So – while out and about or on your travels – you’ve marshalled some really good ideas there in your Writer’s notebook! You’ve listened in to other people’s conversations on the train. You’ve savoured your coffee in a cafe while developing a list of words which could help you write a poem about taste. And you’ve thought up a name for that minor character who will be so important to your novel’s story นิยายวาย.
The Writer’s Notebook is certainly somewhere to keep a whole host of snippets and rehearsals. And I personally couldn’t survive without at least one – if not more – notebooks on the go at any given time.
For example, alongside a notebook dedicated to any creative project of length, I habitually keep a notebook for general writing. This may contain all sorts of interesting bits and pieces garnered daily – from brilliant ‘titles’ coming to me in the small hours to the anecdote I heard over lunch.
But this is not just about stories you make up. Creative non-fiction, for example, is ‘creative’ because it seeks to entertain and engage and this is well within the creative writer’s scope. Creative non-fiction is also based on interesting facts – some of which require further research but some of which you will have recorded in your Writer’s notebook.
Either way, the problem is: you can soon generate a seriously-threatening amount of material. And the question is: ‘Where next?’
The regular Review is a good springboard. At least once a week, re-read your notebook with a red underlining pencil to hand. Pick out some of your ideas – the strong ones are those you like best – and think about the possibilities:
Have you recorded some memories leading towards a central theme? Could this be the basis of memoir or a journalistic piece?
Have you noted a ‘captured moment’ with a strong character, good dialogue and an intriguing setting? This could grow into a short story.
Do you want to describe an autobiographical moment – using the power of language (sound, rhythm, imagery) – to express its significance? As a poem, perhaps?
Have you an unruly bunch of characters saying what they mean and don’t mean? Have you thought of devising a drama?
Would you like to pull together all of the above in broadstroke combination? Perhaps you should write a novel.
This, of course, is just the beginning.