Stephen King says "A writer's notebook is the best way to immortalize bad ideas." His philosophy is basically that if you need to write down an idea so you don't forget it, then it wasn't that good of an idea in the first place. The good ones will stick around.

As much as I adore and idolize Mr. King, and agree with most of the advice he has, on this point I'm a little iffy. Because my philosophy about writing words is to always be writing words. And sometimes, all the words I have in me are notes in my writer's notebook.

Sometimes when I can't squeeze any words into the manuscript I want to be working on, all I have is the idle doodling and jotting in my bullet journal. And you know what? I could use those as fucking words. And you should too!

Tactile Pleasures

Any article on effective study methods will always tell you to write out your study material by hand. This is because it's scientifically proven that if you have to write something with your hand, the muscle memory will help you remember better what you wrote. Or something far more scientific than that. I am not a scientist.

The main point I'm trying to make here is that it feels good. Could I write an entire novel by hand? Fuck no, I'd have carpal tunnel within three days. I remember writing stories by hand behind my geography textbook in high school and goddamn was that tiring.

But the tactile pleasure of writing out a little poem, or chunk of dialogue, or just a few words to remember a plot I want to use someday... it's lovely. Especially with the right pen and paper. Have you ever written on stone paper with a mechanical pencil? It's like a tantric experience.

Just me? Okay.

Organized Chaos

So, I talked about what a Panster I am. This isn't to say that I never jot down ideas. I have a page in my bullet journal that is just for random funny shit that my husband says because he comes up with the most off-the-wall ideas that sometimes I can pull a coherent plot out of it.

It's basically just a dumping ground for the random thoughts in my head. And later, if I need inspiration, I can flip through and see if anything gives me that 'aha' moment. Or, I can flip to the WRITE FUCKING WORDS NOW page to give myself a punch in the face.

The way I see it, even if I don't ever use a single idea in that book, it is something to work on, something to keep me creative even on my least creative days.

It's Just For You

You ever want to write something, but you're too scared because it's not in your normal genre and you don't know how people will take it? Write it in your notebook. Need to get a sex scene off your chest, never to see the light of day? Write it in your notebook. Try your hand at poetry even though you think it sucks? Write it in your notebook.

The key to the writer's notebook is that it's just for YOU to look at. Nobody else. So there's no pressure to be amazing, or profound, or fit into whatever style you're trying to portray. You can just be yourself. And who knows, maybe you'll learn about yourself and what you want to achieve as a writer in the process.

Hey, You're Writing!

All words count as words! If you write one hundred shitty words in your notebook or journal, that's one hundred more words that you would have written without it. Maybe that will open the floodgates for the project that you want to be working on. Maybe it'll give you the kick you need to start something that you've been too nervous to start. Or maybe it'll just make you feel better getting something off of your chest.

Bullet Journaling

For those of you fancy artsy people, you've probably heard of bullet journaling. If you haven't, look it up on Pinterest or Instagram. I'll wait.

You back? Awesome, right? I'm not that fancy or artistic, so my bullet journal is just fine-tipped black sharpie pen on dot paper, but you can do so much with all these spreads! Goal setting, pretty titles, book pages. And guess what making all of that tickles? The creativity bone, of course!

If you're procrastinating writing, then at least use that creativity! Flex those muscles! Be productive towards fostering the creative juices so that they're always flowing.

There's a dirty joke in there somewhere...