In my fourth and final recap of Anne Lamott's book, Bird by Bird
, I'm going to talk about
INDEX CARDS!!
Now, I bet you all think you know what I'm going to talk about. When I was reading this chapter in Anne's book, I thought I knew what she was going to talk about, too. Then, she threw me for a loop. This post is not about using index cards as a way to organize your story.
Basically, she leaves cards in every room of her house and always carries one with her when she's going out sans purse. This gives her a place to write down anything, at any time. Maybe it's a piece of overheard dialogue, or the way two dogs are interacting in the park, but she's always able to capture it.
Ever since NaNo '09, I've been carrying around a pen in my purse, but never an index card or notebook. I usually end up using whatever scrap of paper I can find. Receipts are a favorite. As you can imagine, this is not very organized. At the end of the
For NaNo '10, I decided to use actual paper. This has worked well, but I'm still not organized. I have a notebook at work, which is chock full of some journaling I've been doing, and a notebook at home with character descriptions and loglines, etc. Not to mention my google docs account that has my rough outline, my detailed outline and a character questionnaire.
So before Nano starts, I'm going to buy a notebook and get organized - maybe I'll even buy a pack of index cards to throw in my purse. Wish me luck!
Do you carry writing tools everywhere you go? What kind of notebook do you use?
I have a tiny little notebook in my purse that's perfect for jotting down ideas, because they always seem to come at the most random times! Such great advice :)
ReplyDeleteI do carry a small notebook in my purse, which has come in handy several times.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about index cards for this purpose. I do use them for plotting, though. I like the flexility of them, where I can slip in a new card if I think of something new.
I'm doing nano too! If you want to buddy me, I'm at Julie Musil. Good luck!
I always have pens in my purse, but I only sometimes carry around a notebook. The one I carry still has my Nano '09 notes in it to refer back to.
ReplyDeleteI usually jot quick things down in the notes function in my Iphone.
I have a great notebook in my purse...it was actually part of my gift from the last NBC exchange! I've used it to write down overheard dialogue, too. It's awesome.
ReplyDeleteI love this post--and I loved Bird by Bird. Index cards always seemed like a good idea but not for me because I'm too disorganized. I'd lose them or drop them or just plain fail to write them out!
ReplyDelete