Several months ago I took a writing course. One of the first things the instructor handed to each person in the class was a little black book. It was actually a miniature version of those black-speckled composition notebooks you buy at places like Wal-mart.
The instructor announced, “You need to start thinking like a writer, so that means you need to always be brainstorming about writing ideas. Here’s a little black book to use because you never know when a writing idea will hit you.”
Well, good student that I am, I followed her instructions and began to use that little black book to jot down everything that came to mind. And to this day, I keep that little black book with me at all times. It’s small enough to fit into my tiniest purse or even the pocket of my jeans or a jacket. That’s why it’s so handy when:
- I’m driving down the road and an introductory sentence or phrase for an article comes to mind.
- I’m waiting at the dentist’s office and an idea for a book or an article occurs to me.
- I see a catchy phrase I think I may be able to use in my writing some day.
- I make a new writing contact and need to write their name or email address down.
- I’m at a party and I find myself bored and decide to work on my marketing plan for the following week.
Now that I think like a writer, I always keep my little black book handy, even if it is a little dog eared by now.
Are you thinking like a writer, yet?
If so, then you need a handy little black book, too.
