Mary Amato's Tips for Keeping a Notebook and Keeping a Diary

Permission Granted To Copy For Educational Use
Copyright © 2008 by Mary Amato

Mary Amato's Tips for Keeping a Writer's Notebook

A writer’s notebook is a place where you can write all kinds of things: ideas, questions, thoughts, true stories, invented stories, rough drafts for poems, songs, or stories, bits of dialogue that you overhear, and more. It’s different from a diary, which is a record of your own life experiences.

If you are interested in being a professional writer, keeping a notebook is important for many reasons. Here are four important ones: 1) The more you write about what you see and hear, the more observant you’ll become; 2) The more you write, the more your writing will improve overall; 3) The act of writing down an idea often stimulates more ideas. 4) Writing down an idea “cements” the idea—you can’t lose it if it is written down!

There is no right or wrong way to keep a Writer’s Notebook. Here are some of my suggestions:

• Pick a notebook that you like: a spiral notebook, a binder, a blank book. It doesn’t have to be fancy. In fact, sometimes if it’s too fancy, you might be afraid to write in it.
• Write whatever pops into your head that you find interesting: a story that you hear that isn’t true, a story that is true, a memory, a dream, a conversation, a description of something you see, an idea for a poem, a story, a song, character names, etc.
• Dictate: if you find it hard to get your thoughts or ideas down, ask someone else to write for you. Make sure they use your words.
• Use notes: If you get an idea or have a thought and don’t have your notebook with you, jot a note to yourself and tape it into your Writer’s Notebook later.
• Experiment with rough drafts that you can later develop into stories or poems.
• Date your entries: you might want to know when you came up with an idea later.

These are some of my writer’s notebooks. I like small ones that fit in my pocket. I carry mine with me all the time because I never know when I’m going to get an idea.

Permission Granted To Copy For Educational Use
Copyright © 2008 by Mary Amato

A diary is a place to write down your own life experiences. Keeping a diary can be rewarding, even if you’re not interested in becoming a writer. If you speak to its pages with honesty and emotion, it becomes the most amazing keepsake possible: a record of your life.

Writing in a diary is:

• Comforting—a safe place to write down your questions, fears, and thoughts.
• Clarifying—it helps you to figure out how you feel or what is happening.
• Permanent—a record of your thoughts and experiences.
• Good “Exercise” for Expression—the more you write down how you feel, the better you will become at expressing your emotions.

There is no right or wrong way to keep a diary. Here are some tips:

• Choose a small, thin notebook so that you have the satisfaction of filling it up more easily. A big, thick book can be frustrating for many writers.
• Write whenever you want. Don’t feel pressured to write everyday.
• Write in your own voice. Don’t worry about the words. Write as if you’re talking. Don’t try to be too fancy or wise.
• Dictate—if you find it hard to get your thoughts or ideas down, ask someone else to write for you. Make sure they use your words.
• Write for yourself—you don’t have to show anyone your journal.
• Write for someone else—sometimes it helps to imagine someone reading it in the future, like your own child.
• Try a “collaborative” journal with a friend or family member—pass a notebook back and forth, each taking turns adding to it.
• Remember to write the date. In the future you’ll want to know how old you were when writing.