keeping a journal

http://www.writesite.org/html/journal.html

Many people keep journals as a record of the happenings of the day and their feelings about them. Writers use journals in a different way. Instead of recording what happened each day, they write in a journal on a regular basis to find out more about themselves. They use their journal as a place to polish their voice and keep it strong.You can do anything you want in your journal. It’s your own space. There are no rules or structure except what you decide on. The main purpose of a journal is to help you get used to putting ideas on paper.Ways to Get Started
Take time at the end of each day to record images, events, and scenes that have stuck with you
Write down details you recall
Make notes about other images or events the day’s images and events suggest to you
Explore what the things you remember tell you about yourself
Write freely for ten minutes using an image, event, or scene from the day as a starting point
Reread what you wrote on other days and develop ideas that strike you
ExperimentUse your journal as a place to
play with words or phrases
tell stories from different points of view
compose a brief autobiography
express opinions on issues
apply different tones (for example: humorous, tragic, animated, dry, somber) to your writing
create dialogue
copy the style of other writers
write a letter to yourself, to someone else, or to no one in particular
review books you have read or films you have seen
If you keep a journal faithfully, you will find that it is more than a place to practice writing. It is a place to store your personal experience. And every good writer knows that personal experience is the most valuable resource for writing.

The Writer’s Task“My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see. That—and no more, and it is everything.” —Joseph Conrad“The task of a writer consists in being able to make something out of an idea.” —Thomas Mann“The main thing I try to do is write as clearly as I can. Because I have the greatest respect for the reader, and if he’s going to the trouble of reading what I’ve written . . . why, the least I can do is make it as easy as possible for him to find out what I’m trying to say, trying to get at. I rewrite a good deal to make it clear. “ —E. B. WhiteBack to TopGetting Started “Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about.” —Kurt Vonnegut“The first essential is to know what one wishes to say; the second is to decide to whom one wishes to say it.” —Harold Nicolson“It is important to know the title before you begin—then you know what you are writing about.” —Nadine Gordimer“Your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one persona real person you know, or an imagined person, and write to that one.” —John Steinbeck“One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. . . . Once I get it, the rest just comes out very easily. —Gabriel García Márquez“The first moments are critical. You can sit there, tense and worried, freezing the creative energies, or you can start writing something, perhaps something silly. It simply doesn’t matter what you write; it only matters that you write. In five or ten minutes the imagination will heat, the tightness will fade, and a certain spirit and rhythm will take over.” —Leonard Bernstein“Put your notes away before you begin a draft. What you remember is probably what should be remembered; what you forget is probably what should be forgotten. No matter; you’ll have a chance to go back to your notes after the draft is completed. What is important is to achieve a draft which allows the writing to flow.” —Donald M. MurrayBack to TopRevising“The idea is to get the pencil moving quickly. . . . Once you’ve got some words looking back at you, you can take two or three—throw them away and look for others.” —Bernard Malamud“Look for clutter in your writing and prune it ruthlessly. Be grateful for everything you can throw away. Re-examine each sentence that you put on paper. Is every word doing new work? Can any thought be expressed with more economy? Is anything pompous or pretentious or faddish? Are you hanging on to something useless just because you think it’s beautiful?” —William Zinsser“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” —Mark TwainBack to TopEncouragement“Thousands of people plan to be writers, but they never get around to it. The only way to find out if you can write is to set aside a certain period every day and try.” —Judith Krantz“Throw yourself into the hurly-burly of life. . . . It is all your material. . . . Don’t wait for experience to come to you; go out after experience. Experience is your material.” —W. Somerset Maugham“Be daring, take on anything. Don’t labor over little cameo works in which every word is to be perfect. Technique holds a reader from sentence to sentence, but only content will stay in his mind.” —Joyce Carol Oates“I put a piece of paper under my pillow and when I could not sleep I wrote in the dark.” —Henry David Thoreau“You don’t write because you want to say something; you write because you’ve got something to say.” —F. Scott FitzgeraldBack to TopWriter’s Block“Structure is everything. When authors come to me complaining of writer’s block it means that they are too lazy to work out a structure either in their lives or in their work. Which is not to say that every writer doesn’t have his own, idiosyncratic procedures. Mine begins with three basic stages: research, structure, and writing. The writing part often takes the least time. I do all the reading and note taking for some months, or years if it’s a long-term project with other books in between. Then I work on the structure for a long time. By the end it becomes a visual process, which I often do on the floor.” —Paul Johnson“Having to write about things other people tell you to write invariably leads to writer’s block. If you concentrate on your own interests, you’ve licked most of the problem.” —Kenneth Atchity“Free write . . . write nonstop, continuously, never lifting a hand from the paper, putting down whatever thoughts occur, and when no thoughts come, filling in with repetition or nonsense. This method helps to break down that instant self-censorship which grips even very good students when they start to write.” —Nancy PackerBack to TopFinding Your Voice“You must write, not just think you’re going to. . . . And you must widen your vocabulary, enjoy words. You must read widely, not in order to copy, but to find your own voice. It’s a matter of going through life with all one’s senses alive, to be responsive to experience, to other people.” —P. D. James“Write it as it is, don’t try to make it like this or that. You can’t do it in anybody else’s wayyou will have to make a way of your own. If the way happens to be new, don’t let that frighten you. . . . Write the truth, and let them take it or leave it.” —Sarah Orne Jewett“The most original thing a writer can do is write like himself. It is also his most difficult task.” —Robertson DaviesBack to Top[Sources: William Safire and Leonard Safire, Good Advice on Writing: Writers Past and Present on How to Write Well (NewYork: Simon and Schuster, 1992); Sophy Burnham, For Writers Only (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994)]

http://www.writesite.org/html/voices.html

Writer's notebook article with suggestions

http://www.journalforyou.com/full_article.php?article_id=10

The Writer's Notebook: A Powerhouse of IdeasBy Sherry Ma Belle Arrieta
Reading the contents in a writer's notebook or journal is like opening and discovering a chest full of pearls, rubies and diamonds amidst a pile of rubble and discarded things.
That little notebook is a powerhouse of ideas for every writer: The more you write down bits and pieces of your thoughts and observations, the more you are adding into the well of ideas for future works.
In case you run out of ideas to write about, you can always look within the pages of your writer's notebook or journal.
So here are several things you can record in your notebook:
A SHOEBOXED LIFEWrite what you know, feel and experience, right? So jot down snippets of events in your life. Write a sentence or a paragraph about a funny, embarrassing, happy, or infuriating experience.
PEOPLE PROFILESWrite down descriptions of the people you meet each day. How do they react in certain situations? How do their names fit their image?
WORD ESTATEWhenever an interesting word catches your attention, write it down. It may have a different meaning for you a month or a year from now. If you keep a list of words in your notebook, the words can serve as story starters for you.
CANDID QUOTES AND ONE-LINERSKids say the most unexpected things, and people say the most interesting, surprising or even shocking lines when we least expect to hear them say these lines. Overheard lines in a conversation can sometimes spark your creative mind. Write down these one-liners in your notebook. They can be great story starters.
GOOD BOOKS AND QUIRKY ADSRead good books. Keep a file of memorable lines or quotes. Write down quirky billboard ads. Scan the papers for one-liners. These are good idea stimulators.
EMOTIONS AT ANY GIVEN MOMENTDescribe what you feel at any given moment. If you feel angry right now, write what your anger feels like. Describe it. Use vivid words. Don't skimp on adjectives.
Writers are like store owners: Store owners stock supplies in their shelves, while we writers stock ideas between the pages of our notebooks.
It's endless. It's bottomless. You can reach down again and again for inspiration without exhausting your notebook of reserve.
So take a peek in your notebook and you just might find something there that could connect your pen to the paper on your desk.
======Copyright 2001 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta
Shery is the owner of http://www.writememories.com/ , your companion to writing and preserving your memories. In partnership with The e-Writer's Place, WriteMemories.com launches SNAPSHOTS: Writing from Memory, Writing from Life, a 3-week email workshop on journaling, scrapbooking and memoir writing. Visit http://www.ewritersplace.com/workshops/snapshots.html for the complete workshop outline and information on how you can avail of the SNAPSHOTS Free-To-Try Module.

Writer's notebook ideas

http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/wnb2.htm

Writer's notebook explained:

http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/wnb1.htm