Writers’ habits don’t just emerge. We cultivate them—they are first aspirational, and then superstitious. If something works once, we hope it will work again. Years ago, in graduate school, I noticed how certain poet friends would casually, but with intent, remove a small notebook from their jacket pocket or bag and jot something down. I … Continue reading Notebooking as a Writers’ Habit
Such an amazing story from the NY Times, with lots of images of the diaries! Anne Frank listened in an Amsterdam attic on March 28, 1944, as the voice of the Dutch minister of education came crackling over the radio from London. “Preserve your diaries and letters,†he said. Frank was not the only one listening. … Continue reading Dutch Diaries of World War II
From Wallpaper.com: Hair artist Julien D’ys is one person never low on artistic output. Over the years, he has amassed hundreds of notebooks all bursting with sketches, paintings and photographs that have formed the basis of his work with Comme des Garçons, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld and Marni, to name a few. ‘My notebook is like my brain,’ D’ys says. … Continue reading Julien D’ys’ Notebooks
Maria Faller writes about finding her teenage diaries, written in composition books: I have journaled on and off for most of my adult life. As a kid, I journaled all the time, but we called it a diary. Keeping a locked diary was one of the cool things to do in the 80s, but it … Continue reading Old Diaries Full of Surprises
A Canadian paper company is making a notebook that is perfect for these COVID-19 days: Georgette Packaging is creating a notebook to help everyone get through these tough times. It’s called The Quarantine Notebook. The carbon-neutral packaging company came up with the idea during a brainstorming session. “We love paper products obviously, and we love … Continue reading The Quarantine Notebook
I came across these gorgeous archaeological notebooks on Pinterest, and traced them back to a website about the archaeological excavations of the Athenian Agora being carried out by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. I’m always fascinated by field notebooks and scientific notebooks like this! Archaeological excavation in the Athenian Agora is recorded … Continue reading Archaeological Notebooks
Roy Lichtenstein is best known for his Pop Art comic book style works, so I was quite surprised to come across this page from one of his sketchbooks, which is now in the collection of the Whitney Museum. Not comic-y at all, these seem to be studies of perhaps architectural moldings and patterns. I was … Continue reading Roy Lichtenstein’s Sketchbook
How’s everyone doing? Are you staying home? Are you writing a lot? Drawing? Filling notebooks to fill your time? Recording what life is like during this historic pandemic? These are such strange times. I’ve stopped carrying a bag or any notebooks with me when I do my weekly grocery run so I’ll have less stuff … Continue reading Notebooking through the Pandemic
How would you like to sit at this desk and do some writing in a notebook? That desk is on Hancock Hill, in Alpine, Texas. It’s been there for 40 years. At first, the guy whose idea it was to put the desk there just stashed a notebook in the drawer so he could record … Continue reading Notebooks from Hancock Hill
I have a couple of Moleskine’s Japanese Albums, but I’ve never actually used one. The elongated spread of pages always seems daunting to me, but I love to see the way other artists take advantage of this format. American illustrator Chris Russell is one of the best I’ve seen. Large narrative paintings by seventeenth century … Continue reading Chris Russell’s Humanity Notebooks