One Notebook or Many? Part 1: The case for one notebook

One book is cooler. A volume covering all of ones life, being read by descendants long after my death, like the journals of Leonardo da Vinci, makes a nice day dream.

It’s fun to read through a diverse journal with sketches and notes on all kinds of things. Paging through an old journal and coming across doodles my daughter made is a treat. Sketches of things I was planning to build or of other things reminds me of the diversity of my life, which is often handy when I’ve become too focused on one narrow aspect….

One Notebook or Many? Part 2: The case for many notebooks.

A single subject notebook increases focus. When I’m writing in a single subject notebook, I feel a discipline to focus on that subject. It’s a reminder of what I’m doing, and there’s no risk that while I’m paging through old entries I’ll end up on some trip down memory lane. Instead, paging through the book reminds me of other aspects of the subject, helps the focus, and can even help with writer’s block…

One Notebook or Many? Part 3: The case for loose sheets

Blank sheets are versatile and adaptable. Since it’s not part of a book, it doesn’t have a dedicated purpose. The paper can be used for anything – I can write a letter, leave a note, give it to my daughters to draw on, or fold it into an airplane. This is especially useful when traveling, because it means I carry less…

One Notebook or Many? Part 4: What’s been working for me

Separate book vs. in the journal. I’ve found that unless the new book has a very strong purpose (like the NumberQuotes notebook) or has a specific place in my life and routine (weekly planner), it’s at risk of being abandoned. The food journal hasn’t quite become a reliable partner yet, but the birds book has. The weekly planner has become very important, and I record some things there that could be in my journal. Despite many attempts to find an electronic replacement for my weight records, pen and paper have proven to be the best and most reliable.

If the work has a lot of structure, and clear boundaries, a separate book seems to work best. If the work is somewhat amorphous, a separate book just doesn’t feel right. For example, I just used the large Leuchtturm1917 Jottbook I received to start a web-focused notebook, only ideas and thoughts related to my various websites that don’t have books of their own, or for ideas (like selling ad space) that are common to all sites. That lasted a short while before the book become refocused on this blog. So far, it’s been earning its keep.

So many things in these posts resonated for me. I’ve tried various approaches, and like Steve have ended up with a hybrid solution: one main notebook for most things, plus a few satellite notebooks for specific topics or uses that require a different format. But the other solution that I was surprised Steve didn’t mention was to use a Filofax or similar binder– you can incorporate different page formats, devote a few pages in a section to different topics, and carry over pages you want to keep for reference while filing away others. I used small looseleaf notebooks for years and loved them… but then electronic devices replaced the calendar and address book sections of those notebooks… and for what was left, a stack of bound journals did just seem cooler than a box full of rubber-banded looseleaf pages. But I keep feeling like I should give it a try again.

How about you? One or many? Join in the discussion here or at Recording Thoughts.

Ok, there’s a lot more at stake in North Korea than what kind of notebooks Kim Jong-Il’s henchmen are using, but I’m fascinated nonetheless. If this is some home-grown North Korean brand, it could be the most challenging notebook ever to add to my collection… how can I get one without setting off another international crisis?!?

Big thanks to David Bogie for sharing this!

See more photos at AninhadaBest’s photostream on Flickr.

In the first picture, the bottom row is empty notebooks, and the top are notebooks that I have filled or am in the progress of filling.

In the second and third picture, you have a notebook I made myself. Free advertising for Starbucks, I ‘spose, haha. Its the first Coptic stitch binding I’ve tried, so its a bit loose, unfortunately.

The fourth picture is one of two school notebooks for kids I got while I was in Bolivia in May. Each one has a description of a battle on the front and back covers.

I filled up a Moleskine pocket cahier with notes from a class I took on leadership from a retired Major General teaching at the University of Oklahoma. One of the best classes I’ve ever taken!

In picture 6 and 7, there’s the sketchbook I’m filling up with my favorite quotes. Its open to a page filled with quotes from a really good book I just finished called “The Voyage of the Elephant”.

Pictures 9-15 are from the Peanuts Moleskine I started around May 17th. I named it “Viajero” or Traveler for obvious reasons… I’ve had a busy summer! There are pages from Bolivia, from a weekend long cycling festival in Tulsa, and from 2 different cycling trips I took: one to Mount Scott, in Oklahoma, and 2 from a 500 mile, 6 day ride down the eastern coast of Florida that I just finished a couple weeks ago. The last page is from an Invisible Children conference called 4th Estate. Invisible Children is a non-profit dedicated to stopping a militia called the Lords Resistance Army in central Africa, whose modus operandi is abducting children as young as 5 or 6 in each village they attack and forcing them to fight as child soldiers. I bring that up because at the conference they gave us the notebooks in picture 16…

I geeked out tremendously when I saw that they gave us 4th Estate stamped notebooks. The cover is a really soft, almost suede-like material. Even cooler is whats inside the notebook- a few of the pages are already filled, for instance in the second to last picture the drawings are a sort of brainstorming of the 4th Estate logo, which is really cool because it shows the thought and detail that went into its design. As in the last picture, some of the pages have poems, quotes, and excerpts that were inspiring to the Invisible Children staff. We definitely needed notebooks, too- they had a ton of amazing speakers and sessions lined up during the conference. If you want to learn more about IC, there’s their site invisiblechildren.com. I’ve also set up a site that has some information and updates about the conflict and my fundraising efforts for Invisible Children, DillonCarroll.com.

The problem with some of these may be that they become outdated– the actual city maps aren’t likely to change much, but in some cases the transit maps could change quite a lot in just a few short years– that is certainly the case in New York. I wonder if Moleskine plans to update the content more frequently on these few titles they’re continuing to sell? I’m not counting on it…

I still love the idea of having a notebook dedicated to a city, with maps and the clear overlay sheets, and space to record my own itineraries and travel tips. I’m tempted to go back and buy all the cities I don’t have, even if I am unlikely to ever visit them!

I like notebooks. I like writing things down – bits of detail, colour, what people say, their names, memory joggers, phone numbers. You name it.

I am writing this in a notebook because we are out filming.

And I do not mean a small portable computer. My notebooks have pages, hard black covers, a useful pocket inside the back and an elastic strap to stop them pinging open.

Khamis Gaddafi, the colonel’s most feared son, must have liked them too. Because it seems he has been writing war plans in the back of one of mine….

Read more at BBC News – Was Jeremy Bowen’s notebook stolen by Gaddafi’s son?.

Zachary wonders “is it wrong that I saw the movie Thor over the weekend and left realizing I really wanted to find out what type of notebook Natalie Portman’s character was using?”

Rebecca is “hoping you may be able to help me with a search for grandluxe’s Urban Jello notepad? I bought this pad on holiday in Kinokuniya in Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, and then realized it’s the perfect notepad…. And I really want to buy several but can’t find any stockist anywhere! The notepad is A4 size, spiral bound with a clear plastic spiral rather than wire, and the paper is lined on one side and blank on the other which is perfect as I often have to draw pictures and take notes at the same time. Do you have any ideas on how to get hold of them? I’m based in the UK but happy to pay shipping.” Has anyone seen these anywhere?

Dave sends a link to an interesting leather-bound journal.

Andres shares his Moleskine art on his blog.

Mo points out a link to a book called “I Draw Cars,” which has a cool moleskine-ish look to it, and raised a ton of money on Kickstarter!

Laiameg shares a link to her handmade notebooks.

 And John shared a link to this beautiful map in a notebook:

“On July 15, 1806, Zebulon Pike began his expedition to expore the
southwest region of the Louisiana Purchase. Shown here is a map from
one of his notebooks.”

Thanks for all the questions, tips and suggestions everyone!

See more notebook photos and commentary at Dave’s blog, Slow Boat. Thanks for sharing these, Dave!

“In Thompson Library on the Ohio State campus, I saw the travel diary of Jesse Owens, for his 1936 trip to the Olympics in Germany. The card in the display case says, however, that it’s not a very exciting read. Owens wrote mundane entries about his cabin on the ocean liner, the food, etc., his room in the Olympic Village, and had discontinued writing in it by the time the Games started.”

He also told me about his lucky finds at a local flea market– or rather, free market:

I struck pay dirt at the Really, Really Free Market at the end of June.  I was five notebooks richer when I left.  I took five spiral-bound planners, advertising two Greek-letter organizations (Chi Omega sorority and Phi Delta Theta fraternity) and three colleges (Southern Methodist University, St. Bonaventure University, and Seattle Pacific University).  I attended none of these, and belonged to neither organizations, but their notebooks are quite handsome.  I will overlook the pre-printed dates in the planners as I use them to jot down ideas for future fiction and poetry projects, and will carry at least one in my “portable office” bag at all times–along with other necessities such as my diary, library books, address book, pens, and camera.
 

Thanks again to a great notebook reporter at large!