Category Archives: Filling Your Notebook

I, I, I, me, me, me!

Adventures in Notebooking, Benefits of Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Writing Prompts

Have you ever met someone who subtly throws you for a loop?  I don’t mean in a bad way, just that while you were talking to this person things were different.  Maybe even better?

Let me tell you the story of Paul.

Paul was a person I used to work with.  Most days, when I saw him, I would make time to talk to him.  You know those common pleasantries we all share?  Like:

“Hi, how are you?”

and

“Good, you?”

Now, everyone who exists in society knows, either tacitly or explicitly, that when someone says, “Hi, how are you?” they aren’t really asking.  It’s just a greeting.  Sure, sometimes you’ll meet someone who, due to their narcissism will throw polite society out the window and verbally vomit at you when you offer a simple, “How’s it going?”.  Run from these narcissists!  They are the human equivalent of a dumpster fire.

Thankfully, Paul wasn’t this way.  But he would eschew the traditional pleasantries, luckily he would replace them with things more interesting.  He would often begin with:

Hello!  What did you do today?

And, what’s more, he actually wanted to know!  It wasn’t some mindless pleasantry.  He was interested in you and asking you for a story.  When I would tell him about my day he would respond with the standard polite nods and the like, but he would also respond with something else.

And I bet you, dear reader, can guess what it was.  If I said I had gone shopping he wouldn’t respond with, “Was it good?” or “How was that?” he would ask something like:

What did you get that you’re most excited about?

or

Did you meet anyone interesting?

As if meeting someone interesting every time you left your house was normal.  Well, for him it was normal!

Conversations with Paul always got very deep very fast and were always uplifting.  This is how Paul was.  If I mentioned something about the snowstorm we had just gotten, he would never say some canned line about shoveling or roads.  He would immediately ask and talk about how my feelings about snow changed from when I was a child wanting to play to now as an adult not wanting to shovel.

Now you might be wondering what it’s like talking to someone like Paul when you’re having a bad day.  Let me tell you… Pretty fantastic.  No matter how I felt before, I always felt better after a conversation with Paul.  He always seemed to strike a perfect balance between what I wanted to hear and what I needed to hear.

I often wondered what made Paul so different, so enjoyable to be around.  I thought, “Is he some sort of sage or angel?” and “Is he a short, thin, goateed Santa?”  When I asked him about the way he was, he was oblivious.  He saw no difference between how he interacted with people and how other people interacted.  This actually made sense to me since he would bring this attitude out in other people.

Then one day it hit me out of the blue, Paul was very empathetic.  That’s it.

Now, years later, I don’t work with Paul anymore but we do still talk on occasion and each conversation is invariably an enjoyable education in empathy.

Why do I mention this story?  Because we, as Notebookers, need to be very careful not to fall into the pit of narcissism that Notebooking could be (and journaling always is).

If the last few entries in your Notebook begin with:  I think, I went, I saw, I heard, I, I, I, me, me, me!  Yuck.  It might be time for a few exercises in empathy.

Let’s make Notebooking an act of empathy with these Writing Prompts:

  • Think about an experience that you had with a friend where you interacted with someone you didn’t know.  Write the experience from the stranger’s point of view.
  • Using the same experience as before, write about it from your friend’s perspective.
  • Write only good things about a person you deeply dislike.
  • We very easily remember when we were children.  Remembering what it felt like to be a child is much more difficult.  Think of any normal, mundane childhood memory and try to remember what you felt.  Write it.
  • Go somewhere you often go and write about it as if seeing it for the first time.

I think it’s obvious to say that the world would be a better place if we all had a little more empathy.  Never let it be said that Notebookers aren’t empathetic!

My Humble Pleading

Benefits of Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Writing Prompts

I can’t seem to go an hour without getting disappointed.  Anytime I look at the headlines or open a social media app or turn on the TV it saddens me.  In this day and age where we have all information and entertainment at our fingertips, everything still seems the same.  People doing bad things.  Whether beloved famous people doing awful things or nobodies getting famous by being their awful selves.  It’s enough to make me want to become a hermit!

I desperately whisper to myself, “No more.”

The following writing prompts are my challenge against the stupid, the ignorant, the depressing.  I might not be able to change all the anger spewing forth from anyone loud enough or contrary enough to be noticed, but I can change what I do.

I humbly ask, no beg, you to join me as I attempt to take back control of my mood and remind myself that the world has some pretty fantastic things in it.

In the climate of angry rants, won’t you join me in a few joyous raves?

  • Rave about a piece of culture  No need to compare it to anything else.  Just choose a song, book, movie, TV show, etc. and write what you like about it.  Write why it makes you happy.
  • Rave about a good dining experience  All it takes is one visit to Yelp to realize that, apparently, everyone cares about parking lots and matching flatware more than they care about food.  I love food.  I eat it almost everyday!  I could easily write pages about a good meal.  In fact, I have many times.  Give it a shot, I promise that you’ll be glad you did.
  • Rave about People  We all have people that we love.  We all have experiences with people that make us happy.  Write the story of any of your incredible people or experiences.
  • Rave about How Lucky You Are  Instead of thinking about all the outrage and all the base behaviors that surround us, take a moment to write about how much good there is out there.  There are so many wonderful things in everyone’s life.  Write about just one of them.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to write about these things.

Some time later…

There.  It’s been 1 hour and I feel fantastic.  I feel like there’s actually hope for happiness after all.  I’m going to add “Raves not Rants” to my Content List because this is better than therapy!

Questions to ask yourself while Notebooking

Adventures in Notebooking, Benefits of Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Tips & Tricks, Writing Prompts

We’ve already talked about how Notebooking can help you to ask better questions, in fact, Notebooking is one of the fastest ways to develop your question asking skills.

Want to make it happen faster?  Want to jump start the question asking genius inside your head?  Read on.

We, as Notebookers, often write about our experiences.  Whether recent experiences or distant memories, our lives tend to be the starting point from which we put pen to page.  This is fine.  This is normal.  This can be boring.

What follows is a list of questions that can help your writing and jump start your question asking skills.

When Notebooking an experience try asking yourself some of these questions:

  • What 3 emotions did this experience evoke in you and why?  When we write about an experience it’s easy to fall into the trap of writing only one emotion or tone.  Call it a natural tendency for narrative consistency or tone.  However, emotions rarely travel alone.  They tend to bring their friends.  The truth is that people are complicated so naturally emotions can be complicated too.  If you experience excitement it’s probable you felt anticipation too.  You might have even felt some anxiety.  We’re even capable of feeling conflicting emotions at the same time!  If you experienced the feeling of contented calm maybe you also felt a little melancholy, it happens.  If you’re writing about an experience and you leave out the depth of emotion you felt, you are leaving out some depth of writing.
  • What did you learn?  It’s often said that there are only 2 ways humans learn:  experience and Sesame Street.  If you didn’t learn from an experience you had it might as well have not happened.  Don’t worry though, you can just as easily ask yourself, What can I learn from this experience?
  • What do you wish you had learned from this experience?  Sometimes it’s only through the lens of time that we can fully understand something.  We can get more out of our experiences if we continue to learn from them.
  • Why does this experience stand out in your memory?  You chose this memory to write about, you must have done so for a reason.  Take some time to discover what this experience is trying to tell you.
  • How would you like to remember this experience?  This is where you take control.  We are all haunted by bad or awkward memories yet, through Notebooking and re-framing, we can change how we feel about them.
  • Finally, Summarize this memory in a way that puts it to rest.  This can crystallize a memory in a sort of time capsule.  The power and control we have over our experiences is astonishing.  Use it!

If you ask yourself these questions when you write, not only will your writing improve but you will begin to think in terms of good questions.  Good questions lead to great writing and even greater conversations!

  • Bonus question!  How would you tell a story of this experience that is either funny or self-deprecating?  You know those people who always seem to tell funny and engaging stories?  This is how you become one of those people.

Writing Prompts: Aesthetic Preferences Edition!

Filling Your Notebook, Writing Prompts
  • What is your favorite type of light?  Why do you like it?  What do you do by your favored light?
  • What do you like about your favorite music?  What elements or feelings does it evoke for you?  What other music could you find that has those elements?
  • Name and describe 5 types of weather (be creative).  How do they make you feel?  What are some of your favorite activities to do during such weather?
  • Which relief is better?  Coming in from the cold or cooling off from the heat?  Defend your answer!
  • What is your favorite “sipping” beverage and why?
  • What aroma, that most people seem to love, do you detest?  What about it is so offensive to you?
  • When was the last time you were in an unshakably good mood?  What caused it?  What can you do to chase that “dragon”?
  • What (other than Notebooking) do you feel is instantly calming?  Do you do it enough?  How does it make you feel?

Enjoy!  And as always, I’d love to read your answers in the comments, so go nuts!

5 Ways to beat a Notebooking stall

Adventures in Notebooking, Content List Ideas, Filling Your Notebook, Tips & Tricks

It happens to us all.  You sit down, ready to continue Notebooking and nothing happens.  All those ideas are gone.  Maybe, you’re writing what is essentially the same stuff every day.  Either way, your Notebooking has gotten stale.  As always, intrepid reader, we’re here to help.

Here are 5 ways to shake up your Notebooking routine:

  1. Change up the location or time of your Notebooking.  Sometimes one change in routine can lead to other changes.  If you normally Notebook when you can, try setting aside some time to do it.  If you normally Notebook in the morning, maybe the evening after a long day will give you the inspiration to write.
  2. Add a new Page Eater to your Content List.  Thinking about something you never think about can be a great way to break out of your rut.  Having trouble thinking of something you never think about?  Not to worry, we have lists of writing prompts and Page Eaters.  Have a look! link to
  3. Write about a persistent childhood memory.  We all have many memories from our childhood.  Whether a weird childhood game you used to play or a field trip you took in elementary school, I’m sure it won’t take long to come up with one.  Write it!  A childhood memory of yours from the perspective of your adult self has the potential to be very interesting.
  4. Do something.  Anything.  Go somewhere you don’t often go.  Even if it’s just the “other” grocery store.  Read a short story.  It’ll be sure to give you something to write about.  Sometimes having the option to write about anything is too broad of a task.  There’s nothing wrong with paring it down through the lens of experience.
  5. Take a day off.  Be kind to yourself.  Take some time away from your notebook.  If you’re at the point of a writing stall then your desire to Notebook will certainly still be there when you come back.

And a Few More to Grow on

Filling Your Notebook, Writing Prompts

It’s been a while since we’ve put up any writing prompts.  It can be tricky setting a balance between relatable yet writable and unique yet interesting.  Don’t worry, we’re always hard at work trying to find that balance.

Don’t believe me?  Fine, here’s proof!

  • When you were a kid you probably had a favorite animal.  What was it?  Why?  What is it now?  Why?  Why did it change (if it did)?
  • Write about a time when you went full on “sour grapes.”  What did you want?  Why couldn’t you have it?  In the end, were you right?  Were those grapes truly sour?
  • Pick a game, any game.  Now improve it in some way, whether absurd or realistic.  Thinking about how boring I find soccer, I would place archers on the sides of the pitch.  That would be exciting!  Your turn.
  • What’s your favorite thing that you don’t really like?  For me it’s cooking pancakes.  I LOVE pouring the batter, I love the flip, I love choosing common or uncommon additions (common = blueberries, uncommon = caramelized onions).  Just one problem… I don’t really like pancakes.  What’s your thing like that?
  • Go somewhere public.  Choose 5 strangers at random.  Without staring, describe their walk.
  • Describe the place you are in as if in a horror movie without changing anything.  Now describe it as if in a sad song.  Now, as the setting of a fond memory.
  • Describe your favorite non-food smell as if smelling it for the first time.
  • Imagine our normal mundane world but with one fantastical element.  How would things change or be different?  How would this one element change economics?  How would this element change popular culture?  Here’s a few fantastical elements to try on for size:
    • Dragons are real but untameable.
    • Harry Potter style magic is real but only one spell.
    • Everyone from Denmark is immortal.
    • Mice can talk.
    • Several moons in our solar system have been terraformed and have people living on them.
  • Write about a trip you went on at least 5 years ago.  What do you remember about it?  Was it a good trip?  All these years later, how has your view of this trip changed?
  • What was a hobby, pastime or passion that you don’t have anymore?  Why did you stop?  How do you feel about it now?  Did something replace it in your life?  Would you want to go back to it?  What’s stopping you?

Enjoy!  And please let us know the answer to some of these in the comments!  I’d love to read them!

 

Getting the most out of your Content List

Content List Ideas, Filling Your Notebook, The System

A good Content List can be your best friend along the path to great Notebooking or it could be a wasted page at the end of your Notebook.  For as much as I use my Content List, I often hear of people making it and then ignoring it.  Not only is this a waste of a perfectly innocent page but it is a waste of so much creative potential.  Here are a few tips I’ve found over the years for getting the most out of your Content List.

  • Make One  This is super obvious but many Notebookers think about what they want in their Notebooks then they begin writing.  Writing is great but do yourself a favor and write down on the last page of your Notebook those things you like to write about.  Having the list there gives you an advantage when the words don’t swim from your pen like fish.
  • Set the Tone  A good Content List can set the tone of your Notebook in an intentional way.  Very often when I sit down to write, I end up with a Notebooking entry that finishes very different from how it began.  That’s all well and good for vomitive, adolescent drivel but we’re better than that.  Aren’t we?  When you create your Content List you create a tone for your Notebook.  Maintaining the tone you want is the first step to writing content you can be proud of.
  • A Checklist of Sorts  Your Content List can act as a checklist, keeping your writing varied and dynamic.  It’s all too easy to write with a one track mind, only to realize in horror later that you only write about one thing!  Using your Content List like a checklist can go a long way to keeping your writing diverse.
  • Challenge Yourself  Try putting something on your Content List that isn’t in your “wheelhouse”.  Every time you use your Content List you will move it closer to being IN your “wheelhouse”.  Want to get better at writing knock-knock jokes? (I mean, who doesn’t?) Putting knock-knock jokes on your Content List insures that you will write them more often.  Thus your Notebook will become a record of your progress as you become the greatest knock-knock joke writer ever!
  • Update Regularly  If you aren’t updating your Content List you’re missing out.  While we’ve written an entire article about updating your Content List, the heart of it is asking yourself, “Am I happy with this?”  and “Is this working for me?”  Honestly asking yourself these 2 simple questions will make all the superfluous Content List items fall by the wayside.  This leads to a better Content List and that leads to better content.
  • Use your Content List at the Right Time  Maybe this isn’t a problem for you, but it happens to me so often that I have to mention it.  I will sit down to Notebook with an idea or 3 to write about.  Then, before I begin, I’ll look at my Content List.  At that point I forget what I wanted to write about originally!  Only to remember later while driving or skydiving or something!  Don’t do this!  Don’t be like me!  Look at your Content List only after you’ve written what is on your mind.

With these ideas in mind go forth and write your best stuff ever! (with a little help from that humble page at the back of your book.)

How to Notebook a holiday

Adventures in Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Tips & Tricks

Holidays are at times wonderful experiences and at other times challenging ordeals.  Thankfully, both of these are ripe for Notebooking.  Holidays are nearly always filled with memorable things. Thus, the better you Notebook, the happier you’ll be when you look back at your writing.  Let’s talk about the best ways to write about a holiday.

Food Glorious Food  Many holidays have special food associated with them.  Often, these are comfort foods which tend to bring about strong emotions.  At other times, like when visiting in-laws or friends, the food is strange and sometimes horrifying1.  Either way, this is great Notebooking fodder whether sentimental or acerbic.  Most of us know that the majority of taste is aroma but did you know that most of tasteful food writing is describing aromas well?

So Much To See  When you go somewhere for a holiday there is usually a host.  Hosts, for the most part, want you to have a good time.  Hosts tend to work very hard before and during a holiday2.  The least we can do is appreciate the work that a host puts into your enjoyment.  This usually means appearance.  In addition to setting the scene with descriptions, think of other things that help to paint a verbal picture; other guests, decorations, etc.  Just remember that the host worked very hard.  Be kind to your host in your notebook, it costs you nothing to do so.

Do you hear what I hear?  The sounds of a holiday are as varied as the people attending them.  Everything from music, to the sound of children playing to the absurd laugh of your Uncle Ron.  Whether the constant crinkle of candy wrappers at a Halloween party, or the crackle of a fire at Christmas or the institutional buzz of fluorescent lights looming over an office party, sounds can add depth to your writing and flavor to an otherwise drab affair.

People, People Everywhere  Most importantly, the people.  Recording who was there and what they did is a great place to start.  Writing lovingly about loved ones is better.  Complaining about them is still whining!

Notebooking a holiday can immortalize a moment.  Just remember, don’t assume you will remember the details and for God’s sake write the date down!

 

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

Benefits of Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, The System

These are a few of Julie Andrews’ favorite things.  And now that I’ve got that song stuck in my head, let’s talk about a few of MY favorite things…to write about.  Or your favorite things to write about.  Well, really, we’re taking about the Content List.

Ultimately, that’s what a content list is, a list of favorite things to write about.  An evergreen well of inspiration you can return to time and time again.  Kind of like one of our writing prompts, right?

NO.

Writing prompts and a Content List are like opposite sides of the same coin.

If writing from your inexhaustible well of a Content List is like coming home then writing from our writing prompts is like going on a trip.  A trip directly away from your comfort zone and away from any plans or preconceived notions you may have.

Your Content List is custom built by you to create a feel and identity for your Notebooking content.  You can use it as inspiration to challenge yourself or chronicle your growth.  You can use your Content List as a checklist to help ensure the dynamic diversity of content you envision.  Ultimately, your content list should serve as a guide to creating the kind of content you want in your notebook.

If your Content List is like a guide then a good writing prompt is like a muse, inspiring you to strike out into the creative unknown.

Hard to believe though it may be, we work very hard and discuss at length what writing prompts we put out.  There’s a good reason for that.

A quick google search will yield some of the worst writing prompts you can imagine.  Prompts like:

“Write about your summer vacation.”

or

“Write about something that frustrates you.”

REALLY?!

Our goal with writing prompts is a little more productive and, dare I say, much more useful.  I’m sure that you could, with very little forethought, write about your frustrating coworkers but what does that get you?  Frustrated.

In the Notebooking Nerds method, a writing prompt is designed to nudge you out of your comfort zone and down the road to growth and creativity.  Of course a good writing prompt is only half of the equation.  How you use it is the other half.  Actually, come to think of it, how you use it is more than half.  Way more.  Here’s why:

The best way to use a good writing prompt is to follow it out of your comfort zone.  This means it’s something you haven’t thought about very much before and certainly something you haven’t written about, at length, before.  Ideally, the first time you see it is the first time you’ve thought about it.  It may not be the best thing you’ve ever written but going along for the ride with a good writing prompt is the best way to train your creativity to flow quickly and on command.

Does that mean that you can only use a writing prompt once?  Not exactly.  When I use a writing prompt I try to not use it again until some time has passed.  That way, when I go back to it, it seems fresh.  You don’t have to though, you could try it on for size again and again.  Of course, after a while, it isn’t nudging you out of your usual writing because it has become your usual writing.  At that point simply add it to your Content List and enjoy it!

As you can see, there is a big difference between writing prompts and your Content List.  Both are helpful in creating dynamic content and fostering well-rounded growth as a writer and a thinker.  Just remember, the quality of the writing prompt you use is just as important as the quality of your Content List.

Not every night can be “Dark and Stormy”

Adventures in Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Tips & Tricks

Popularized by beloved Peanuts character Snoopy, “It was a dark and stormy night…1” has been the opening of so many bad stories over the years that is has become a laughable cliché.  To be fair, there was a time when setting such a dark and broody tone so early in a story was considered a bold move on the author’s part2.

There’s a lesson to be learned here but, I’m afraid, the clichéd masses have learned the wrong one.  The wrong lesson is that “a dark and stormy night” is the best/only way to begin a scary story.

The right lesson is that, properly described, mundane details can weave a descriptive tapestry that communicate so much with so little.  In this example, the mundane details are that it was raining (fairly common) and that it is dark at night (duh).  A writer could say, “It was raining, as was common in spring, and this happened at night.  That’s when the sun goes home and its dark outside.  Humans have a naturally occurring fear of the dark.”  For as much I would love to read literally ANYTHING by an author who writes like this, this sets a very different tone!

Whether writing or talking, whether a story or a joke, mundane details can set an extremely specific tone.  Setting a specific tone in such an efficient manner is a fun and creative way to get where you want to go, narratively speaking.

Consider some examples:

  • The embarrassingly 90’s carpet
  • Faded red polo shirt and a matching faded enthusiasm
  • The smell of hot copiers and dusty metal shelves

With these examples it shouldn’t surprise you that I went to Staples today, you probably even guessed it.  Let’s unpack these examples a tiny bit, shall we?

Embarrassingly 90’s carpet reminds us that, in the 90’s, before e-commerce took over, Staples ruled the office supply world. This also shows that Staples, sadly, still remembers too.

Faded red polo shirt and a matching faded enthusiasm is a visual detail that communicates how demoralizing working in retail can be.  It can also serve as a useful reminder that people working in retail are still people and should be treated as people.

The smell of hot copiers and dusty shelves. Like many good descriptions, there’s more than one thing to unpack here.  First and most obvious, describing a smell that is identifiable by the reader (and everyone knows these smells) can serve to put the reader right there in the Staples.  Second, this detail hints at the history of the once giant office supply juggernaut now scraping by through imitating Kinko’s.  Last and while not a huge thing but worth mentioning, hot copiers and dusty metal both have a smell.  If we were to write, “The smell of defeat,” that would be stupid.  There is no smell of defeat.  Neither is there a smell of “childhood,” “comfort” nor “contemplation.”  There is, however, a smell of “crayons,” “hot cocoa” and “libraries.”  The lesson here being that you shouldn’t be so eager to get to the tone you want to set that you tumble into “purple prose.”

So, how do you do it?  Easy!…well, kinda.

Practice!

Simply choose a detail and describe it.  (go ahead I’ll wait)

Now, read your description and see how it makes you feel.

Then describe another detail.

How does that one make you feel?  Getting better, right?

Keep doing it.

You see how this goes.  The more you do this, the easier it will be for you to home in on the exact detail that is most emblematic of the tone you’re going for.

Like any hard-won wisdom, the ability to use a mundane detail to say a LOT is worth the work.  Especially since it isn’t a lot of work.

…And the livin’s easy!?

Filling Your Notebook, Writing Prompts

If you’re anything like me, you hate Summer.

I always thought it was cruel giving kids the Summer off.  The one time of year when you’re supposed to enjoy not being in school and play outside instead.  And then the weather decides to make most of those days inhospitably hot.

Cruel.

Well, now that I’m an adult I don’t get Summers off but the weather is still gross.  I clearly have a hate affair with Summer.  On the plus side, Notebooking while firmly stationed by an air conditioner is a much better option than venturing in to the hemisphere sized sauna called Summer.

Maybe some Writing Prompts will help me to re-take the cruelest of seasons!

  • What is the perfect Summer beverage?  Why is it so perfect?
  • In Summer, the rhythms of life are different.  What do you notice?
  • Write a list of things you look forward to in Summer.  Whether creature comforts or events, the list is yours.
  • What was your favorite “Summer game” from your childhood?  If you were to play it right now, who would you play with and why?
  • In the days leading up to Summer break there was a general excited anticipation in the air.  What is your “Adult Equivalent” to that feeling?  What are you anticipating?
  • What traditional Summer activity just doesn’t make sense to you?  Feel free to rant a bit for fun! (Corn on the cob?  Are we animals!?  We don’t eat raspberries “off the bush”!?)
  • If there was a Christmas tree analog for summertime, what would it be and how would you decorate it?
  • Go somewhere air conditioned.  Listen to Christmas/Holiday music (earbuds please) and drink a hot beverage.  Then relax.  Maybe Notebook or maybe just read, it’s up to you how you relax.  Then, when you leave and walk out into the wall of heat, take note of what you’re feeling.  Notebook that feeling.

Well, I hope these help you beat the heat.  And if not, just remember, you asked for this heat sometime in February so it’s your fault.  Thanks a lot!

Over 200 Writing prompts!?

Adventures in Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Tips & Tricks, Writing Prompts

I play table top RPGs 1.  I know they’re just about one of the most painfully nerdy things someone can do but I don’t apologize for it, they’re a ridiculous amount of fun and almost always lead to deepening friendships around the table.  That said, this post will likely contain some terms you might not be familiar with.  Don’t worry, it won’t matter.

Years ago I played a game with some friends that was “Setting Neutral”2, that means the game can be set at any time whether historical or sci-fi or any combination thereof.  Because of this, my gaming group had some difficulty deciding what setting to set our RPG in.  We eventually landed on a novel idea.  We each wrote down 6 setting concepts each on 3 different note cards.  Then we rolled 3 six-sided dice (3d6) and played the setting that came up.  We did this twice, the first time we ended up playing a game that was Post-apocalyptic, Super powered, zombie wasteland.  The second game we played was a wild west, noir, monster hunter game3.

I mention this not because I want to tell the world how nerdy I am4 but because I was recently talking with a longtime friend I met during this game.  We were reminiscing about this wacky game and it got me thinking…Why not Writing Prompts?

What follows is a method for coming up with your own writing prompts and having a little fun along the way.

First, you will need 3 6-sided dice (those are the ones that come in every game and are shaped like cubes).  Or one of the hundreds of dice rolling Apps for your mobile device.

Second, you will need something to write on.  I, obviously, recommend you use your Notebook.

Next, you roll those 3 dice and match up their result to the corresponding charts to see what your writing prompt/storytelling prompt will be.

Style of writing

  1. True story
  2. Fictitious account
  3. Hyperbolic ranting/raving
  4. Humorously understated
  5. Gleefully detailed
  6. Blurring the lines between wit and snark

Superlative

  1. Best
  2. Worst
  3. Weirdest
  4. Most comforting
  5. Most boring
  6. Craziest or Most exciting

What to discuss

  1. Meal or Meal time or Social meeting
  2. Travel or Means of travel
  3. Day
  4. Dreaded event
  5. Anticipated event
  6. Conversation

Let’s give it a try.  I’ll roll 3d65.  (6-5-5)  The writing prompt for that would be, “Blurring the lines between wit and snark, write about the most boring anticipated event.”  This immediately makes me think of the time I attended a “tree trimming” party where, due to hilarious incompetence, there was no tree but lot’s of waiting for a tree.  Which never came.  I could write about that night for days!

That was fun!  Let’s do another:  I’ll roll again (4-2-1).  “Write a humorously understated account about the worst meal or meal time or social meeting.”  This sounds fun but it could easily turn into whining.  In an effort to avoid whining I would write about the first time I tried authentic Indian food.  At the time, I couldn’t handle anything spicy but, of course,  I tried to play it cool because I was with a girl I had a crush on.  That was also the night I learned that capsaicin6 sticks to fingers even after washing.  I learned this by taking out my contact lenses at night and found out, in a very visceral way, why they use the stuff in self defense spray!  Turns out water doesn’t help much.  Writing about that night could be VERY fun.

Feel free to copy this into your Notebook to use or you could come up with your own.  If you’re a true gamer you probably have other dice and could come up with more prompts.  Using 3 6-sided dice you get a little over 200 combinations.  Using 3 20- sided dice you can get 8000 different combinations!  Each one a writing prompt and each one has the potential to be a great Notebooking entry!

So, do yourself a favor.  Next time you sit down to write and nothing is flowing and your Content List feels stale, look at these lists.  You don’t even have to roll any dice if you don’t want to (although you should because rolling dice is fun!).  You could just pick some that feel right.  Or you could pick some that feel downright weird.  Doesn’t matter.  Whatever you pick, once you put them together, they are bound to bring up a thought or experience you can write about.

Enjoy!

Do you smell what I smell?

Adventures in Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Tips & Tricks

When I Notebook, I often describe smells.  Not because I’m particularly aroma obsessed but because I’m lazy.  I’m lazy and describing a smell in the right way is an incredibly efficient way to set a mood or to paint a word picture or even to subvert expectations.

The reason this works as well as it does is because a sense of smell is, for the most part, a universal experience.  This causes most of us to have our entire lifetimes to accrue experience smelling things.  When someone reads about an aroma they can often place it in their consciousness.  For example, petrichor (the smell after it rains).  When we think of the smell after it rains we can immediately recall that smell in our memories but that’s not all.  More than that, we have memories attached to it.  Remember, for a moment, being a child waiting for the rain to end to play tag and the sense of anticipation petrichor can evoke.  Perhaps we, as Notebookers, could associate the smell of rain with spring and that could evoke a sense of renewal and optimism or of chilly days filled with warming lunches of hearty soup.  We could even use petrichor to subvert expectations, while people often associate rain with sadness I have had many a day off where I should have mowed the lawn but rain made it impossible so I went to the movies!  A very happy rain indeed!

Now you might be thinking, “Well, people have been writing about the smell of petrichor forever, of course there’s a lot to say about it!  Sure, you’re right; but not because lots of people have written about it but because lots of people have smelled it!

Luckily, the list of things that a lot of people have smelled is limited to basically everything!  Every aroma you can write about has been sniffed before by countless others.  Fragrances have a power because of their universality.  Whether you’re writing about the smell of whiskey, Play-doh, or pine trees; writing about the smell of anything can take your writing where ever you want to go.

That’s not to say that there aren’t pitfalls along the way.  It’s remarkably easy to go too far into purple prose or worse.

Here’s a few guidelines to bear in mind when writing about aromas:

  1. Don’t be too esoteric  While both are very evocative, the smell of bacon cooking and the smell of your grandmother’s coat tree have VERY different numbers of people who can identify with it.
  2. Two simple paths  There’s 2 basic ways to describe a fragrance.  First being adjectives and a noun.  For instance, “A hot and dusty used bookstore.”  Now, that’s pretty good.  It’s pretty universal.  Not too esoteric.  It gets the job done.  The other way is to use a descriptive sentence such as, “Smells the way sunlight bakes a dusty room.”  That works well too.  This second method is especially useful when you teeter towards esoteric so bear rule #1 in mind.  As an example, “The stale aroma of microwave popcorn made a week ago.”  Here we’ve gone quite specific but since microwave popcorn is a pretty common thing I think we’re safe.
  3. Be Authentic  Writers fail this simple thing so often it’s hard to pick an example.  Fear, desperation, defeat, etc. don’t have smells.  Only write about real smells.  To do otherwise is bad writing.  Consider:  “She smelled of morning” vs. “She smelled of dew on grass and blueberry muffins.”  If you find yourself describing smells that don’t exist just know, you can easily do better.
  4. Weird can be fun  Now, just for fun, let’s turn the last rule around.  Just because you can’t describe a smell that doesn’t exist doesn’t mean you can’t describe something other than aroma with a smell.  Sound confusing?  Here’s an example, “His thoughts were like the acrid smell of an electrical fire.”  Now, this is VERY evocative but it is also quite meaningless.  That said, while meaningless, it depicts a very specific sort of jarring panicked emotion.  If that’s what you’re after then have at it.  Otherwise, this is best avoided because it is basically purple prose.
  5. Don’t overdo it  One of the worst things you can do is describe how everything smells!  Much like salt when you cook, too much or too little are problems.  When in doubt, try to limit yourself to 1-2 per Notebooking entry.

Even if you’re not as lazy a Notebooker as me, we hope you found this helpful..  It’s not only efficient to write about aromas, it’s fun!

What to do with that pocket at the end of your notebook

Adventures in Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Tips & Tricks

Most notebooks worth using have a little pocket at the back.  That pocket is part of the mystique of a notebook.  A place to put mementos and other ephemera.  I am always saddened to see the pocket go unused or worse filled with ticket stubs and receipts.  We’re better than that.  Here’s a few ideas of useful things that aren’t sad reminders of way back when you thought The Hobbit was going to be good.

Money

It’s obvious but true that sometimes you need cash.  In this increasingly digital era it’s rare that you can’t use a card or even your smart phone/watch.  However, when it happens you’ll be glad of that extra fiver for those farm stand strawberries.

Post it notes

Bear with me here, a long time ago I put some post it notes on an index card and slipped it into the pocket of my notebook.  I had no idea how often a post it note is useful until I had them on me.  And, when in doubt, they’re great for jokes.  One of my favorites is to write, “DON’T MOVE THINGS!!” in angry scrawl and hide them behind things at other peoples homes.  It may take someone a while to find them but when they do…

Stamps

Here’s another one that comes in handy rarely but when it does, you’ll be glad.  In fact if your notebook is A5 or larger, you can also slip some postcards in there and bring back postcards as a thing.  Let’s bring back postcards!!!

Blank check

Picture this:  You’re out to dinner with a friend.  You decide to split the bill.  He says, “I’ll just put it on my card and you can give me cash.”  Is he serious?  Cash!?  Even if you have cash, is he using you as an ATM?  Teach him a lesson.  Write him a check.  So now, while he was planning on selfishly saving a trip to the ATM now he has to go to the bank to deposit your check!  (Also, if you lose your wallet you could use the check to buy groceries.  Which is good but less fun)

Reference sheet

Perhaps a cheat sheet of Strunk and White’s rules or a list of books to look for next time you happen upon a used bookstore.  Shopping lists of any kind tend to change often and writing them in your notebook is a waste of pages and a really boring use of such a nice notebook.

Index cards

If your notebook doesn’t have those tear-away pages at the end and you want to write something down and give it to someone you have 2 options.  You could tear a page out of your notebook like an animal or you could use an index card you insightfully placed in that pocket.

Bookmark

While a bookmark is a great and useful device, you could just use an index card, post-it note, or even a dollar bill.  So, why a separate bookmark?  Basically, this is just a chance for me to mention my favorite bookmark of all time, the Book Dart.  These things are awesome.  They’re small, they stay put, and they can even point to a specific line if you want.  I just love’em!  I suppose you could also use a paper clip which is possibly more useful but less fun1.

Wallet stuff

Nowadays, its pretty common to see people’s smartphones with cases that can hold cards, ID and maybe even a little cash.  The idea being that you’re less likely to leave your smartphone at home than your wallet.  While this might seem sad it is definitely true.  Turning that logic on its ear, if you put that stuff into your notebook you’re more likely to bring your notebook with you.  Which is good.

Bonus item: Box cutter blade?

Wait, wait!  Don’t leave yet!  Hear me out, this one is REALLY specific.  If you do a lot of sketching there’s a good chance you sharpen your pencils by blade.  Doing this allows you to control how much graphite is exposed and to shave it in whatever fashion is most useful for the job at hand.  If you learned to do it with a box cutter blade, as is taught in many sketching classes, having a spare isn’t such a bad idea.

 

Don’t Force It!

Adventures in Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Nerd Misadventures, Tips & Tricks

The act of writing in a notebook is enjoyable.  Embracing the analog, eschewing the digital.  I find the very act of putting pencil (or pen) to page calming and it brightens my day and disposition.  In fact, studies have shown the act of writing on a page to dump dopamine all over your grey noodle.  But what about those days when your words simply won’t flow?

I’m glad you asked!  While I hesitate to call is something so dramatic as “writer’s block” every Notebooker knows the frustration of not being able to think of anything to write.  Maybe no Content List item nor writing prompt is capturing your imagination.  What if nothing is coming out right?  Perhaps there’s some stress or anxiety in your mood that is preventing you from writing, thus preventing you from reaping the calming benefits of some graphite therapy (or ink therapy)!

I have been known to find myself in this exact situation while attempting to write for this humble blog!  Here’s a few things that have been known to work for me:

  1. Look back at what you’ve already written  Often, I find that looking back on previous entries will get my writing going.  Sometimes looking back will create new thoughts or insights on an earlier topic.  Other times looking back will create a new idea to write about seemingly out of nowhere.
  2. Pen/pencil testing  Trying out a new writing implement (or an old one), seeing how it does on different papers or even just enjoying the act of writing can help loosen my mind up a bit.
  3. Handwriting practice  Whether you are learning Spencerian script, Copperplate or simply slowing down and paying attention to how you write, handwriting practice can offer much of the quiet pleasure of writing while taking the pressure of “what to write” off of you.
  4. Take a break.  Give up for the time being.  Whether an hour or a day or a week, stepping away for a bit can help you to come back later with renewed fervor.  That said, it’s the hardest for me to do.  I’d like to say it’s because it seems unfair that the thing that relaxes me is causing me stress.  I’d like to say it’s because taking a break isn’t effective.  It is, though.  Unfortunately, the reason taking a break is so hard for me to do is that I am needlessly stubborn at times.
  5. Write a letter  This one’s weird but, boy howdy, it works!  I like to keep vintage post cards in the pocket of my notebooks (A5 at least, obviously).  Even if you don’t have stationary on hand just write a letter to someone, then copy it to some stationary later.  Unfortunately, I don’t have many pen-pals I correspond with.  Fortunately, I am exactly the type of person who will send unsolicited post cards to nearly anyone who’s address I have.  This is really fun and I highly recommend it1!

When you find yourself in the unenviable position of not writing when you want to write, I hope these help.  If they don’t, go have a snack!

How to Notebook a Recipe

Adventures in Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Templates, Tips & Tricks

Writing down a recipe is really very simple and if you’ve ever used a recipe you probably know all there is about how to do it.  However, Notebooking exists to make everything better.  Here’s a few ways to make your recipes or even cooking better through Notebooking.

Even with the standard model of recipe (ingredients in list form first then method) there are a few ways Notebooking could improve the form.  I suppose it depends on whether you’re copying the recipe from a book or magazine to use later or not.  If you are, then just copy it.  Simple enough.  If, however, you’re writing a recipe from watching someone cook then draw a line 1across the center of the page and begin by writing the method under the line.  Adding the ingredients at the top in list form as they come up.

Another way Notebooking can help your recipes is with the oldest of writing tricks: stealing.  Let’s say you went to a burger joint that had a burger with only caramelized onions and peanut butter on it.  It was fantastic, wasn’t it?  Write it down!  No need for long-form recipes here.  Just write it down and try making it later.

Notebooking a cooking method is probably best shown in an example, so here’s one from a notebook of mine a few years ago (and, yes, I do tend to Notebook with parenthetical notation):

Making a post steak pan sauce.

  1. After cooking, set steak aside and add some liquid to the pan to deglaze.  (Nearly any water-based liquid will work but heavy cream is fastest2.)
  2. Scrape the bottom of the pan to dissolve the fond.
  3. Flavor with whatever you want (dried herbs should be added early)
  4. Reduce until texture is where you want it. (usually by half)
  5. Season (salt AND acidity) and serve poured over or on the side in a ramekin.

When Notebooking a cooking method, the specific ingredients and amounts often matter less than the method.

Finally, there is the “Speculative Recipe.”  I came up with this system a few years ago when I realized that the majority of recipes I come up with follow a certain pattern.  Notebooking, specifically “Now & Later Notebooking” really shines here.  Here goes:

  1. Hero ingredient This is the most important flavor or ingredient of the recipe.  This can alter the finished food considerably.  For instance, when making a Grilled Cheese sandwich the hero could be the cheese e.g. using a melty cheese or a nice blend of cheeses.  In this example, the butter could be the Hero by using a milder cheese but browning the butter.  Then end result would be 2 VERY different sandwiches.
  2. Accentuating flavor notes  Ingredients that balance saltiness, sweetness, acidity, bitterness, and umami3 To go back to the Grilled Cheese example, maybe caramelized onions4.
  3. Wild card  This is the contrasting flavor or texture that helps the “Hero” be a hero.  To go back to the Grilled Cheese example, something like thin slices of Granny Smith apples.

There you have it.  Speculative recipe Notebooking.  I could probably say more about it but I’m going to go make a Grilled Sandwich with brown butter, caramelized onions and Granny Smith apples!

 

Using a Table of Contents, the Lazy Way

Filling Your Notebook, The System, Tips & Tricks

Someone recently approached me and asked about something she had read in an article here.  I think it was in one of our notebook reviews.  In it I mentioned that I like when a notebook has a Table of Contents in the front.  She asked me, “How do you use a Table of Contents?” and that’s a great question!

If you’ve been Notebooking for any amount of time you, no doubt, have a few topics that you write about often.  Maybe it’s a hobby or a project your working on.  Maybe it’s a topic you’ve been thinking about for a while.

Whatever the reason, your notebook may end up with lots of pages about a topic that are separated by pages of unrelated content.  Unfortunately, you can’t just tear pages out and stick them back in where you want them (that’s no way to live!).

If you google ways to organize your notebook, you will find all sorts of colorful and somewhat complicated systems.  Any of those might work fine for you but I’m lazy.  In fact, I would rather have an unorganized notebook than have to keep highlighters and sticky notes on hand or learn some code.  What I do is much simpler albeit possibly less efficient.

The first thing I do is number the pages in my notebooks if it isn’t already done1.  As I already said I’m lazy, so if you think I number every page then you don’t know lazy!  At most I number every other page.  Honestly, every 5th page will get me where I need to go just fine.  I should mention that if a notebook doesn’t have a table of contents I’ll just write “Table of Contents” on the first page or three.

Then I write.  No need to fill out the table of contents yet.  Just write.

Eventually, there will be a topic I want to write more about.  So I do just that, write more about it.  Notice that I haven’t done anything with the table of contents yet nor looked at earlier writing.  There’s a reason for that, I don’t want the thing I’m writing now to be affected by the thing I wrote earlier.  There’s always time for that later.

Once I’ve written about a subject twice or so, it’s time to put it in the table of contents.  Here is when I go back and find the earlier writings.  Once I find it, I write the topic and the page numbers in the table of contents.  Finally, after looking at both the current and previous entries, I find that sometimes the comparing of the two can lead to new insights.  Obviously, I write those down as well.

Now that the topic is in the table of contents, any time I write about it, I add the page number to the growing list in the table of contents.  Then, if I feel like it, I’ll go back and look over the previous entries because that could yield some interesting insight.

Let’s recap for clarity’s sake:

  1. Number pages (maybe leave some empties for a Table of Contents)
  2. Write
  3. After returning to a topic, add it to your Table of Contents
  4. Write
  5. Add the page number to your Table of Contents
  6. Occasionally look back at previous entries on a topic for new insights

That’s it!  Simple? Yes!  Easy?  You bet!  The best thing ever?  Maybe not, but it’s good enough to work and do so with the least possible effort.

Have you got another way you like to organize your notebooks?  We’d love to hear it!

The Now & Later Notebooking method

Filling Your Notebook, Templates, The System

I make soap.  The process of making soap is simple but chemically complex.  One of the stages in soap making is something called curing.  This is where, after making the soap, you let it sit and occasionally turn the soap bars for even drying.  All of the soaps that I make need time to cure in order to harden and become milder.  (Bear with me here, this is going somewhere)  The time it takes to cure is anywhere from a month to a year.  As I make different soaps I sometimes experiment with different “Oil Bills”, that is the ratios of oils in the soap.  Between the time I make the soap with the new, experimental oil bill and the time I get to test the soap I used to forget which oils went into an individual soap.  This was an unbelievably stupid oversight on my part.

“Wow! What a great soap! I wish I knew what was in it.”

Or

“Just awful.  I wonder what I put in this one.”

Enter Now & Later Notebooking. 

Now & Later Notebooking is quite simply drawing a line half way down the page.  Writing on only one half thus allowing you to return to it at a later time.  While this works very well for soap making, it’s uses aren’t limited to hobbies inspired by Fight Club.

In fact, Now & Later Notebooking is useful for any time you want to come back to a particular topic.  Everything from a creative project to an enhanced planner can benefit.  The thing that makes Now & Later Notebooking so useful is it’s versatility and simplicity.  No complicated or too specific templates.  Just an easy line and the knowledge that you can come back to it if you want.

Still not convinced?  Here’s a few examples of where Now & Later Notebooking can help:

  • Recipes
  • Writing about events before and after they occur such as with a planner
  • Discussion notes for any kind of book club (which, I guess, includes church)
  • Contact information
  • Writing projects
  • Gardening
  • Restaurant review
  • Ongoing projects or contemplative musings

While it may seem exceedingly simple, you might find Now & Later Notebooking very useful.  What have you used it for?

 

7 More Content List items

Content List Ideas, Filling Your Notebook

Funny Lists Edition

  1. Top 10 nicknames that make no sense.
  2. Funniest ways to quit a job (this one’s cathartic).
  3. Funny things you’ve overheard in public.
  4. Worst times to Notebook (I’m looking at you “while skydiving”).
  5. Favorite episodes of the Simpsons (bonus points if you invent them).
  6. Invent some oddly specific holidays.
  7. Things that should happen to people who whine!!!!!

What NOT to put in your notebook

Filling Your Notebook, The System

We spend a lot of time trying to give you ideas about what to write in your notebooks.  We don’t, however, spend any time discussing what NOT to write (other than whining).  That’s for a very good reason.  We don’t want to stifle you nor your writing.

I guess it’s time to stifle you.

Don’t put grocery lists.  Don’t put to do lists.  Ordering Chinese food for a group? Want to have everyone write down what they want to make ordering bearable?  Don’t use your notebook.

As a general rule, if you aren’t going to need it in a day, month, etc. find something else to write on.  A Spartan, for instance.

And now we break that rule

Some years ago I was an usher at a friend’s wedding.  One of my usher-ly duties was to introduce the wedding party as they entered the reception.  Just so I wouldn’t muck it up, I wrote their names phonetically and the order in which they were entering.  Having no other paper I reluctantly used a page in my current notebook.  Years later it serves as a unique souvenir.

Circumstances that are out of the ordinary can be a good reason to bend some rules a bit.  You might be glad you did.

6 Questions that Demand an Answer

Filling Your Notebook, Writing Prompts

Having a hard time getting your creative juices flowing?  In a bit of a slump?  we find that usually a good question is all it takes to get that pen moving.  Try these on for size:

  • What is a lasting childhood memory that, in the light of adulthood, couldn’t have happened due to absurdity?  (Personally, I have a memory of an episode of Sesame Street in which they instruct the viewer on proper butt wiping technique.  Nope!  No way that happened.)
  • What would your “deranged millionaire” hobby be if you won the lottery tomorrow?  (By the way, travel doesn’t cut it as deranged.  Helicopter pilot might and nose spray collector definitely does!)
  • Describe the best time you had doing a mundane and/or menial task.  What made it enjoyable?
  • Have you ever bought something you knew you weren’t going to use?  A book you would never read?  What was it?  Why did you finally go through with the purchase? (I’m actually REALLY curious about this one, please write in and tell us!)
  • Describe the best time you had at a fast food place.
  • Uncommon uses for a superpower.  For instance, using telekinesis to win an oyster opening competition (they exist!1).

 

The secret to easy flowing content

Content List Ideas, Filling Your Notebook, The System

Page eaters

What is a page eater?  While it may sound like a Harry Potter creature that didn’t make the cut, a page eater is a method for getting through lots of pages in your notebook.

Obviously, there’s more to it than that.  A page eater is, basically, anything you can write about at length and easily.  This could be anything from heady thoughts on a scholarly topic to a funny list of fictitious band names.  It might sound like cheating but, as you’ll see, page eaters have many benefits and have the potential to create great content.

First and foremost, page eaters destroy the tyranny of the blank page.  They can give you a sense of accomplishment and momentum.  Writing a lot, through the use of a page eater, is a great morale booster.  Always reminding you that you are a content creator with a lot to say.  Helping you to avoid whining (NO WHINING!!).  A few good page eaters in your content list and your notebook will flow out of you, through your hand, into a compelling, dynamic and multifaceted notebook.

Some examples include:  Funny lists, observations about your surroundings or people, personal recollections viewed in a new light, notes or reflections on a skill you’re trying to learn, brainstorming or flow charts. Basically, anything that’s compelling or entertaining enough to get you writing.

This begs the question, “Shouldn’t all items on my content list be page eaters?”  Hardly.  I suppose you could do that and you would burn through notebooks easily and you might even be proud of your notebook, at first.  Eventually, without challenging yourself, your notebook will be repetitive and boring.  It might be fun, even easy, but make sure you try to stretch your abilities every now and then.  Being able to see your growth over the course of a notebook is some of the greatest content of all.

6 Things to make your notebook better

Content List Ideas, Filling Your Notebook

Having trouble getting your content list going?

Not to worry.  We’re here to help.  As we all remember from elementary school (or whiners remember from earlier today) the easiest way to get something done is to copy someone else!  Here’s a few ideas for your content list for you to copy.  We won’t tell on you.  Remember, you might copy an item or 2 from this list but the writing is all your own.

Recipes

Be sure to leave some space to write about how cooking went and what you will do different in the future.

Quotes

So long as the quotes are good and they’re not the only thing you write, have at it.

Skill Development

Is there a skill you’re trying to learn or master?  Good!  Writing about it can help you to develop faster.

Esoterica

Feel like writing about the ridges on the side of a quarter or the history of the motor lodge?  Great!

Make stuff up

Don’t know anything about the ridges on the side of a quarter nor the history of the motor lodge?  Make it up!  It’ll probably be funny.

Your own experiences

Obviously.  That said, don’t be in such a rush to record stuff that you miss the point.  If you didn’t learn anything then it might as well have not happened.  What did you learn?  What went wrong?  Was it funny?  Would you do it again?

 

And as always, NO WHINING!

Snowed in, huh?

Filling Your Notebook, Writing Prompts

I don’t know where you live, but where I live I could be snowed in this time of year with very little notice.  If I get snowed in I’ll usually put a movie on or grab a book off the shelf.  Sometimes, however, I’ll use the opportunity to Notebook.  Here’s a few writing prompts to entertain you until it’s time to start shoveling snow.

  • Pick a thing that’s not on your Content List that you like and describe why you like it.  This could be anything from something small like cold pizza to something longer like the sound of different types of laughter.
  • Choose a moment in your life that you recall vividly. Now describe it from someone else’s perspective.
  • Look around.  Choose the most common or boring inanimate object.  Describe it in the most exciting, interesting or romantic way you can.
  • Write a “Knock-Knock” joke.
  • Build a menu, whether for a restaurant or an event, that focuses on a bizarre theme.  Such as:  pregnancy cravings, childhood comfort foods, cooking only by geothermic steam, savory cupcakes/desserts, etc.
  • Describe a nesting doll based on people that have influenced your life.  Who would these dolls depict?  In what order?  What would they be wearing?  Are these people you know or people who’s work influenced you?

I hope these entertain you and don’t forget the hot cocoa!

Jot Points

Adventures in Notebooking, Filling Your Notebook, Tips & Tricks, Writing Prompts

Jot Points are quite simply jotting down a point or thought on something that helps to remind you when notebooking later.  It sounds simple and, really, it is.  That doesn’t mean that we can’t make it better.

Chances are you’ve already done this.  Especially if your chosen notebook isn’t of a size that allows easy pocket carry.  There’s also a good chance you’ve done this poorly (I know I have).

Let’s say you’re at a grocery store and see a sign that makes you think of something funny to notebook later.  A bad Jot Point would be “Funny sign.”  Maybe that’s enough to go on later on but maybe it isn’t.  I’ve done this and later, when I have my notebook in hand, I’ve got nothing.  What sign was it?  Why was it funny?  Oh well.  A better Jot Point could be, “Is gluten free toilet paper a thing?”  That really gives you enough to remember.

Another way to improve your Jot Points is to include a specific phrase if you’ve got one you want to use.  Let’s say you’ve decided to eat healthier, as you’re leaving the grocery store you could Jot down:

Got healthy food

Or

Plastic sacks of aspiration.

 

And when you’ve finally given up your new healthy regime:

Ate Twinkies

Or

The depths of my depravity

 

Jot Points are notes for the future you.  Be kind to future you.

Lastly, we come to the question of what to write your Jot Points on.  Given that we’re a notebooking blog you might think we have a clever, innovative solution.  We do.  But that’s not what Jot Points are about.  Jot Points are about slapdash notebooking reminders.  In that spirit here are some ideas for places to put your Jot Points:

  • Back of receipt
  • Palm of non-dominant hand
  • Envelope
  • Notebook (why not?)
  • Top of your non-dominant foot
  • Birth certificate
  • Cancelled postage stamp
  • Side walk (chalk required)
  • Stranger’s forehead (consent required)
  • Spare bit of paper

How to build your Content List

Content List Ideas, Filling Your Notebook, The System

Have you ever sat down to write in your notebook?  You’re excited, but then you have trouble getting it started?  We’ve all spent time staring at a blank page.  A blank page of a notebook is a tyrant, demanding a task you don’t know how to accomplish.

Your best defense against this feeling is a Content List.  A Content List is a list of 5-10 topics written on the last page of your notebook.  Before you even start writing in your notebook, it’s helpful to take some time and write a list of topics you’re going to write about in your notebook.  Make that list on the last page of your notebook so that it’s always there for you when you need it.

The Content List is the heart of Notebooking.  Without it, you are at the mercy of the tyrannical blank page.  These topics are there to give you guidance and inspiration as to what to write.  Your Content List acts as a muse and serves as a shield against that judgy blank paper.

“Sounds good?”

“No, rhetorical question guy, sounds great!  Gimme that Content List!”

“Nope!”

You make your own.  Making your Content List is simple but not always easy.

Guidelines

First, let’s set down some guidelines.  Items on your Content List should:

  1. Be something you can write about.  Obviously.  Writing your notebook entirely in French might be cool but not if you can’t speak it.
  2. Be interesting.  This should go without saying but, just because you can write about something doesn’t mean it will be interesting enough to do so.  I could write about all the technical specifications involved in ball-bearing ratings but absolutely no one wants that!
  3. Be very specific.  Writing “funny stuff” on your Content List helps no one.
  4. Avoid being too private.  Don’t live in fear that the wrong person will open your notebook.  To paraphrase everyone’s grandma, “If you can’t write something nice, don’t write anything at all.”
  5. No whining!  We joke about whining a lot but the fact is that nothing puts you into a bad place faster than whining.  Additionally, nothing is worse to read than whining.  If you avoid whining now there will be so much less cringing when it comes time to assess your Notebooking.

The Big 4

Most anything that ends up on your Content List can be put into 4 categories.

Interests

Whether hobbies, scholarly pursuits or any combination thereof, putting an interest of yours on your Content List means it’s something you enjoy thinking about and will, therefore, enjoy writing about.  Moreover, there should be some capacity for growth and reflection.  Otherwise, what’s the point?  As an example, consider cooking.  Cooking is an interest of mine.  Putting “Cooking” on my Content List is ok.  Putting “recipes”, “new foods I want to try” and “what I learned watching cooking shows” is fantastic.

Humor

Everything from funny observations to silly lists to (God help us) “Dad Jokes.”  Humor is important in keeping things light and keeping your notebook from feeling intimidating.  Everyone loves to laugh and that includes you, plus it’s entertaining.  There’s nothing wrong with sharpening your funny bone1.

Page Eaters

A page eater is any topic you can easily wax on and on about.  The goal here is to get through pages.  Moving through pages creates momentum and adds a sense of accomplishment.  Page Eaters are often an interest or something humorous but it can also give you tacit permission for other uses for the pages.  Mapping out thoughts, writing down observations, recording entertaining quotes, or nearly any inefficient use of paper are all fair game.  Try to be specific with your Page Eaters as they could easily become the “bread and butter” of your fun and dynamic notebook.

A Challenge

This is the tough one but it is probably the most rewarding.  While not technically necessary, chronicling a path of hard-won wisdom and growth is incredible.  The good news is that it can be pretty open-ended.  Whether it’s keeping track of your exercise plan or figuring out how to be a better conversationalist, trust me when I say that the familiar cruelty of the blank page will keep you accountable.  If you do this, looking back through your notebook will become a motivating journey towards success.

 

As with all things Notebooking, your Content List will change and evolve over time.  The key is that the more diverse and specific your Content List is, the more it will help when the words aren’t flowing.  You don’t have to write only what’s on your Content List, but when that blank-page tyrant is staring you in the face, you’ll have an ally waiting for you on the last page who can prompt you to always write well.

 

Welcome to NotebookingNerds!

Filling Your Notebook, The System, Tips & Tricks

At its essence, notebooking is putting thoughts on a page. These can be your thoughts about your life, other people’s thoughts that you want to record, or some combination of the both. But by putting them in your notebook, you mark these thoughts as ideas you want to hold on to, revisit, or explore.

Here at Notebooking Nerds, we believe in the power of notebooking. The simple act of writing down thoughts on a page will help you think more clearly and write more expressively. The problem is, most of us don’t know what to do with a notebook after we’ve bought it. What should you write? Does this make the cut? These questions can kill whatever spurt of creativity we started with.

Of course, there are added benefits to keeping your thoughts in a notebook, such as…

  • You become a creator of content, rather than a consumer.
  • A notebook can be a customizable souvenir of your life.
  • Becoming consciously aware of your thoughts will make you a better conversationalist.
  • You will become more aware of the details that make stories great.
  • Notebooking builds the habit of creativity.
  • Writing with pen and paper links you to every other literate person in history
  • It is a non-corporate, ad-free, no user-agreement or “signing your life away without knowing it” way to entertain and improve yourself daily.

Sounds good? Read on…

 

Beginning to notebook is easier and more enjoyable than you think.  In fact, before discovering this method, I would liken keeping a “journal” to pulling teeth.  Notebooking is more like dental hygiene – not a lot of work but a little bit of work regularly.

Step 1: Get a Passport style notebook pack

You’ve seen these.  They’re getting to be everywhere thanks largely to the marketing tenacity of Field Notes.  However, there are other, possibly more appropriate brands.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Field Notes.  That said there are other brands and some of them might be better for your purposes.  For now, however, get just about anything.  The key is that they are usually cheap, come in 3 packs and are short enough that filling one is pretty easy.

Step 2: Get a writing implement

I could go on and on about pens and pencils (in fact, I have).  The most important thing here is that you have something to write with that is comfortable and works with your Passport style notebook.  For example, if you’re going to use a fountain pen then you probably should avoid Rite in the Rain.  1

You don’t need to spend a lot (though you could).  Ideally, however, whatever you choose should get you excited to use it.

Step 3: Build your content list

This is where we diverge from the obvious.  Go to the last page and write “Content List” at the top.  Then it’s time to think.  Come up with a list of 5-10 types of things you would like in your notebook.  They can be nearly anything:  Things you find funny, a meaningful moment, something that would entertain you to write about, etc.  Now is the time to ask yourself questions like: What do I want this notebook to feel like?  Are there any skills I’m looking to develop? If I’m stuck at the DMV, what could I write about that would entertain me enough to pass the time?  There’s really only 2 rules.

  1. It’s okay to choose things that you think would make your notebook more cool.  It’s your notebook.
  2. Nothing that involves whining about something.  NO WHINING EVER!  Whining is writing poison.  No one (including yourself) ever wants to read someone whining.  If you feel the need to whine and ruin a perfectly good notebook in the process, get a diary and some crayons.

Step 4: Spend 20 minutes…Daily

Now it’s time to get writing!  For 20 minutes a day look over your content list and think.  If something occurs to you that you want to write in your notebook, do so.  If not, no big deal.  The point of this exercise is twofold.

  1. To get you writing.
  2. To build the habit of thinking about what to write.

The combination of both of these thought processes will make you better at writing and better at deciding what to write.  No matter what, don’t look back at what you’ve written.  Just write.

Finally, try not to go more than 20 minutes.  I’m sure that some days you’ll be able to write for an hour straight but take my word for it, “It’s frighteningly easy to burn out this early in the game.”

Step 5: 21 Days Later…Assess!

It is said that it takes 21 days to make something daily a habit.  I have no idea if that’s true but it seems to work for most people.  Maybe you can form a habit in 2 days but I can’t.  Once you’ve done your 21 days of writing, chances are, you’ve filled at least one of the 3-pack.  Now is the time to go back and read it.  What did you like?  What made you cringe?  Don’t worry, we write crap from time to time.  The only time to worry is if you think all of it is gold.  The chances of that happening your first time out is basically 0%.  If you think it’s all genius then I implore you to be a bit more critical.  The point of notebooking isn’t just to make you feel cool but to create cool stuff and improve yourself by getting those creative juices flowing.

Step 6: Find “Your Notebook”

There are hundreds if not thousands of options when it comes to “Your Notebook”.  The point of this section isn’t to list them all and review them all.  That would take longer than you or I have.  There are several very good websites that review notebooks and a few google searches can net you all you want to know and more.  Instead, I want to ask you a few questions:

  • How big do you want your notebook to be?
  • Will you be carrying it in a pocket or purse or backpack?
  • Will you be carrying it at all?
  • What type of writing implement will you use?
  • Should your notebook have a pen loop or do you have that covered?
  • Do you want blank, ruled, graph or dotted pages?

In the future, we will try to have articles regarding all these questions as well as something akin to reviews that will help you make a decision.

Just remember, no matter what you choose, there is no perfect notebook.  And once there is it will get discontinued one month before you find it.

Now – Dive in!

You now have your notebook, your pen (or pencil), your revised content list, and the habit and practice to write good content.  Now all you need is a vehement opinion on the Oxford comma.  (kidding)  You have all you need.  Get writing!

A final word of advice:  You don’t ever have to stop using the content list.  Hell, if you don’t want it in the book put it on an index card in the pouch that’s usually at the end of the notebook.  In fact, most notebooks have perforated pages at the end so you could tear it out when you’re done with it.  And remember, the more you reflect and honestly assess your writing the better you get.  It is never a easy or comfortable process but it’s always worth it.  Always.

 

Please drop us a line to let us know how it went!  We love hearing from fellow Notebooking Nerds!