Creating a "Working Writer's Notebook"

This piece is geared specifically toward those writers who like writing long hand, in addition to typing. If keeping yourself organized using your computer works well for you, then this piece most likely won't pertain to meeting your working and organizational needs.

I love the art of writing, everything from the feel of the pen in my hand to the smell of sheets of paper. This has been a long time love affair for me, that and the love for office supplies of all kinds. I don't know why, but when I put these supplies to use, I feel a certain kind of importance that electronic media and software doesn't. I know I'm not alone on this, which is why I'm sharing how I've created "working writer" notebooks.

Every year, I'm drawn into the super centers in my area for the back to school sales. For me, it's a time to replenish my materials at a very low price. For example, the notebooks I use for these "working writer" notebooks are usually ten cents a piece and the pens are usually about fifty cents (sometime less) per package. So, because I'm the obsessive type (and proudly admit this fact often), I buy things by the case. Not because I can't control myself in the store, but because I know I'll use all of these supplies up and it's cheaper to do it this way then to buy throughout the year.

To create a "working writer" notebook, you need the following:
1: a one subject spiral bound notebook
2: paper clips
3: page flags
4: post-it notes
5: pocket report folder (I've found these for $.10 per package)
6: stapler or strong adhesive
8: scissors (or paper cutter, if possible)
9: ruler
10: pen

Decide which project you'd like your notebook to be assigned to and write that project across the front cover or on the inside cover. In the case of one of my notebooks, I assigned it to my suite101.com topic because I have a lot planned and, if I don't write it down, I'll lose track. For this demonstration, I'll describe how I've set up my suite101.com notebook:

Step One: I determined how many topics I would be addressing and separated the notebook into sections, marking the page with a paper clip, for each. Here's an example:
1: Mondays: Artist Profile
2: Tuesdays: Artist Date Ideas
3: Wednesdays: (Blog) Art Journal Prompt, (Article) Altered Art Project
4: Thursdays: Project Planner
5: Fridays: Artist's Tool Box

Because I'm using a 70 page one subject notebook and separating it into five sections, each section contains fourteen pages. This will give me plenty of room to make notes, write down resources, plan interview questions and brainstorm or outline.

Step Two: If you need to break your sections down further (into notes, descriptions, phone logs, interview questions and so on), use the page flags within each section.

Step Three: Staple or use a strong adhesive to affix a pad of post-it notes to the inside front cover of your notebook. This will come in handy when you're working within a section of your notebook and need a removable note (like a phone number, for example).

Step Four: Trim your pocket folder down to the size of a standard piece of copier paper. (using a ruler and a pair of scissors is fine, but it's much easier if you have access to a paper cutter) Staple or use a strong adhesive to affix the pocket folder the the inside back cover of your notebook. I prefer to affix it so it doesn't open with the book, but opens out away from the pages when you open the back cover. That way, small items don't slip out quite as easily. I keep print-outs, research, emails, clippings, newsletters and whatever else I gather when working on my topic. I sift through and clean it out frequently so it doesn't get too bulky.

If your topic requires sections similar to a three or five subject notebook and you need more pages within each section, these will work well for this project and already come with pockets. They're not quite as cost effective, though, but that doesn't matter to some. I've used them in the past, but I couldn't work with them as well as I could with these "working writer" notebooks, though. I don't know if it was because there was more pages to fill, because it was bulkier or because the higher quality of the notebook intimidated me (preventing me from allowing for tearing pages and being messy). These might not be stumbling blocks for you, though, and that's just fine. These "working writer" notebooks have served me well over the years and maybe they will for you, too!