What do you guys do in your writer's notebooks? What works and what doesn't, what do you find usefull and what don't you when you look back on your notebooks later, and what things do you always do while writing? I need some suggestions, I am stuck write now and don't have any ideas! Thanks...
I actually have three notebooks (O_o) for writing and I do different things in them.
1) My little pocket notebook. I just sort of scribble things in it. One-liners, books I want to read, movies I want to watch, disjointed sentences, words I like and quick idea summaries; all belong in there. I carry it around with me just about all the time and it is a catch-all for everything.
2) My writing journal. Basically a journal about my writing, where I stick writing prompt and song lyrics, expand on little ideas, generally muse on techniques or things I want to try, and whine about my trials and tribulations.
3) My writing notebook, where I actually do writing. Generally, I just open to a blank page and start writing. I use it to get down scenes in my head, to continue projects and just for general writing.
I also have a binder where I've collected all my projects and notes involved in their own separate sections.
It's great to write about things that inspire you to write, or just how well your writing is going. One of my favorite things to do for inspiration is to go back to a writing journal that I had filled during a very good period in my writing and just look back at how motivated and brilliant I was back then.
If you're stuck for ideas, sometimes it helps to write down a rant about how you are stuck for ideas. I tend to write a lot about writer's block. That and how I always seem to want to write something achingly beautiful and can't seem to do so. It just helps to get your frustrations on paper sometimes and occasionally, it might even help you work out whatever the problem was.
I just buy the perfect bound lined notebooks that are like a dollar each. I get a new one every couple of months or so, whenever I need them.
I use them as places to write down random thoughts and as a journal. I also use it for outlines and character sketches, sometimes poetry or short stories, though I don't write longhand very quickly and that sometimes bothers me. Or, sometimes, I'll be somewhere and really want to remember a description or place and write down details about it.
