Writer’s Notebooks

Teachers Write ButtonI’m taking part again this summer in Teacher’s Write, hosted by Kate Messner, Gae Polisner, and Jen Vincent.  Today is the official first day of summer camp for teachers and writers, and Kate kicked things off with a post about writer’s notebooks.

I love the idea of writer’s notebooks. I find it hard to resist a notebook with a pretty cover (artwork is my favorite) and blank pages.  It doesn’t matter if they are lined or blank…those pages beckon to me to scribble and doodle with all the colors in my pen collection.  I have notebooks I reflect on my spiritual growth.  I have a small Moleskin notebook that I keep in my purse.  I have stashes of blank ones tucked away in different sizes and colors.  I have one notebook that I started in 2007.  It is filled with first drafts of poems for my daughter’s birthday, quotes from favorite books and writers, diaries of vacations, even a few doodles here and there.  I just filled the last page last week–in 2013.

I am not consistent in writing in my notebooks.  Sometimes I get busy and writing gets shoved to the bottom of my to-do list.  Sometimes fear holds me back.  I know a writer’s notebook can be a place to explore and play around, but I’m leery of just letting go.

One of the things I would like to do with Teachers Write this summer to is to have some fun with my writing.  I do write a lot–book reviews and reflections on this blog among other things–but I want to savor all that words can do and explore new worlds.  I’m off to a good start.  I opened my new writers notebook from last week and finished a story I began during a conference with Tom Romano.  My goal for the rest of this week is to play around every day in my notebook for at least 15 minutes.  Who knows?  I might even do more!

I’m also hanging out with the Making Learning Connected MOOC this summer to play around with new technology tools.  I could’t resist creating another Thimble from one of last week’s introductory activities.  Instead of a 10-book memoir, I changed it to writer’s notebooks.  I must have learned something last night because this one didn’t take nearly as long!  I even learned a new iPad app to create the photo collage.

writers notebooks

2 Comments on Writer’s Notebooks

  1. Cathy
    June 25, 2013 at 11:27 am (11 years ago)

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on writer’s notebooks. I appreciate your honesty about the challenges we face with our notebooks. I’m a bit curious about MOOC. (I’m going to have to research this a bit.) It sounds interesting. I also am intrigued by your Thimble (?). Oh, so much to learn.

    Thanks for sharing,
    Cathy (@cathymere on Twitter or Merely Day by Day blogspot)

    Reply
    • Mrs. McGriff
      June 25, 2013 at 2:48 pm (11 years ago)

      I always have good intentions with those notebooks…and when I do write in them, I find them valuable. It always coming down to making time to write. Definitely check out the MOOC. It’s very low pressure and highly encouraging. Folks can participate in whatever way feels comfortable from lurking to dabbling in a few activities. There is a lot to learn, but everyone is very supportive. It will also be a place I come back to later to pick up new ideas. Here’s the link: http://blog.nwp.org/clmooc/. If you have gmail, consider joining the Making Learning Connected Community on Google+. I wasn’t too sure about G+, but I’m finding lots of good resources.

      Reply

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