I am a hardened veteran of notebook keeping(Starting on my seventh as of 9/5/2008). After suffering through years of trial-and-error(since around 2002), it suddenly dawned on me that other people would want to know a few of my techniques for making notebooking easier (yes, I'm using the word "notebook" as an action verb in the present tense). On this page, you'll find a few tips on how to keep a notebook cheaply and easily.
But first, why keep a notebook?
If you're even the tiniest bit serious about keeping a notebook, it won't cost you much to get
started.
I use mine to write down those great ideas that everyone has, but soon forgets in five minutes.
Also, a notebook keeps them all together in one place so I can review and look up previous ideas and
improve on them.
If you don't want to use the notebook for ideas, you can use it for journalling(or diary-ing).
Don't worry, if you don't think you need a whole spiral notebook for yourself, you can use a ringbinder and single sheets of paper, adding them in as you go.
What You Need:
- One (preferrably two) pencils, not ink pens. You'll want to go back and fix things, trust me.
- A spiral notebook. Choose the color wisely. You'll have to stare at it for a while. If you want your
name/notebook's name (explained later) on the front, don't go with black. Lighter colors are better.
- Eventually you'll want a ringbinder to keep your filled notebooks where they won't get lost or
destroyed. Get the biggest one you can get your hands on. A five-inch one is usually good enough.
- Once you get your pencils, you'll need them sharpened eventually. Go with a cheap motorized sharpener
to save your hands the effort. You didn't hear it from me, but in a pinch, you can use one blade on a
pair of scissors to whittle the pencil.
- Pencil eraser(If you erase a lot). You know, one of those pink parallelogram-shaped lump things that
find their way under the couch. Once I run out of eraser on my No.2 pencil, I prefer the erasr that fits
on top of the metal part where the original was. These don't take up as much room as the pink lumps.
1. Getting the Materials:
If possible, wait until the 'back to school sales' at Wal(star)Mart. They'll have the above materials for
sale really cheap. Stock up. Pencils disappear quickly in the household. Get a variety of notebook
colors, maybe two of each.
If possible, get the pencils with as soft of an eraser as possible. These take the markings off the paper
in a jiffy(I think that's the right word....), unlike the hard erasers that smudge up the paper. Not
pretty.
There's a whole art to getting the right texture eraser, but lucky for me, I'm not that picky.
While you're there, get a permanent marker if you want to write stuff on the front cover. Pencil doesn't
show up good on that plastic-like front.
2. Starting Out:
If you've decided to name your notebook and you have your marker with you---STOP!
Think twice as to what you write there! It's what people will see first. If you have a name that doesn't
make sense and requires explaining to everyone who sees it, guess what? You're fault. Don't write the
name there (or draw a picture) just yet. First, decide on a standard spot for where to put your name, and
the date you started the notebook. I prefer putting my name on the inside of the front and back cover
(outside back cover, too).
You can always go back and put a name on there when you have a good one.
Also, number your notebooks to make it easy to sort them. One for the first, two for the second, etc.
Once that is done, remember, no matter how tempting, Use one notebook at a time! Fill one up,
then move on to the next one. I made the mistake of writing in three or four at once. The
confusion! You want to see the progress you've made over the years, not a random jumble of mixed stuff.
When opening up your notebook to write in it for the first time, skip the first two pages. If you are as
hard on notebooks as I am, the front cover may fall off or get ripped, exposing the vulnerable pages
underneath. These two or three pages help add some protection.
Typically, the spine of spiral notebooks of the cheap sort will have the metal wire at the top and/or
bottom that will snag on pretty much any soft cloth costing more than $20. Get a needle-nose pliers/wire
cutter and cut/bend that snag so that it won't catch on expensive carpeting (or scratch your skin--ouch!)
while still keeping the spine from twisting out like a screw from the notebook.
PS: Don't forget to stock up on attach-on erasers for pencils (they help to keep it from going too far
into the spine), and pencil sharpeners. (In a pinch, a pair of scissors can be used for sharpening.)
3. Notebook Care:
Before we start writing, let's cover some tried and true advice:
Don't leave it outside or underfoot. That's begging for trouble.
Make double sure that others know not to throw away your precious. (If you watched Lord of the Rings, you know what I mean. Moving on....)
Don't lose that notebook!
Do not, I repeat, DO NOT tear pages out on a whim! You only have so many.
It's a bad idea to leave the cardboard covers folded back. Without even that meager protection, the
slightest mishap will cause ripped pages.
For the abusive user, a small ringbinder is a well-advised investment. These are also cheap and easy to
maintain. They are pretty much like armor plating for the fragile notebooks. They also have pockets on
the inside covers, sized for extra loose notebook pages or temporary reference sheets, but the problem
is, these pockets allow spillage when the ringbinder is hauled around during daily activities(bad). My
solution is to use a rubber band from top to bottom in the middle. This holds them in. (If you do it
right, you can twist an extra pencil into the rubber band, and tuck the other end into the pocket. Let me
know via the forum if a picture is needed here.) The ring binder is the same boring color on the front
and back, and I can never tell which side is which at 3:00 AM when a billion dollar idea pops into my
head (I can't sleep until the idea is recorded---I keep worrying about forgetting the idea), so decorate
it! Draw on it, following the rules about naming notebooks, except for this:
Don't name a ringbinder after a notebook it's carrying because chances are, the ringbinder will be used
for more than just that one notebook. Now, if you want each notebook to have it's own ringbinder, it's
then okay to name it after the notebook.
If you happen to have the kind of ringbinder that has clear pouches on the outside edges (meant for
holding informational flyers or something), then you can just draw a design on a sheet of paper and tuck
it in the pouch, and if you get bored of that design, you can easily change it. No clear pouches? Just
duct tape the sheet to the respective cover you want it on.
4. Notebook Use:
Write that idea down, even if you think it's dumb!
Be sure to indicate if you recorded someone else's idea down. Makes people mad if you steal their ideas.
See the hollow tube the the wire makes on that spiral notebook? Usually, it's sized just right to snugly
cram a pencil into. Voila! A pencil when and where you need it! And guess what? There is enough room for
two pencils: top and bottom. Always put them in pointy end first; the erasers are easier to grab. Short
pencils always find a way to make it too far inside the "spine", but wait, the metal rings are flexible
enough for you to use the pointy end of another pencil tip between rings, and push that offending writing
utensil, exposed graphite-ended first, outside of the pencil forbidden zone. (If the helper pencil is
long enough, you can just insert it through the spine as normal to push the other out) Oh, and don't
forget to learn your short pencil lesson.
This may not work for everyone. My seventh notebook's pencil holding spine is too large diameter. The
pencils slide out.
Number your pages on the outside bottom corner. Number them no more than two or three pages ahead. If you
go ahead and number all the pages in the entire notebook, you risk having a few missing numbers
should a blank middle page be ripped out accidentally or otherwise. This numbering system allows you to
refer to a previous idea. (i.e. "See page 45")
When you write the date of your idea, be sure to include the date (day of month, month, year). This helps to pinpoint when you wrote it down later. I have only recently since notebook 4 or so started to do this. My previous notebooks Were written somewhen between 2000 and 2004. No way to tell. Memeory isn't good enough. Write that date down!
Sprinkle a full copyright notice (All contents of this notebook, except where indicated is copyright(c) [year] by [your full name]. All rights reserved.), your full name, and various methods of contacting you throughout the pages. This will make it harder for a thief to claim it as their own. Write the full copyright, and plenty of methods to get a hold of you on the outside of the back cover, as well as inside the front cover(If you lose your notebook and someone else finds it, they'll knoow how to get you). If you're really worried, take a piece of clear tape, press your thumb on it, then fold it over. Now, attach that print firmly to a page containing the idea you want guarded. This may help in court. I myself have not tried this for my notebook, but I have done it with one of my robots.
Chances are, you will only take up a small portion of a page, leaving the rest blank. You have already written down the date, but want to include either stuff on a different subject matter, or something that has been written down on a different date. Solution? Use light, long, curvy lines in between subject matter, and darker lines to separate dates. For some reason, curvy lines seem to take up less room (conforming to the contour of other subject matter), and don't grab attention, and don't seem to turn the one page into a segmented brick wall. Don't know if it applies to you, it's just the way I see it.
If you have used up a whole page and there are lines around the page that may be interpreted as date separators, I put above the date: "this page" as if to say: "I wrote this page on X date." On really important, possibly money-making ideas, later on, you may wish that you wrote down the exact time of day you had the idea. I don't do this often, because I'm not near a clock, but for HUGE ideas, it's worth hunting one down, and scribbling the time down too.
Most people (including myself) forget to make sure that the idea is sufficiently labeled and titled, as well as (if there is a drawing) drawn neatly.
Use bad handwriting that you can read easily. If you're shot down, the ideas die with you. Other people will eventually have the same ideas you had, but much later; the point is, the theif won't get some money-making ideas to sell and keep as their own. Even better, write it in encoded English (If you're a grammar expert, make a new language entirely) that takes less time to write. Be sure to make a translational dictionary (hide it in a safe) if you do this. People forget. So will you. (What did that mean? I forgot....)
Keep your notebook(or a loose sheet of paper) near at all times. Ideas slip away within seconds. Keep some scrap paper beside your bed to write down those nighttime ideas. Those are the best (ideas, not the best time to have them).
Don't take a near-full notebook out into public for long. Those things get lost easily. You also have to worry about idea stealers. This is the Age of Information. People will eagerly listen in on your money- ideas and/or steal your notebook. Be careful about who you tell your ideas to (at least, with the good ones).
5. Finishing your notebook:
Put the word 'Full' on the front cover to keep you from trying to write in it again.
If you like, Put the end date on there too. Helps organization.
If you have not done so, put the notebook's number on it's front cover.
If you have other full notebooks, put the freshly filled one in a ringbinder with the others.
Now, have a mini-celebration. Eat a donut. Swallow pretzels whole. Make sure it isn't a big party,
though. Others won't understand how hard it is to fill a notebook up with great ideas.
If you have a stinkin' bunch of ideas you've tried, make a webpage about it (as I'm doing).
Once you have enough stuff, write a book about it. Helps to cover the cost of the notebooks and pencil
erasers.
Maybe I should start a notebooking club or something. (What do you guys think?)