Notebook Ideas

Notebook Ideas

Your notebook is a new house that you’ve moved into and now you can get to live in it, decorate the insides so to speak, have conversations with every nook and cranny, make it yours! So…how? My notebook has become notoriously hard to take photos of but here’s a page I really love.

Outside of your own scribblings, book/poetry/song/movie parts make really good additions to your notebook. I’ve mentioned before how I’ve taken to photocopying the pages of books I’ve marked all my favourite lines in and cutting them up to glue in to have a better connection to the book and author but there’s no reason you can’t do that with lyric books or library books. Recording and collecting the things that you love can be a really textural, hands on process. You don’t even have to paste them in! You can use dress pins to pin them to pages, safety pins or paper clips, even sticky tape them as little fold outs. It gives this sense of realness as you flip through pages and you have to lift things up and play with it to experience the entire thing.

Collage.  I collage a lot of pictures n art from magazines, old anatomical illustrations, pages of library books I’ve photocopied, secondhand art books I’ve cut up. I love to cut things up and collage them in, I have big fold out pages that are a mishmash of collage. I think the best thing to think of when collaging is what visual concept are you trying to portray, cut out a bunch of stuff and see what fits together nicely, consider colours and themes. Then you can even go back into those collages with the first prompt! Cutting out book quotes that might fit and pasting them against the collage. It’s about creating layers.

Odds n bods, the interactive bits, the bits…that occasionally fall out.  I can’t speak for what kind of knick knacks you favour but I can give you a push in the direction of what can go into a notebook by telling you what I’ve got pushed between the pages of mine. I’ve placed old bits of cutlery (including army ration pack spoons) I have a dog tag attached to a key, I’ve got enamelled brooches speared through the page where I’ve taken notes about a fashion line I might design far off in the future, I’ve got rhinestones and iridescent jewels and stick on pearls that I grabbed the junk store in the craft section, I’ve got charms and metal castings, fire hydrant tags that I’ve scavenged, earrings, kilt pins through the pages, I made some shrink plastic charms that I’ve glued in, ribbon medal pins, Lace and patches I haven’t put on a jacket yet, angel figurines and a mother Mary pocket shield, an embroidered patch I made…honestly the possibilities are endless and one of the best things is finding places to put these little things in between the pages.

Your own drawings. I’m a big fan of photocopying (and shrinking down due to size) my own drawings and putting them into my notebook. It gives me a good look at what I was thinking across multiple pieces, it’s easier to carry around and work from especially if the original drawings are large and because I’m working specifically in a very notebook way over sketchbook, it’s the ideal way to explore the visual concept I’m drawing!

Adding extra pages! This helps you continue within a notebook and it also adds to the bulk of it! I like to unbind pages from a similar sized notebook (If you’re a writer I’d bet money that you have A LOT of notebooks you aren’t using and probably don’t plan to use so) sew them back together with embroidery thread through the previous binds and then paste the spine in between pages of my notebook! Occasionally a lil sticky tape is necessary but!

The scribbled bits. Your own mad ramblings n such. Honestly, there are so many things in the world you can write about, perhaps too many things and all of it is important in some way so! Maybe you want to write down all the information you learnt about ornithomancy or tarot, maybe you want to roughly sketch the idea you had for an art piece or a dream you had, maybe it’s story notes or lines from a poem you want to write, a list of concepts you want to explore or research,  a list of books you want to read.  Ideally, consider what it is you talk to yourself about, what things rattle about your brain like insistent moths, things that ring inside of you like church bells!

I always love questionnaires like these. Even if you don’t share your answers, these are great ways to think about your own work. Sometimes they ask questions we haven’t thought of ourselves. The more we learn about our characters and the worlds they live in, the easier it will be to submerse yourself when you write (and of course for your readers too!)

(fantasy) writer ask meme.

01. which world is your favorite? least favorite? why?

02. do any of your characters have magical abilities? what kind?

03. is there a character without abilities? why are they unique?

04. is there a royal family? if so, talk about them a little bit!

05. is there a prince/princess? why are they special?

06. are there different creatures in your world? what kind of creatures?

07. has there been a war? if so, tell your readers about it!

08. are there any armies? do they have special armor?

09. what are the religions of the characters in your book? are there certain gods/goddesses?

10. what type of clothing do your characters wear?

11. are there any fancy balls and festivals held in your book?

12. is there an ocean in your story? what kind of creatures lurk in it?

13. who are the main protagonists? do they have any special weapons?

14. who are the main antagonists? do they have any special weapons?

15. is any part of your book inspired by fairytales?

16. is there a forest? is there something strange about the forest?

17. are there any important symbols in your book? explain.

18. what kind of jobs exist in your fantasy world?

19. do any of your characters fly? how?

20. are there pirates? what role do they play in the story?

21. are there any important animals in your book? any pets? do animals talk?

22. are there certain plants? flowers? fruits? spices? poison?

23. what type of jewelry is typically sold/worn, if any? who would be the one to purchase it?

24. is there a kingdom in your story? if so, what keeps it thriving?

25. what type of food do people eat in your world? is there some only few can afford?

26. do any of your characters have scars with meaning? how did that happen?

27. is there a castle? what does it look like?

28. do you have a language for your book? are there any examples you want to share?

29. are there any minor characters you want to talk about? what is their role?

30. what message does your fantasy story have? does it correspond with reality?

Showing Feelings and Emotions

Afraid

•Hands Shaking

•Knees like rubber

•Covering mouth with hand

•Breathing fast

•Biting nails

•Whimpering

Angry

•Red in the face

•Hands on hips

•Glaring

•Hands in fists

•Jaw clenched

•Nostrils flared

•Pinching bridge of nose with fingers

Shocked

•Mouth wide open

•Eyes wise

•Hand covering mouth

•Gasping

•Stepping back

Shy

•Blushing

•Glancing down

•Fidgeting

•Speaking softly

•Arms crossed

•Standing back from group

Nervous

•Biting lip

•Hands shaking

•Butterflies in stomach

•Stuttering

•Swallowing hard

•Heart pounding

Tired

•Droopy Eyes

•Yawning

•Stretching

•Slouching

•Rubbing Eyes

Sad

•Tears in Eyes

•Tumbling lips

•Hanging Head

•Shoulders slouched

•Frown

•Dragging feet

•Crying

Cold

•Shivering

•Rubbing Hands together

•Hugging self

•Blowing on Hands

•Fidgeting with sleeves

•Seeing vapors of breath

Excited

•Mouth open

•Smiling

•Heart pounding

•Eyes wide

•Hands clasped

•Jumping

•Clapping

i think, honestly, one of my favorite things about being a writer is that, after a really long time of just not writing, you can sit down and fall in love with your characters again and again. and yeah, i kinda joke about it, but i genuinely love what i’ve done with this huge imagination of mine, and that feeling is,, utterly remarkable, ya know?? amazing,,

The cold, hard truth.