Wordstruck - Why you always need a notebook

This week I’ve been out bush in the Northern Territory. Out in the heat (36 degrees), in the gritty red dirt, feeling the sun’s bristling rays. For 9 days I unplugged – no phone, no internet: bliss.





[image error]

The first couple of days I was exhausted in the way you often are at the beginning of a holiday. I felt depleted.



But by day 3, I found myself seeking out my notebook. I always carry a small, slim Moleskin. I write my own short-hand. It’s messy & full of words crossed out. Sometimes I try to sketch what I’m seeing. Other times I make lists.





[image error]

At the end of my break away, the notebook was full. Here’s a few things I jotted down:



Descriptions of the landscape:



‘Everywhere turkey bush, pink now, will turn purple. Boab trees with indents like a tummy button, smooth to touch, ridged and patterned.’



Phrases from the locals:



Tessa Atte, an Aboriginal guide, in Litchfield National Park, ‘In town my people are boned-out. Makes me sad. After 10 days out bush, eating bush tucker, they get all shinny again.’



My feelings:



‘Getting filled up again. The drifting Milky Way above. Such an amazing world.’





[image error]

Wherever you go, always carry a notebook. You never know when inspiration might come. Roald Dahl wrote his ideas down straightaway, before he could forget them.



Here’s 10 things you can write in yours.




Observations


Fragments of conversation


Funny moments


Bodily responses


What surprises you


What mystifies you


Quotes from books that you like


Story ideas


Descriptions of places & people


Random phrases





So go on, share what you like to scribble …

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on August 29, 2013 06:15
No comments have been added yet.


Wordstruck

Claire Scobie
My weekly writing blog Wordstruck covers: travel writing; travel memoir; fiction; journalism; academic writing and persuasive business writing.
Follow Claire Scobie's blog with rss.