I came across an article from The Economist about a new exhibition at the British Library, which sounds great: it’s all about the history of writing and note-taking. The article is behind a paywall, unfortunately, but here’s a taste: NEATLY HANDWRITTEN, with a simple diagram below a numbered list, the sheet looks like any fussy … Continue reading Writing Exhibition at the British Library
Here’s a notebook Kickstarter campaign that may be of interest to writers: Page One, a notebook with sections structured for all the different aspects of the writing and publishing process, such as “Characters,” “Plot,” “Research,” and “Submissions.” The campaign ends on May 2, 2019. See all the details on their Kickstarter page.
I found this week’s addict on Instagram, where he displays an amazing 38 year loyalty to the Nolty diary. (The original text is in Japanese, but has been auto-translated into English in the image above.) See more at @motohashinobuhiro 5884
From Walter Benjamin: 100 Notes, 100 Thoughts: In 1927, on the occasion of a several-months-long visit to Paris, Walter Benjamin began taking notes on the Parisian Arcades for his most ambitious book project…. With her introduction to a selection of these handwritten notes, Nikola Doll describes how the author attempted “to integrate the principle … Continue reading Walter Benjamin’s Notebook
Some notebooks belonging to writer Susie Boyt: I have always kept notebooks – messy little attics of the mind, an odd assortment of shapes and colours stuffed into drawers next to defunct phones and balls of string. They feel private and tender, a bit like night clothes; or embarrassing, like over-eager little sisters. From an … Continue reading Susie Boyt’s Notebooks
When I posted recently about most of my notebooks being stuck in a storage unit, a sympathetic commenter named Anna replied: “I feel your pain! Just remember–Anais Nin kept her diaries in a bank vault. Somewhere there’s a photo of her (perhaps in the vault?) surrounded by notebooks in a disorganized pile.” I had no … Continue reading Anaïs Nin and Her Journals
This week’s addict is an artist whose photos I found via Pinterest. In 2009, she posted these images of her large collection of sketchbooks on her blog, with the sad tale below: “In May I installed a series of my sketchbooks as part of an exhibit called Sculpting Time at VisArts in Rockville, Maryland. These … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Catherine White
This book would be a great gift for any child, parent or teacher: Notable Notebooks: Scientists and Their Writings brings to life the many ways in which everyone from Galileo to Jane Goodall has used a science notebook, including to sketch their observations, imagine experiments, record data or just write down their thoughts. You also … Continue reading Notable Science Notebooks
This week’s addict is another submission that has been in my inbox for longer than it should have been! Marcel shared these photos and says: Since I can remember I always had a notebook, at first they were unused school notebooks and there was a time when I wasn’t writing at all, but from one … Continue reading Notebook Addict of the Week: Marcel
An excellent article at LitHub by Bradford Morrow, author of the just-published Prague Sonata, among other books. Really interesting look at a writer’s process and why he prefers physical note-taking to digital methods. Big thanks to reader Raymond for sending me the tip! “My memory is good, but capricious at times. My scraps of paper … Continue reading Bradford Morrow’s Boorum & Pease Ledger
