Monday, April 25, 2011

The Trouble with Tiny Notebooks

I know that I'm far from the only writer that never moves without a notebook.  I like 'em tiny so they can ride in my pocket or purse.  Here's the problem: Days or weeks later I'm not always sure of the meaning of the notes I've written, or even where in the manuscript I was thinking a particular notion or phrase might be worthwhile.

Let me show you...Here is one of my tiny notebooks.  I am holding it up against the dashboard of my car as I wait in the pick-up line for one of kids.

Here is the kind of thing I write in said tiny notebook, sadly without annotation.

Obviously, I scribbled this for an example, but you get the idea.

And the notebook situation is only worsened by the myriad backs of grocery store receipts, old homework papers, and so on upon which I tend to write paragraphs, verses or later incomprehensible ideas.

It's a bit frustrating.

Happy Monday anyway!

5 comments:

Lisa Potts said...

I have a notebook almost exactly the same size. Portability is wonderful, but sometimes I long for something a little larger.

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Ha! Yes, I can relate. I have so many notes scribbled on scraps of paper, and even if look at them later, I often am clueless as to where I was going with the notes. Oops.

Stasia said...

Thanks, Lisa and Carol. Nice to know I'm not alone with the writer notebook problem :)

Laura S. said...

I keep a tiny notebook in my purse and in every room in my apartment. Plus I have pads of paper in strategic places. Sometimes I have trouble deciphering my notes, especially when it's a note from driving in the car (not me driving, someone else!). I can always tell when we went over a bump or stopped really fast or something, lol.

Stasia said...

Heehee, Laura. I actually often pull to the side of the road to write stuff down. I am late to SO MANY PLACES!