My notebook is full.
Imagine my surprise when I turned the page to take notes yesterday and found there were no more pages in the book. I completely lost the train of thought from my phone call for a moment.
How can this notebook be full already?
To be creative, one must have a system in place for capturing great ideas, silly suggestions, and random weirdness. For me, a notebook fills the bill nicely. Plus, it is nice to have a place to doodle during a tedious meeting. The notebook I just finished is filled with odd bits of poetry, incoherent ramblings while listening to a read at my writer's group, and plans, plans, plans. I think well on paper. Any project of mine gets serious when I start jotting down notes. The windy flurry of a storm of the brain captured in ink on paper.
My friend Chuck has a voice recorder he carries in his pocket. It means he hardly has to break the stride of a conversation to whip out the small instrument and speak a quick note into it. It is a good idea, that one. And one I may consider in the near future. Excellent for reminders and business meetings, quick ideas. For now, I love the tactile pleasure of pencil or ink on paper.
My notebook is full, but I have a new one with fresh, clean, purple pages waiting on the bookshelf. It is large enough to write on comfortably, but small enough to tuck into my purse.
I wonder what fun I'll have within the leaves of this notebook.
Where do you record your brainstorms, creative thoughts, or mundane ramblings?
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4 Other Creative Souls are Saying:
I also have a notebook I keep tucked in my purse. I used to have a voice recorder. I got it mainly because I would come up with ideas whilst driving and didn't want to stop in order to write stuff down. However, my kids thought their mom was totally crazy talking into a recorder about random stuff, so I stopped.
Hey Deb,
Oh, boy, do I love journals, and pens and cool writing paper!!!
As a matter of fact, that yellow notebook behind the purple one, looks exactly like the one I'm currently using as my journal, lol! (Does it have 3 tulips on the cover?) Unfortunately, I don't write in it as often as I would like...and when I do, it's mostly about family.
Then I too, keep a sort of a project journal handy at all times. It's a small spiral and I write ideas, lists, current and hopeful projects, in it.
Then I have another little journal that I started, that I call my creative journal....and in there, I'll keep quotes, or thoughts on a particular book I'm reading, bits and pieces of profound sermons, scriptures, songs, whatever..... I even doodle in it a bit.
I also started a bigger creative journal type thing, where I cut out/paste pics from magazines, of inspiring gardens, rooms, or particular vignettes, and/or anything else that strikes my fancy. Haven't done too much with it, really, but it still waits for me.
Oh, and I love writing on old looking brown paper. I found one spiral/journal that has that look, and I'll tear those sheets out to write special notes to people. The paper, kind of reminds me of old scroll paper. I find it very inspiring to write on brown paper with one of my favorite, must have, love, love, love, V5 Precise Pilot Pens.
Gee, all that sure sounds kind of quirky, doesn't it!
Love, Donna/NM
I never got the hang of keeping a journal handy, but I'm slowly starting to keep one now. I have the same tulip cover journal that you have. That is my quilt project journal. It's about 1/3 full now.
I love notebooks. Spoken words just get lost to me, writing it down makes a huge difference and imprints it on my mind.
Of course in my genre of creativity I tend to use a camera..... see a pot I like, want to copy a certain handle? Like that texture on the leaf?... out comes the camera and then I translate that to clay.
In cases like that paper doesn't always work. :)
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