"I don't know what to write about."
"Choosing a topic takes so long."
In my writing class students often complain that they can't think of a topic or ideas for their essays or narratives. But I resist providing them with topics because I want them to take ownership of the whole writing process, including deciding what to write about.
Capturing ideas for writing
And I believe that they do have ideas. And opinions. And imagination. And creativity. It's just that - like most of us - those ideas are not necessarily ready in our minds when it's time to write. Meanwhile, other times when it's not convenient to write (lying in bed at night, when working on something important, when you're out somewhere) those ideas and thoughts pop into our minds.
The solution? A notebook.
Photo by Jan Kahánek on Unsplash
What is a writer's notebook?
Earlier this year I took an online course called Start Writing Fiction. Keeping a writer's notebook was one of the habits that we were encouraged to create. I learned how a notebook can be the perfect place to jot down story ideas, interesting phrases, reflections, or anything else that could be developed into a story or other writing project.
I started enjoying the benefits of my writer's notebook right away. I loved having a place to jot down phrases and thoughts as they came without worrying whether it was a good time to write. And when I set aside time to write I always had something ready to develop.
Of course, this is not a groundbreaking discovery in the world of writing. Many writers past and present have kept a notebook or diary of some kind. Virginia Woolf wrote:
The habit of writing thus for my own eye only is good practice. It loosens the ligaments. Never mind the misses and the stumbles.
Help students create a writing habit
I decided to introduce the writer's notebook to my writing class.
First, I talked about the benefits of keeping a notebook and gave lots of examples of what could be written, showing the students a few pages from my own notebook. Some students were immediately eager to begin while others seemed nonchalant. I encouraged them to begin keeping a notebook (it could be on paper or electronic). But how do you encourage students to actually use the notebook?
Sharing time
Asking students to share their notebook jottings is good motivation for them to use it. The following week I invited my students to share what they had written in their notebooks. Here are some of the things they shared in class:
- Some words to a person I like. But I don't want to show to the person
- Is there something named 'the right thing to do'?
- Immediate mood and thoughts
- Some sentences in the movie I recently saw
- My dream
- Sky is the ore deposit where light hides deeply.
- Some videos which intrigue my thoughts, like how my future will be like, or whether I integrate with my shadow in my life
- Is taking risks, in general, a good idea?
You can see that some are specific while others are more general. Some are mundane while others are profound. The beauty of the notebook is that you can write anything.
Each week I gave the students time to share what they had written. They had the choice to share as much or as little as they liked; in detail or in brief. I also shared what I had written in my notebook. Knowing we would share in class helped all of us remember to write in our notebooks, building it into our lives as a habit.
Many of the students found keeping a notebook useful for their writing as well as for processing their thoughts and emotions and they expressed a desire to continue using their notebooks even after our course is over. I am certainly going to continue.
- Do your students find it difficult to think of topics to write about?
- What do you think of the writer's notebook?
- Do you keep a writer's notebook? Is it helpful?
- Do your students keep a notebook?
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