Keeping a notebook is key.
You must read Ralph Fletcher. I only wish I’d read him as a kid.
And if you fancy yourself a writer, you must keep a notebook. Here are a few insights from this marvelous text:
- What is a writer’s notebook? It’s not a diary, where you record mundane daily occurrences. It rained today. I got up early because I didn’t do my homework last night. It’s not a journal where you write about your summer vacation or the feelings you have about a character in a book, because your teacher asked you to. A writer’s notebook gives you a place to write down all the things that surprise you, that make you wonder, that give you hope.
- Write in your notebook with honesty and courage about the things you fiercely wonder about.
- Use your notebook as an incubator, “a protective place to keep your infant ideas safe and warm, a place for it to grow while it is too young, too new, to survive on its own.”
- Write small, using your notebook to capture important details.
- Use your notebook to write down lists. What are your favorite words? New year’s wishes? What writing projects do you have planned? What are the deadlines for these projects?
- Write about your memories. What was your childhood bedroom like? Did you share it with your sibling? Were there fights? What did your daddy say when he caught you in a big fib. What’s the loudest laugh you’ve ever had?
- Write about your hurts. Are you sad about your parent’s divorce? Did a good friend let you down? Did your sister blab your secrets? Did she tell on you?
When I speak to kids in gradeschool, I bring along my notebook to show them. As I’m talking about the magic of keeping a notebook, I cradle it like a most prized possession, like a baby, while I’m talking. It’s not an act; I genuinely feel there is magic, trust, wonder, surprise, and a miracle or two in my notebook.