Notebook Sharing

 I pick up one of my many 5 x 8 inch notebooks, the ones I carry with me everywhere, my purse, my backpack, my bedside, my home office, near my knitting/crocheting.  I never know when inspiration may hit me and tracking down a missing notebook can kill creativity quicker than anything!

But I have discovered that my young granddaughters share my love of notebooks.  As in, they love MY notebooks.  It doesn't matter how many notebooks I have given them, they are more interested in my notebooks. I don't know why, maybe because they contain written words.  They are six and four and while the six year old is beginning to write words and sentences, they are still fascinated with the long writing that goes on inside my notebook. The problem is when they take a pencil and begin to fill in all the empty pages of my notebook and suddenly I am left without a clean sheet in the whole thing.

But despite this problem, which only gives me an excuse to purchase more notebooks, I love them having the fascination for writing and scribbling inside the notebooks, because that is where imagination begins!   Many a time I sit with my notebook and pencil looking at a blank page and just begin writing words. The words invariably become sentences. Sometimes a whole paragraph turns into a short story or at least the beginnings of one.  That is so exciting!

I am glad my granddaughters hold the same excitement I feel when picking up a notebook and pencil.  Their creative juices are flowing and will improve each and every time they make a mark.  If I were a writing teacher I would give each of my students the same little 5 by 8 inch notebook and a fun pencil and tell them to never let it leave their side!  Write, write anything words, sentences, descriptions, flowery prose, whatever it takes to just write and let the imagination begin. That is so very important!  And writing with a pencil or pen on paper is more important and helpful than typing letters on a keyboard too.  The act of physically making letters stimulates the creative juices inside as well.

Get a notebook and try it.  Just give it a try and see how it can push you forward, creating new worlds and freeing yourself for fun.  Do it!