What is a Writers Notebook | How to Create Your Own & Why Every Writer Needs One

First off, What is a Writers Notebook?

A writers notebook or journal is a writer’s best friend. It is an amazing tool for idea organization. It is the perfect place for a writer to store things such as character name ideas, plotline ideas, overheard bits of interesting dialogue, strange words, people, animal and scenery descriptions, and more.

It is also a place where a writer can store inspirational quotes, music lyrics, favourite book passages and movie scenes, writing tips and tricks, bits of research they need later, newspaper clippings, photographs, random facts, and any other thing a writer wouldn’t want to forget.

If you are a writer, then I strongly suggest you have a writer’s notebook of your own.

What Does a Writers Notebook Look Like?

A writer’s notebook can be something as simple as a ruled 80-page notebook that you can pick up for under a dollar or it can be something fancier like a leather bound journal filled with high quality paper. It could also be a 3-ring binder or something similar.The actual notebook doesn’t really matter. What does matter is what is found inside the notebook.

The purpose of a writer’s notebook is to help a writer collect ideas, dialogue snippets, interesting things they see, names they come across, and any other thing that a writer might want to use in a story later on. Each writer can make their notebook their own. Some writers use apps on their phones or on their tablets, but you can certainly consider using a good old fashioned paper notebook.

If you appreciate some organization within your notes, then consider setting up your writer’s notebook in sections. These sectiona might be:

>> Ideas

>> Inspiration

>> Research

You could keep it at just these three sections, so you store all of your story-writing related ideas in the ideas section, in the inspiration section you can store words of wisdom from authors, inspirational quotes, book quotes, movie quotes, song lyrics, writing-related tips and tricks. Whatever you feel inspires you. In the research section, you can store whatever bits of research information you need, random facts, newspaper clippings, old photographs, etc. 

Do You Want to Further Organize Your Thoughts?

If you want to really organize your thoughts and ideas even further, then consider breaking the ideas section into smaller sections.

Some example sections are:

>> Characters

>> Settings

>> Words

>> Names

>> Dialogue

>> Plot Sketches,

>> Braindump Section

Character Ideas

This is the section where you can write down observations or ideas you have about people. It could be physical descriptions, body language, attitude, tones of voice, interactions, etc. Anything related to people falls into this section. You may never use any of the descriptions or other notes you put in there, but at least you have the option to choose not to use them.

Setting & Scenery Ideas

This would probably be Tolkien’s favourite section. This is where you can write down descriptions or ideas for landscapes, buildings, scenery, or whole new worlds. When you see a charming little cottage that might work nicely in a story or you see a particularly attractive looking plant, or you visit a city or town that would consider using as a story setting, you write those down in the setting section.

Interesting Words & Phrases

When you find an unusual word that you don’t want to forget like Cacophony you can write those down in the words section. They can be any kind of word and even word pairings like forgive and forget, or crime and punishment, or supply and demand, etc. If the words are super unusual, you may consider including a definition with them to save yourself from having to look it up again later.

Interesting Names

You could keep names together with Characters or words, but I like to keep them in their own section. Whenever you come across an unusual name, or invent one that sounds really cool, first or last name, it doesn’t matter, write it down in your notebook. Finding names for Characters can sometimes be tricky. It helps to already have some ideas written down to reference.

Dialogue Bits

This may seem like a strange thing to have as a section, but whenever you overhear or come up with an imaginary conversation that you could use either as is or as a base for one in a story, you will want to write it down so you don’t forget it.

Plot sketches & Ideas

You may sometimes find yourself coming up with random story plot ideas. They could be something along the lines of: There was this person who always did this, but what if suddenly, they had to _____ but in order to do that they would have to do this first, but then this happened… and so on. You may never turn any of those ideas into something complete, but they are worth writing down anyway.

Braindump section

Finally the braindump section is where you write down any and all other strokes of inspiration, random thoughts, quotes, and ideas. This section is where you store and rediscover inspiration for your stories. I encourage you now to take your writer’s notebook, carry it around with you for a while and hunt for ideas. Be open to inspiration and write stuff down even if it doesn’t feel relevant at that moment.

You Can Organize the Other Sections Even Further Too

If you would like to organize the Inspiration and Research sections further, consider including these subsections:

Inspiration:

>> Quotes

>> Tips and Tricks

>> Writing Prompts

Research

>> Research Notes

>> Research Visuals

The Most Important Thing About a Writer’s Notebook

The most important thing about a writer’s notebook is that it should work for the writer, and not the writer for it. You can use as many or as few of the sections mentioned above, or completely different ones. You are the writer, make it your own!

If you would prefer not to go through the trouble of setting up your own writer’s notebook, then consider taking a look at this Writer’s Companion Notebook.

The Writer’s Companion Notebook

The Writer’s Companion Notebook is a ready made printable Writer’s Notebook. Inside of it you will find the following sections:

Ideas

>> Characters

>> Settings

>> Words

>> Names

>> Dialogue

>> Plot Sketches,

>> Braindump Section

Inspiration

>> Quotes

>> Tips and Tricks

>> Writing Prompts

Research

>> Research Notes

>> Research Visuals

You can choose to use as many or as few of them as you would like. If you want to learn more about the Writer’s Companion Notebook, then please visit this page. You can get it for free by joining my mailing list.