If you want to write a novel, you should be keeping a notebook

By Dennis Mellersh

If you are taking steps to learn how to write a novel, many experts suggest there are important reasons why you should buy and write in a notebook on a regular basis.

Lou Willett Stanek, for example, in her book, So You want to write a Novel*, suggests, “If you’re serious about writing a novel, or any type of fiction, you should zip out to buy a notebook before you read any further. A writer never leaves home without one. Ideas pop up at the weirdest times and places but often don’t last any longer then soap bubbles.”

And, Stanek emphasises, “The first step in becoming a writer is always having your notebook within reach.”

As an aspiring novel writer, the importance of having a notebook handy can be illustrated by answering the following question:

How often have you thought of an interesting idea for you’re the novel you’re planning to write, only to have the idea vanish before you are able to write it down?

Likely very often.

And the same applies to anything interesting you observe as you go about your day that could be good material for you to use as a writer, in your novel or other material.

If you have your notebook handy, you can write the idea down immediately and then reference it later and perhaps expand on it.

It’s not always possible to determine when something interesting you come across could be used in your writing, so it’s best to write it down while the information and the desire to record it is still fresh.

So, keep your notebook and a pen handy when you are: reading the newspaper or a magazine, watching TV, browsing the Internet, listening to a Podcast, watching You Tube, or in any situation where you are taking in information.

* Lou Willett Stanek: So You Want to Write a Novel, 1994, Avon Books, New York.