Today is my father’s birthday; he would have been be 64. I inherited my love of writing from him, so it’s no wonder I’ve adopted his method of keeping a small notebook with me at all times. I know he didn’t invent this practice, but it’s surprising to me how many of my fellow writers aren’t in this habit. My father would not only have these small spiral notebooks in his shirt pockets, fishing vest and among his camping stuff, but his lunchbox from work usually contained slips of paper with story ideas, quick dialog exchanges, and random words jotted down on them. When I compiled all of his writings in a book after he passed away in 2007, I included many of these “snippets”—they were too good to leave out. These are just a few of my notebooks over the years:
There are so many times when I’m sitting in my car, standing in line somewhere, or at a restaurant, when I hear something I could use in a story, or essay. In fact, the notebook on top are my notes about an incident that had happened moments earlier and became a published essay. Nothing’s worse than a writer without paper and pen, especially when inspiration hits, because we all know that a muse can be an elusive S.O.B. Another reason to buy cute little notepads, is to jot down words and phrases that catch your attention while reading. I have been wanting to do this for ages and I finally designated a notebook for it, aptly named . . .
It gave me an opportunity to get down with some ’90s slang, but I also got to use my coveted label maker. Anyway, I can’t tell you how many times I’ll be reading Ivan Doig, and think, “Ooh, great word!” “Nice phrasing.” (And the occasional, “Geez, I suck.”) Doig is a true wordsmith who creates these incredible characters and settings; his work always makes me pause and admire his way with words. My father was an Ivan Doig fan as well, so I’m grateful to him for introducing me to this amazing author. I wish I had started this practice years ago because so many words are a dime a dozen; you want the uncommon ones that will make readers  say, “Damn, great word!” Buy these little notebooks in bulk for all those big ideas (and words!); you never know what short story, essay or novel will get its start on those pages.
Oh, and happy birthday, Dad! Write on.