brainstorm, you have your list ready.

2. The Inspiration Section. This can be a folder, a file on your computer, or just random things written and pasted directly into your writer's notebook. In here you will put words, quotes, pictures, newspaper articles, anything fascinating that may one day inspire you to create something. Feel free to get as crazy with this inspiration as you want. Who knows, your next murder mystery might have your protagonist reading about the effects of meditation on the brain, even if that has nothing to do with your plot.

3. The Brainstorming Section. I know what you are thinking, "You mean all of that wasn't brainstorming?" It is, but this is a designated section for you to take and idea, and make it grow. Get out all of the details. Don't censor yourself. One bad idea can lead to five good ideas. Or it can be changed slightly to make it a good idea. Make charts about the characters in your story. Write a blurb from each of their perspectives. Interview them. Bubble, chart, map your way through all possible plot points. This is where you experiment. Once you have some solid ideas, dig in deeper. By having your story all mapped out, the writing process becomes cake. If you are an artist, this is where you sketch, play with color, break the mold. Take breaks from your ideas. Let them sit and stew in your head. Come back with a fresh perspective and start the process over.

4. Drafts. This is where you take all of the information you have amassed, and write. I can't tell you how to do this. I'm not an expert on different writing styles, I just know what works for me. You don't have to use a pen and paper for this like I do, it may be on the computer. If you do, just be careful you aren't cutting out too much. You can always do that later, once you have all your thoughts down. Editing is important, but this isn't the time to do it. Just write as much as you can, and note if you want to come back to a word or phrase. And then keep going.

5. The Editing Checklist. This is the last little bit of your notebook. Or it can be a Word Document. This goes through all of the common spelling and grammar mistakes that you make that you need to look out for. Words that you use too often, punctuation that you misuse, these items go here, so you know what to look out for when you go back to edit your work. Editing isn't it a one time thing. You should edit, and then polish and then edit again. It's not easy, but it is worth it. For different mediums, the amount you edit will be different. For example, I edit my blog very little to maintain conversational style, but my creative writing is thoroughly inspected. 

And there you have it. An organized notebook and a creating process. What system do you use to create?