Many years ago a friend, who was also a journalist, and I attended a fiction writing class taught by novelist Anne Lamott. Annie was funny and wise and among the ideas she shared was to “write it down.”
She said that writers should always carry a notebook or have some piece of paper at the ready for whenever inspiration strikes. She suggested 3×5 note cards because they’re easy to slip into a jeans pocket or the front flap of a purse. She said you never know when you’ll want to record an idea or observation.
It’s also particularly helpful to have paper on hand when eavesdropping. Down the road you may need that perfectly appropriate line uttered by a teenager or a three year old or a couple arguing in a restaurant.
I keep paper with me so that I can record what my kids, friends and ordinary strangers pop out with.
Here is something I recently discovered in my pocket size green Moleskin notebook that I keep in my purse.
I’d written, “Narcissists don’t age gracefully.” That came from a friend who said it at lunch one day and I immediately pounced and asked if I could have it. She agreed as long as if it ever appeared in print I keep her name out and the stepmother she was referring to.
I was writing in that tiny notebook while waiting for an appointment when a little boy sitting across from me with his mother asked, “What is that lady doing?” I told him I was writing. Maybe he thought it didn’t look like writing because I was holding a pen and paper instead of a keyboard.
In that same little notebook I came across another line I don’t yet have a Blackberry or an iPhone and am told that you can take notes on them, but hard-core scribblers say they prefer actual paper for jotting down the sudden epiphany.
Some day there may be a digital device that can handily substitute for a 3×5 card or a tiny notebook for any occasion. Maybe it will be waterproof so that you can record ideas dreamed up in the shower to be zapped automatically to your laptop and filed under “deep thoughts while exfoliating.”
For the time being, I stash a notebook in the side pocket of my car and a couple of them beside the bed. Plus a pile of 3×5 note cards at the ready. Sometimes that’s as far as my words get. Occasionally they find themselves in an essay. Or I might play with them when trying to be clever at a party.
I can’t remember what Anne Lamott told us to do with all these pieces of paper. Maybe put them in an old shoe box to plow through when a character is begging for a great line. Now that she’s a famous writer she likely has someone deciphering her random thoughts and storing them for her efficiently online.
I still prefer to be part of that endangered tribe of paper people, slow of thumb, ink stained, addicted to writing, often in full sentences.
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p.s. I dropped your name on Gina's post, Barb. ;)
thank you so much Lisa, that helps a lot. I know he tried to blame me for so much stuff, but like I told all of his family and mine none of that added up to a divorce. I do realize it's his needs, it just hurts so bad to think how many years he's
I always carry a little notebook with me. You never know when inspiration will strike. I remember reading something a while back from David Sedaris. He said something along the lines of “everytime my family sees me pull out my notebook, they stop talking.”
More paper people. Yay. I have the same kind of family.
Me too!!
…TRACK…Even reading I like a book, real deal
The way I feel about a pad or notebook and holding a pen or pencil is the same way I feel about holding a real book. There is something persoal, something spiritual, something that connects us to the Author of all words when you write them with your own hand. I am only now just getting into the habit of using my computer to actually write a story or outline, but things like writing down something so you don’t forget it, or journaling, always feel less than honest to me if I don’t physically write it down with pen and paper.
I remember when I first started using my laptop. It’s easy to remember, because t was only this past January. I wrote a piece about the difference of writing on laptops vs. paper. Kind of funny piece. I’ll “dig it up” or maybe I’ll “upload” or “download” search the file etc. I do know where my notes on the Bible are. Oh, yes, I took on reading the Bible from cover to cover, diligently taking notes on yellow legal pads, love the stuff.
I feel very differently when typing than writing. Each has it’s own benefit and downside.
But nothing can compare to handwritten notes, letters, and mini thoughts, because they carry not only the content, but the visceral, human energy(spirit), of the moment.
I’ve been carrying an index card also, since I read Anne’s book so many years ago. She’s the best.
While I have the electronic gadgets, my swift pen and a dayrunner full of paper remains the fastest means of jotting down those gems that we either hear or the ones that just jump in front of us from nowhere. Plus, it’s harder to loose or misplace my dayrunner than my tiny little cell phone.
Definitely, write it down!
I can write alot faster than I can ever type into my cell phone. And writing is more satisfying for me. When the muse strikes and I pull over to the side of the road and pull out my pen and paper, I can write as fast as I am inspired. That would never happen with my droid! I would lose whole thoughts….