Teachers Write 2020 - Sunday Check-In #3

Welcome to the third Sunday check-in for Teachers Write this summer! I hope you are finding time to write and enjoying the ideas from Kate and the other authors. 

This week Linda Urban talked about notebooks and I loved what she said about having a notebook but maybe not calling it a writer's notebook. I've found that lately I do more journaling in my notebooks but I also take notes and do some thinking. Right now I have four notebooks that I use consistently. 

Each of them has a different purpose! The top left is where I'm taking all the notes for the memoir I'm working on. Sometimes I'm just writing to get my thinking out, sometimes I'm making a timeline, sometimes I'm thinking about a word and the different meanings or connotations it holds, and sometimes I'm thinking about the variety of identities that make me me. You can see snippets of this notebook work below. Right now, I'm just exploring different ideas and seeing how what's there. A few times I have tried to write a scene as if I was back in the moment but the fun part is I'm just doing work. There's no qualification other than putting something in the notebook everyday. 

The next on the top left is where I keep my daily calendars and my to do list. I keep some notes in there but it's more just notes to help myself remember to get things done. The bottom left is a learning notebook. I use that to keep notes based on different things I've been reading or participating in. You can see some snippets from my notebooks below. I joined an online book talk with Megan Stielstra and took some notes, I read the book How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell and took notes, I read a Flow magazine and took notes, I went to a meditation workshop with a Buddhist monk and wrote down my notes. That note book isn't particularly for writing but I do find myself writing my ideas and thoughts as well as synthesizing information when I write my notes. My brain is definitely at work in each of my notebooks!

I'd love to hear about where you do you work and whether you have different notebooks like me or if you keep all of you work in one place. I do take lots of pictures on my phone too. It's kind of like taking notes. I also have some big construction paper that I use to do some work as well. I find that the more I write, the more things I try. I like exploring different options to see what works for me. And I find that different projects require different things while there are some things that overlap. I love having certain things all in one place, that seems to make things easier for me.

Thanks for stopping by to chat and share your writing life with me!

Teachers Write Sunday Check-In Agreements:

1. We respect each other and the type of writing we each do do.

2. We are positive and encourage each other at all times.

3. We recognize and maintain this as a safe, 
inclusive environment for all.

4. We have fun!

**I reserve every right to put the smackdown
on anyone who messes with our positive energy.**

Ideas for today in the comments section:

How did you do this week? Did you meet your weekly goal(s)?

What was the pit of your week? (The hardest part, the non-fun part?)
What was the peak of your week? (The best part, the most-fun part?)

Do you keep your notebook? 

Do you have one notebook for all the things or multiple noteoboks?

Bonus: I'm the co-host of the Words of Our World Challenge with my friend Carrie Baughcum, author of My Pencil Made Me Do It and co-host of Doodle and Chat. You can follow @storyexploratory and @carriebaughcum on Instagram and join us as we combine words + art. This week's theme was joy and here are the typewriters I made!