Skip to content

Writers Block and My Writing Notebooks

When I’m stuck in my writing, the best way for me to bust through the wall is to write by hand. Not sure why, but writing with a real pen on real paper and being able to color code or cross out and write in the margins just makes it easier for me to write. Probably because it seems less permanent. I’m not committing it to computer memory, I’m just jotting down. And fortunately, my jotting usually turns into entire scenes scribbled in my notebook.

This is my notebook. Left over from my college days, I started using and just kept using it, even though my kids think it’s ok to scribble their own notes in it. I don’t mind. I’ll just write over whatever lines they’ve drawn. Like so:

This little note, on the left, says “meh”. I didn’t like that paragraph.

So, I noticed I was getting to the end of my notebook and the only pages left had been graffitied a little more heavily than others. Like so:

Not as realistic to write over those, so I decided I’d have to get a new notebook. I saw an add for cheap journals in a seagull book catalog and thought I’d get some. Then I thought,  ‘huh, I wonder if I have some empty notebooks in my closet. I think I remember one or two. So, I went to look and found…

Five.

Five pretty, empty journals/notebooks.

And I’d been using the scribble notebook.

Published inWriting Process

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply