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Wynelda Shelton

The Blank Book

This month's column isn't about a book that you can sit back and read to improve your craft. Instead, it's about one of the best Christmas gifts writers can give to themselves. The blank book.

I didn't understand at first how much the blank book could help a writer. I do most of my writing now at the computer. Why would I need a blank book to write in? Journaling just isn't my thing. Then a friend gave me a small, pocket sized notebook that found its way into my purse.

Suddenly, I had a place to write down little snippets of conversation. Like the roommates, sitting outside the movie theatre, teasing one of their comrades about "being so neat she has to arrange the bowls by size." It's not, by any stretch of the imagination, a wonderful piece of dialogue. But it does raise some interesting questions. Why does she need to arrange everything by size? Is she a simple neatnik or is there something more going on? Does she arrange her shoes by color and style? How far does it go?

Dialogue isn't the only thing that found its way into the little notebook. Descriptions that suddenly took my fancy are recorded. Like the tree outside my window at work that had cotton candy blooms on it. A sunset that looked as if it were painted in oils, just for me.

Soon, the blank book wasn't so blank. Story lines, possible titles, comments, and such were filling it up. I obtained a larger blank book so that I could work on story ideas while not at the computer. Or to work out story problems in. There are even a couple of poems in one of them, though I by no means consider myself a poet.

The key is in finding the kind of blank book that works for you. I prefer spiral bound notebooks that make it easy to flip through pages. A friend of mine loves journal type books, the variety of covers and styles, and the real binding on the sides. The outside doesn't matter, though, it's what you put inside.

The ability to go back and unwrap that brilliant idea, that bit of dialogue that caught your ear, is an amazing thing. As a writer, it is one of the best gifts that I can think of to give myself.