Like any other career, writing has tools of the trade that help us write better. Some of these tools are skills and knowledge, but some of these tools are physical. For example, most writers can tell you what books and magazines make up their bookshelf of resources. Most of these tools are obvious: pen, paper, typewriter or computer, and so on. But there are also tools that may not be so obvious to a new writer that can be just as important as the paper on which we write. One of these is a Writers Notebook.

Every writer who has a notebook uses it differently. From what kind of notebook we use to what's put in it, the notebook is very customized--tailored to a particular writer's personality, writing style, and needs. Some need a binder complete with pockets to be able to store clippings and pictures. Others are fine with a spiral notebook divided up into sections for their ideas, submission tracking, and so on. Some of us have more than one: a small one we can carry around for jotting down ideas as they come to us and a larger one that carries everything else. For the writer who uses it as a storehouse, the Writers Notebook is invaluable. Writer's block becomes less of a problem if you have a place to go for ideas and to explore news, pictures, poetry and phrases that inspire you, and so on. Even just using the notebook as a journal can provide a wealth of ideas for new writing.

New writers who have never heard of the value of a Writers Notebook, however, may have no idea what they want to use for the notebook itself, much less what they should put in it. And I've met too many new writers who have never even heard of the concept or think it will be too difficult to create or keep up. Some are so new, they have no idea what their writing needs and style are yet, much less the kinds of supports they will need. But this is part of the beauty of a binder type book: a writer can change what goes into it as his or her writing changes and his or her needs become apparent. My book, for example, is a day planner, but a binder or other type of notebook that allows you to customize it can be used as well.

As for what to keep in it, the ideas are almost endless. Most writers keep a repository of ideas, from phrases that can prompt a short story to full paragraphs and notes for possible novels. Some also keep newspaper clippings, photographs and other images, scraps of dialogue they overhear, postcards, letters, bits printed off the Internet, and so on. But a writers notebook can be used for so much more than an idea space. Other items that can be kept in it include a record of your submissions, phrases and lines you liked from other novels, ideas for character names, world building notes, research notes, project tracking, a daily writing journal, sensory notes and descriptions, freewrites, and so on. I even created a weekly planner calendar with writing related notes, from goals to accomplishments, to replace the standard planner calendar.

Once they've created a Writers Notebook, most writers find that it isn't hard to keep it up. This is where you record your accomplishments, your submissions, your goals. It becomes as much a part of your writing life as the writing itself. It goes with you everywhere so you can add your ideas as soon as they come to you. As you use it more, you begin to see what you need to add and what you don't need to keep. You adjust, making it more a part of you, more useful to you and your writing, more focused. And, eventually, you wonder how you managed without it.