In this Book
- Writers and Their Notebooks
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: University of South Carolina Press
A peek inside the writerly testing grounds of Sue Grafton, Kim Stafford, Maureen Stanton, and others
This collection of essays by well-established professional writers explores how their notebooks serve as their studios and workshops—places to collect, to play, and to make new discoveries with language, passions, and curiosities. For these diverse writers, the journal also serves as an ideal forum to develop their writing voice, whether crafting fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Some entries include sample journal entries that have since developed into published pieces. Through their individual approaches to keeping a notebook, the contributors offer valuable advice, personal recollections, and a hardy endorsement of the value of using notebooks to document, develop, and nurture a writer's creative spark.
Designed for writers of all genres and all levels of experience, Writers and Their Notebooks celebrates the notebook as a vital tool in a writer's personal and literary life.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xiii-xiv
- Part 1—The Journal as Tool
- pp. 1-2
- Journaling—a Stepping Stone
- pp. 3-8
- On Meeting Yourself
- pp. 17-22
- Journal—the Place of No Limit
- pp. 23-29
- Using My Notebook
- pp. 30-34
- A Life Observed
- pp. 35-42
- Blogging like a Child-Arsonist
- pp. 43-52
- Part 2—The Journal for Survival
- pp. 53-54
- “Musements” and Mental Health
- pp. 55-61
- Clearing the Decks
- pp. 62-68
- Le Misérable
- pp. 69-76
- Sea of Blue Ink
- pp. 77-84
- Part 3—The Journal for Travel
- pp. 85-86
- Writing in Public Places
- pp. 93-100
- Notes from an Accidental Journal Keeper
- pp. 101-110
- Part 4—The Journal as Muse
- pp. 111-112
- My Own Particular Custom
- pp. 121-125
- Thoughts on a Writer’s Journal
- pp. 126-134
- From Writer’s Notebook to Poetic Journal
- pp. 135-140
- The Icebreaker
- pp. 141-146
- Part 5—The Journal for Life
- pp. 147-148
- Daily Doodles
- pp. 149-153
- Forgetting to Remember—Why I Keep a Journal
- pp. 154-161
- Keeping Up with the Days
- pp. 162-172
- Anne Frank Redux
- pp. 173-180
- Journaling without the Journal
- pp. 181-184
- Appendix II A Journaling Workout
- pp. 193-194
- Sources and Further Readings
- pp. 195-198
- Contributors
- pp. 199-203