What's in Your Notebook?

Several agents and writing “experts” tell us that we should carry a notebook with us at all times to jot down those random ideas that only occur to us upon waking in the middle of the night or when we’re walking the dog or driving down the road.

I’ve carried a notebook for years. Actually, I’ve carried dozens of notebooks - I haven’t filled dozens of notebooks, mind you, I’ve only carried them around with me. I currently have two notebooks.

Blogger Jogger

One notebook I named “Blogger Jogger” - it is meant for snippets that might trigger future blog posts. The problem is there are as many times when I’m without it as there are when I take it with me. The blog post ideas that I come up with when I’m without the notebook are seem more numerous than the number I come up with when the notebook is close to hand. For some reason, I think those ideas I have when I am notebookless are more interesting than the ones I’ve jotted down. Why is that, do you think?

Awesome Notes

The other notebook is on my iPhone. That app is called Awesome Notes. The thing about this app that I love is that it allows me to create individual folders. So I have a folder called “Blog Ideas,” another called “Book Ideas,” and yet another called “Books to Read,” among others. The idea is to write down those random ideas for future books, future blog posts, and books that I want to read. I also have a folder called “Research” that I write down interesting facts I come across - with the idea that you never know when you’ll need a random fact or two.

The good thing about Awesome Notes is that I always have my iPhone with me. I have found that I have some really good ideas as I drive along the byways and freeways. Unfortunately, I can’t entered them into Awesome Notes without, I’m sure, causing a wreck or two. So as with Blogger Jogger, Awesome Notes is rendered useless.

I have found the notebook idea to be highly effective. What I haven’t been able to figure out is how to remember to take the notebook with me or how to use Awesome Notes while driving.

Recording Devices

My best friend suggested that I use a recorder to make notes. I’ve tried several recording devices over the years, which work better than trying to write something down in impossible situations, but I’m still a hazard when I drive and try to activate the recorder. I guess I could get off the freeway, but that doesn’t occur to me until afterwards. I try to remember the brilliant idea until I get to my destination, but there are way too many distractions, i.e., the idiot who cuts me off because he can’t stand being one car behind or the pedestrian who steps out from between parked cars to jaywalk instead of going the extra 50 feet to the crosswalk. I usually listen to NPR and while I’m trying to remember my own brilliant idea, I’ll hear someone else’s brilliant idea and off I go thinking about what I just heard and there goes my idea flying out the window.

New Invention Needed

Someday, someone will invent, if they haven’t already, a small device that will clip to my blouse, like a iPod Nano, that is voice activated. So when that clever idea comes singing into my mind, I’ll be able to repeat it immediately into the device and save it for all time. Of course, I’ll also capture me singing along with the Goldie Oldie radio station (not a pretty thought, I can assure you), cursing at the stupidity of the driver in front of me, or talking back to one of the guests on the Diane Riem Show on NPR. Yes, I know there are voice activated recorders on the market. I had one once. The issue with them, though, is finding it while I’m driving or, if I remember to put it on the passenger seat, grouping around for it. By the time I found it, the idea was long gone.

What’s Your Solution?

What do you do to remember that absolutely brilliant idea that flits by at the most inconvenient time?

The Twooth about Twitter - Part 2

Twitter Protocol

There are some who will tell you that if someone follows you, you must follow them. There are others who say, only follow those who interest you. I’m from the latter school of thought. I see no reason to follow the guy who wants to sell me a self-published book on how to write a book. If you don’t follow them back, you’ll undoubtedly lose a follower, but the only reason he’s following you is to (a) get you to buy his book and/or (b) to increase the number of people following him. When I first started, I’d check to see how many people a person was following and how many followers he had. If they were very close in numbers, I declined to follow them because they were merely trying to increase their number of followers.

How do you tell if someone is following you because they liked your tweets? Look at the number of people she follows and the number of people who are following her. If the two numbers are close, the person probably isn’t so much interested in you as increasing the number of followers.

There are people, celebrities, like Oprah, whose followers number in the millions. Obviously, there is no way they can read all the tweets from a million followers. They want to be heard. As long as that’s understood, go ahead and follow your faves. I have to admit a tingle of a thrill when Oprah added me to her list of followers. Do I think she’s intrigued with my 140 characters every day? No. But the thrill was there anyway.

How Much Should I Twitter?

That question has been the subject of many a blog post. Some say once or twice a day is sufficient. Others say, no, no, you have to tweet at least a half dozen times each and every day. The bottom line is that you don’t want to annoy people. Don’t tweet more than once or twice a day if you have nothing to say or share. If you don’t have something pithy to say, find a blog post you like a lot and tweet it’s URL with a comment that says what it’s about. Or retweet (passing on another’s tweet) a tweet to your followers. I needed an extra tweet one day so I tweeted the following:

To paraphrase Thomas Edison, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 [queries] that won’t work.”

Blogging and Twitter

Blogging is yet another way to develop a following and help brand yourself. Blogging is a topic best left to another day. However, don’t forget to put a link to Twitter on your blog so you’ll gain a few more people as followers.

The Pressure's On

The pressure is on now. I've known for a long while that I wanted and needed to blog, but I've resisted. As it turns out, though, resistance was futile. So here I am - twittered and blogged.

About me, and why I want to blog. I'm a writer. A published writer - short stories and a novel. I love to write. I always have a pen and paper with me. And I carry a small purse-sized notebook that I create for each book I write, and in which I jot plotting notes, remembered loose ends, and ideas for future books. I haven't yet gotten to the point of carrying my computer with me everywhere, but I've been tempted.

Have you wondered if we graduate from being a writer to being an author because we find an agent and publisher? Or is it that writers write non-fiction while authors write fiction? What to call ourselves? Writers or authors?

Whew. I'm glad the first blog is done. Now I can relax and enjoy the blogging experience.