I always love hearing about writers’ notebooks, though this is a little different from most! From an interview with Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of American Salvage:
Do you keep any kind of notebook?
I don’t have a writing notebook properly, but I do have this fabulous datebook that I keep with me at all times. [Hauls out a thick, red hardcover book the size of a novel.] The Big Red Book, the 2009 Standard Diary Daily Reminder. I do fill it up with writing stuff sometimes, but mostly it’s to-do lists – what I have to do and what I have to not forget. But when I’m on a train or a bus or watching a really boring presentation, then I do sometimes put creative things in there, but not very often. Mostly it’s very factual. They have them at Office Depot, and I get one every year. It costs way more money than it should – it’s like $25 dollars or something, but it’s fun. My mother had these same books, starting back in 1960 when we were kids, so I was used to always seeing them on the shelf. Hers were more entertaining than mine are.
One thought on “Bonnie Jo Campbell’s Standard Diary”
I use one of these in my restaurant for the manager’s log, so that my team can make a short record of what happened on each shift. This helps with employee evaluations and with planning for scheduling.
Daily Reminder. I do fill it up with writing stuff sometimes, but mostly it’s to-do lists – what I have to do and what I have to not forget. But when I’m on a train or a bus or watching a really boring presentation, then I do sometimes put creative things in there, but not very often. Mostly it’s very factual. They have them at Office Depot, and I get one every year. It costs way more money than it should – it’s like $25 dollars or something, but it’s fun. My mother had these same books, starting back in 1960 when we were kids, so I was used to always seeing them on the shelf. Hers were more entertaining than mine are.
I use one of these in my restaurant for the manager’s log, so that my team can make a short record of what happened on each shift. This helps with employee evaluations and with planning for scheduling.