The Bottomless Notebook

Reading through a writer's notebook or journal is like discovering pearls, rubies and diamonds amidst a pile of rubble.

That little notebook is a powerhouse of ideas for every writer: The more you write down bits and pieces of your thoughts and observations, the more you are adding into the well of ideas for future works.

Here are a few things you can record in your notebook or journal, so that in case you run out of ideas to write about, you can refer to it:

Your Shoeboxed Life: Write what you know, feel and experience. Jot down snippets of events in your life. Write a sentence or a paragraph about a funny, embarrassing, happy or infuriating experience.

The Interesting People. Scribble descriptions of people you meet every day. How do they react in certain situations? How do their names fit their image?

A Word a Day. Whenever an interesting word catches your attention, write it down. It may have a different meaning for you a month or a year from now. If you keep a list of words in your notebook, these words can serve as story starters for you.

Those Quotable Quotes. A meaningful quote can start you off to writing. Collect quotes you come across that interest you.

Ordinary People with their One-Liners. Overheard lines in a conversation can sometimes spark your creative mind. Write down these one-liners in your notebook. They can be great story starters.

Something You Read. Read good books. Keep a file of memorable lines or quotes. Write down quirky billboard ads. Scan the papers for one-liners. These are good idea stimulators.

Emotions. Describe what you feel at any given moment. If you feel angry right now, write what your anger feels like. Descriibe it. Use vivid words.

Writers are similar to store owners. Store owners stock their supplies in their shelves, while you stock ideas between the pages of your little writer's notebook.

You can make your stock endless, bottomless. You can reach down again and again for inspiration without exhausting your notebook of reserve.

So start stocking your writer's notebook today. A week from now, take a peek in it and you just might find something there that could connect your pen to paper.

About The Author

Shery is the author of the book, WEEKLY WRITES: 52 Weeks of Writing Bliss! Grab a copy from Amazon.com and get free unlimited access to the WeeklyWrites.com Exclusive Members Area that features over $250 worth of goodies! http://weeklywrites.com

MORE RESOURCES:

RELATED ARTICLES

Writing Is Not Life-threatening
Some writers complain that writing is arduous work requiring long hours and little pay, which is often true especially for freelance fiction writers. Today, everyone wants to be a writer and with word processors and computers it is easy to put thoughts down, but it is not always effortless to be published unless one self-publishes or uses a vanity press.

Eight Ways To Write Your Novel Faster
I asked several writers how long it took them to write a novel they wanted published. One woman writer made a frustrated face at me, a couple others just stared at me (their novel wasn't finished yet), and a few just stared.

Imagine The Imagination
Imagine a three hundred page book was in the author's mind before it was poured out onto the pages of the book.Imagine all those words are words we all know and use but one person takes those words and arranges them in a certain way in the mind; the person fuses these words to form a story.

The Run-on Sentence: From Here To Eternity
If you find your sentences filled with commas, and they wend from one topic to another, then you, like many people, may be guilty of writing run-on sentences.The run-on sentence is annoying.

Writing With Power: 5 Snappy Rules For Success
Almost everyone could profit from enhancing their writing skills. From writing more crisp meta-tags - which search engine bots find quite sexy - to turbo-charging your blog readership by writing with punch, a skilled pen can propel any online effort in the right direction.

Writing as a Gift
What am I supposed to give Anthony as a wedding gift? I asked Kristin, my bridesmaid and person-who-was-married. I mean, what kinds of things do brides give their grooms? I was thinking of hiring someone to clean the house before we left for the honeymoon so wed come back to a spotless house.

Writing Personal Statements - Top Tips
WRITING THE PERSONAL STATEMENT TO GET INTO UK UNIVERSITYHOW DO YOU DO IT?And the only way to do that has been largely ignored or is unknown by most students.The failure of the vast majority of students to get admission to their chosen university is one of the great unpublicised stories of our time.

Can Your Theme Be Proved In Your Story?
Creative Writing Tips -Your theme has to be something you can prove in your story - It doesn't have to be a universal truth. This means that your theme doesn't have to be something that happens in real life all the time (providing our logic can accept it, in order for us to believe it).

The Demon Fear
You have a great idea for a poem, a story, an essay, an article, a book, or a novel, but you hesitate to write it. Why?Fear is the key to a writer's procrastination, hesitation, and dawdling.

Vary Your Writing Style and Win Readers
First drafts are for getting down the ideas. Anna Jacobs calls the first draft the 'dirty draft'.

Writing Short Info Reports
People want information, they want it quick, frequently in short form, and straight to the point. Its no wonder that they go straight for a computer connected to the internet to find anything from how to grow tomatoes to choosing a web host.

Are You Feeling Dash-ing? Using Punctuation for Effect and Influence
The dash--that curious mark of punctuation people use in their email and letters. Not the hyphen (-), but the dash (--).

The Hard Facts About Editing
Whether you're interviewing for a new job, trying to woo a love interest on a first date, selling your work on the Internet, or submitting a query to an editor, you can never make a second first impression. It's true.

Mumblings
The self-indulgent writer listens only to the mumblings of sycophants, toadies, and flatterers, thus failing to heed the valid criticisms of editors, critiquers, and reviewers.Since improvement involves the time to review, to edit, to revise, and to rewrite, the self-indulgent writer avoids or neglects to do this.

Writing - Copyrights and Trademarks Protect You
When most people consider writing a book, they don't think about Trademarks. However, I highly recommend that you leverage your writing for multiple purposes, and that's why registering a Trademark for your concept is a good idea.

Dig Deeper to Reveal Character
He ran up the steps and knocked on the door. After a few moments, it was opened by a woman with dark curly hair and a strained expression.

Passionate About Writing?
I'm a writing fool! 2 book proposals, 1 user's guide, a business technology analysis paper, and a FileMaker Pro 7 application! Can you say, "RedBull?" Actually, my preferred energy drink of choice is Monster. But I'll save my energy drinks discussion for another time.

The Makings of a Personal Essay, Really
Sometimes I can be dense when it comes to realizing the potential of my own life experiences as essays for magazines. I, of course, fully believe that everything in my life is newsworthy, but sometimes have trouble figuring out which experiences will hit home with other people.

Top Seven Essential Hot-Selling Points To Implement Before Writing Chapter One
Every part of your book can be a sales tool. When you include the below tips, you will have a roadmap to follow to keep your writing organized and compelling, and you'll sell more books than you ever dreamed of! 1.

Ten Ways to Get Cheap (and Free) Magazine Samples
1 - Join a reading or writing group. Ask members to bring in their already-read magazines and have an exchange.