Sunday, December 13, 2020

Writers’ Pantry #50: How Do You Take Your Notes?

Greetings, poets and storytellers. I hope you and yours are doing as well as 2020 has allowed any of us, and that 2021 brings better things to every aspect of your lives (and mine, too): at home, at work, in our writing…

Speaking of writing, how do you take notes on the go? On a notebook? On your phone? On both? Or, mayhap, on any surface that lends itself to the purpose (i.e., napkins, receipts, coffee or tea paper cups, skin…)? I’m asking because I recently witnessed a wonderfully heated argument between a writing group, where some members did their note-taking on notebooks and others did it on their phones.   

I was not surprised by the topic of the discussion. The print or digital question is a very common philosophical debate in writing circles. I was, however, taken aback by the viciousness of some of the reactions. There was a lot of not-quite-passive aggressive name calling. And when it was my turn to answer, and I confessed that I didn’t really care (I have taken quick notes on leaves, on the inside of my skirt, on my legs), both groups united to point out the horror of my erroneous ways. It was hysterical (don’t tell them I said that *cough*, who knows what they might do).

So, my beloved poets and storytellers, notebook or phone, or both and more?

Now, let us open the Writers’ Pantry. Link poetry or prose, new or old, short or longish, fictional or realistically dystopian… the choice is always yours. If you go for prose, please choose 369 words or fewer as your word count. Mr. Linky will stay open for a week. Let us write, read, think together. Also, since this is going to be my last 2020 hosting, let me wish you healthy, warm, peaceful, hopeful Holidays. We have one Weekly Scribblings and one more Writers’ Pantry left this year, so please don’t pack your ink and quill just yet. 😉 

- for our next Weekly Scribblings, Rommy would like us “to think about how we might finish this sentence, ‘Down in my bones, I feel ______________’. If you’d rather tackle this from a different angle, you also have the option to write about bones in general. It also isn’t necessary to use the exact phrasing.” But you can, if you want to.


a terrible picture of my phone, my preferred note-taking paper material, and a leaf that helped me brainstorm

25 comments:

  1. I very seldom take notes! I trust my subconscious to store and release whatever I need when I need it ... mostly. I do occasionally jot down pertinent details, usually factual details I might not otherwise recall accurately later, and when I do it's on anything handy – often, and preferably, my phone. This was not always the case. In years past I always carried a small notebook and a pen. I now have a stack of those notebooks gathering dust unopened! It's easier to open up my memory than to scrabble, left-brained, through all those pages. The notes on my phone are really very few, and get deleted after being used (or when I decide I don't need them after all).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Your subconscious needs to have a conversation with my subconscious. Seriously, if I don't write it, it is very likely that the heart of it will be lost or changed.

      Delete
    2. If actual lines and phrases for a piece of writing form in my head, then I have to repeat them mentally to fix them, and get them written down as fast as possible.

      Delete
  2. I am an avid note taker, but my writing is so bad I have trouble reading it! I invented a kind of speed writing, which helps a bit. At the moment, I don't have any reason to take notes, and look forward to a time when I can start again. I love pen and paper.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pen and paper are really nice companions, aren't they?

      Delete
    2. My writing is atrocious too, and often illegible even to me if it's too long after the event. I learned a form of speed writing (not my own invention) but even that can be hard to read. This may have something to do with my embrace of digital note-taking!

      Delete
  3. I use my cell phone to take notes, most of the time.
    Happy Sunday every one

    much love...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I take down notes on my phone about ten percent of the time. The rest I try on pieces of paper around me - receipts, calendars, old tickets, etc. I only stopped once when I realized it was an important gradschool document, practically irreplaceable. My little son used to take unintelligible notes on his chubby legs and arms with my lipstick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I so hope you took some pictures of your little boy's note-taking techniques. That's just too cute.

      Delete
  5. I'm always happier when I remember to take notes, LOL, and I don't care what I do it with. I admit I was a little reluctant to start doing it on my phone, but when the choice was to capture a neat way of phrasing something/ a cool idea or forget it, I'm going to go with the former.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I started using my phone to take notes when my hands weren't doing very well. I, too, was a bit reluctant--even resentful, methinks--but I don't mind it now. Still, it can get interesting when I try to match the notes on one medium to the another medium.

      Delete
  6. good day, everyone!
    i am old school so i like to write. i write on a small notebook i carry around. i have written on napkins and envelopes (but not on a leaf). now sometimes i type into a smartphone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I often use fallen leaves as bookmarks. So most of the time, the notes I take on leaves have something to do with reading. I like the idea of using just one notebook to take my notes, but... I'm horrible at keeping just one notebook with me all the time. Sigh.

      Delete
  7. I've never used my phone for notes! I have a notebook in my purse, napkins in the glove box, old magazines etc. Yesterday I used a paper towel in the garden shed, although for a container count, not poetry.

    ReplyDelete
  8. For starters, my iPhone is one of the smaller variety, could never take notes on it. My arthritic fingers a huge barrier. I have been known to get up in the middle of the night, after a dream ... jot notes on a little tablet next to my bed. Otherwise, like Rosemary, everything seems to be lodged somewhere inside this aging brain of mine. Cheers everyone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm a sucker for speech-to-text, especially when I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea rattling in my head.

      Delete
    2. Ah ... hadn't considered that. Might make more sense than my scribbles.

      Delete
  9. I scribble on whatever is closest, usually these days my phone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Phones make pretty accessible notepads, don’t they?

      Delete
  10. Nice blub about note taking/making. My ditty is about that from a teacher viewpoint. I take notes everywhere, even at church. My first attempt at college was a disaster. Later I decided that since I didn't need to study in high school but I sure did in college. Taking notes became a part of my new study habits. I don't write.in my phones but my calls mostly have paper notes, and doodles. I don't use it but I had a private blog, I was the only reader allowed. On it I practiced creative writing for a spell. And wrote other things for my sake.
    ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still have a private blog for my eyes only, for journalling bits and pieces.

      Delete
    2. Hm... a private blog sounds like an excellent idea.

      Delete

Please be respectful of all the people on this site, as each individual writer is entitled to their own opinion, style, and path to creativity.