Slice of Life Tuesday -Notebook Truths

Over the years I have learned much from my writing life. In particular, I have learned much from my notebook experiences. 

My writer’s notebook is a place to be honest; to write down what one writer thinks. It is a place free of critics. My notebook is a place where I frequently discover I had more to say on a particular subject or issue than I originally believed.

My notebook contains the truth of my life- at least a version of it, and in that truth, I am able to discover some of the treasure, all our lives possess.  I am a treasure hunter. Interestingly, none of us have any way of knowing whether what we find by way of words will prove important to someone else at some later stage. We cannot know if they will understand. That's okay. It's the act of writing that's empowering. 

My notebook is a place to practice risk taking. It is where I can indulge in some experimentation with words and ideas. The very act of writing stimulates my creativity. The pieces that grow within the covers of this book are invaluable to me as a writer, for they are the foundation of the longer pieces that later emerge as I move up and out of my notebook into other phases of my writing. The entries I gathered across several notebooks, formed the basis of my last book, ‘Igniting Writing –When A Teacher Writes.' My current notebbook is informing my next writing project.

It’s for me that I write and initially it’s for me to try and understand what prompted my thoughts and ideas. I am writing to save my life. My time. My Truth. If I don’t write, my tiny place in history slowly evaporates. I intend to leave footprints. 

My notebook life has increased my awareness of my world. So as much as the time I spend lost in my notebook takes me away, it has hopefully strengthened my connections to others, with the insights such time away provides. My notebook is like a garden. If I continue to feed it, things will grow. They will flourish. It is a fecund place.


My thirty year notebook life has taught me this, and that’s the truth. 


Comments

  1. elsie8 October 2013 at 22:13

    "If I don’t write, my tiny place in history slowly evaporates." Wow! that sentence really spoke to me today. That's the way I feel about the weekly slice. I do not have the practice of using a notebook in place, but you make me realize I need to do this. Thanks for that nudge Alan, I'm going to try to change some of my writing ways.
    PS: check your link, it does not bring one here, it give the message that the person does not have permission to this site.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BK9 October 2013 at 20:43

    Morning Alan,
    Good luck with your book. I want to read it! I am always inspired when I stop by here,
    Bonnie

    ReplyDelete

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