For a writer, of course, it’s a necessary tool. For many years I’ve kept full-sized spiral notebooks as idea banks – where I jot random thoughts, dreams, rough drafts, quotes from my reading, miscellaneous observations, overheard conversations, phrases that have become stuck in my head, arcane information of all kinds – anything I consider noteworthy. So far it adds up to more than 4,000 handwritten pages. Most of my published work has originated there.
I also carry pocket-sized notebooks for taking field notes, sometimes literally in fields but also on the water, in airplanes, in opera houses and subways and taxis and restaurants. Often those brief notes find their way into my larger notebooks and from there into essays, stories, and books.
Recently a friend presented me with a 48-page pocket-sized memo book titled “Field Notes” which has given me some unexpected pleasure. On the inside back cover is a list of recommended uses or “Practical Applications” for the notebook. (The list is solicited from customers, who offer up their thoughts via an entertaining website).
Here are my favorites from that surprisingly fertile list:
Corn Dog Batter Recipes
Scrapbooking Tips
Meat Goat Methodology
Sketches of Prize-Winning Rutabaga
Swine Suckling Schedules
Survivor/Eddie Money/Styx Setlist
Vegetable Judging Notes
Dart vs. Balloon Strategic Analysis
Animal Husbandry Techniques
Dairy Diatribes
Quilting Patterns
Freehand Drawings
Carny Contacts
Tractor Carburetor Calibrations
Rabbit Cage Diagrams
Crop Circle Designs/Schemes
Garden Gossip
Hybrid Pea Punnett Squares
Silo Content/Levels/Schematics
Expected Progeny Differences
Now I wonder, to what purposes do YOU put your notebooks?
A friend gave me a little blank notebook eight years ago. I’ve been filling them up ever since and have one in my pocket most of the time. Over the years they have held: notes on what the oncologist said, sketch of the Michigan Theater organ player, book recommendations, what time the plane from Denver lands, haiku revisions, sketch of how to connect the generator to the main panel, list of ski trails done the first day at Swedetown, date of this year’s Hollerfest, sketch of the Group of Seven logo from the McMichael Gallery, the name of the naturalist who led the hike at Saranac Lake, and the brand of excellent malbec served with dinner at a friend’s. The notebook is my flypaper for capturing fleeting information, images, and inspirations.
As each notebook is filled, I go back through and harvest the pages that really need to be saved. The rest get recycled.
Steve — Thanks for this fine list, and especially for “…my flypaper for capturing fleeting information, images, and inspirations.” That’s a take-away that makes my day.
Wow — is that the one I gave you at the MQR thingy?
Yes it is, Alan. And thank you again.