For about 3 years there’s one habit that has been the sole reason for the majority of my good ideas, and that has been my pocket notebook.
Everywhere I go I bring a pen and a Moleskine blank pocket notebook (here’s the one I have), I get the little book out whenever I have an interesting thought or a specific observation.
This constant documentation of ideas results in a book filled with writing prompts and ideas to riff off giving me an unlimited database of ideas if I ever get stuck.
In this post, I am going to point out the 3 major reasons you, as a creative person, should carry a pocket notebook with you.
Alright, let’s get started;
Reason 1 – Notebooks allow for Clarity of Mind
Have you ever come up with some interesting idea, that you didn’t write down and later can’t think for the life of you what it was?
This is exactly what my pocket notebook solves. The book lets me write down any interesting thoughts and immediately they are out of my head, with no cognitive strain trying to keep several ideas in their.
The book gives me peace of mind that the thoughts I want to use in the future are safely stored and documented, so I need not waste any mental stress about losing valuable ideas.
Thus, a pocket notebook will give you peace of mind.
Reason 2 – Effective Reflection
My favorite thing to do when coming up with a new monster idea for my creative writing or ideas for blog posts is to pick an idea from my notebook and just riff on it for 10 minutes.
Often, this results in incredible motivation and really creative answers to what, effectively, is a writing prompt.
Using the notebook means I have a system by which I process ideas and can thus systemize my creativity, in a consistent way.
Pocket notebooks are an excellent reflective tool for creativity.
Reason 3 – Great Idea Store
The main thing I love about the notebook is the physicality of it.
The fact that everything I write is in there for good, unless some crazy accident results in combustion. There’s a permanence, a meaningfulness in expressing your ideas on the page.
I really enjoy looking over my past ideas and brainstorms as they also provide me with extra bonus amounts of creativity that spark my motivation.
For instance, here’s a character design for a creature for my first horror short story ‘Totem’;
Thus, a pocket notebook is a great idea storage device
In Conclusion. . .
These are the three main reasons I keep a pocket notebook to aid creativity;
- A pocket notebook will give you peace of mind
- Pocket notebooks are an excellent reflective tool for creativity
- A pocket notebook is a great idea storage device
If you liked this post then you should check out this one about the productivity system I use;
Hope you enjoyed it, have a great day 🙂
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