Grantblings

Creative Mondays #019 – An idea journal

A paper journal.  A smartphone. A wire bound notebook.  No matter your preference, get an idea journal and keep it handy.  You never know when inspiration will strike and you need to write it down.  YOU NEED TO WRITE IT DOWN!  You will forget.  I promise you.  There is hardly any regret that stings more than forgetting that REALLY great idea you had and you said to yourself, “I’ll remember it later.”

I’m a notebook junkie.  I love all kinds of notebooks.  Recently I’ve been fond of Moleskine notebooks.  I have a hardbound one for my Creative Journal that’s I’ve spoken about in a previous post and I have a softbound one my day to Idea Journal.  The Idea Journal is just that, a storehouse for ideas.  Ideas for stories, audio drama, scripts, songs, you name it, I’ll write it own in there.  If I hear and inspirational quote, I write it down in there.  It is a lined notebook, but I’ll doodle and sketch things out in there as well.  It’s truly an all purpose notebook.  I keep it in my backpack which is usually with me wherever I go.

When I don’t have my backpack, I rely on my smartphone (or other device).  I’m a Mac user and it seems Mac has finally gotten it right with their Notes application.  It is on your iPhone, your computers and iPad.  If you create, edit or add to a note on one device, it syncs them all up (if you are connected to the net).  It is a simple, no frills app and I use it a lot to jot down ideas when I don’t have my Idea Journal with me. There are other apps out there for taking notes, heck, there’s even a Moleskine app, but I like the simplicity of the Notes app that comes standard and it’s my preferred digital note taker of choice.  Often times, I will transfer the ideas from my phone to my main Idea Journal to keep them all in one centralized location.

For many, many years now, I’ve also kept an Idea Journal next to my bed.  This is usually one of those standard, college ruled, wire bound notebooks.  The full US Letter sized ones.  The reasons for this is if inspiration strikes while I’m lying in bed awake at night, or I have a fantastical dream that I want to write down for possible story ideas later, I can grab the notebook, flip open to the page and write down my ideas in the dark.  The next morning I rip the page out and transfer the ideas (adding details that I’ll no doubt remember) into the Moleskine Idea Journal.  During these ‘middle of the night’ flashes of creativity, I don’t worry if I’m writing neatly or on the lines.  I make sure not to scribble but I just write it out, in the dark, knowing I’ll transfer it in the morning.  The bigger sized notebook allows me to write away without worry of running out of room on the page.

So I use three different types of note taking items for my Idea Journal.  A Moleskine soft cover, the Notes app on my devices and a wire bound notebook near the bed.  One, all or none of these may work for you, but find the one or combination of several that do work for you.  And start writing your ideas down.  Once you start collecting ideas, your Idea Journal will be a treasure trove on inspiration to dig though when you’re feeling stuck.

—

Do you keep an idea journal?  If so, what kind/type do you use?

Great article by Mur Lafferty

My pal Mur Lafferty checks in with this great article on why she writes. If you aren’t a writer, substitute the word creating for the word writing.

Mur Lafferty Looks Back On Why She Writes

Puppet Up Down Under – April 9, 2014 – Rain

It was a rainy day today here in Melbourne, but that’s fine. This city still holds its charm over me. Besides, I kinda like it a little overcast at night.

But in the morning I got up and got to the gym. Feeling really good about hitting the gym hard every day. Probably haven’t lost any weight because the food here is so good, but I’d bet I’m maintaining. After working out I, answered some emails and did a bit of surfing on the net. Then I struck out for some lunch.

After lunch I met up with Dan to go over the thing we’re working on for Puppet Up. Let me just say, Dan is a master and really nailed exactly what we were going for. Now it’s all on my shoulders to break it down and see if it;ll work. I hope it does. I think it’ll be a fun addition to the show. After that Dan, Brian and I hung out in Brian and I’s room for a bit, just relaxing until it was time to head over to the theatre for call.

At call we did our usual soundcheck and then ran through the new piece we hope to put in the show in the next day or so. It’s coming a long, but there’s a steep learning curve on this one, so we are making sure we do it right.

In the early afternoon I was rocked by the news of the passing of pro wrestler Ultimate Warrior. He was a big part of wrestling when I was a kid and I was really shocked to hear he had passed. Especially since it was so good to see him this past weekend at the Hall of Fame and the Wrestlmania activities. Lucky I met him a year or so back. In his Hall of Fame speech he said he always thanked his fans when they came up to him and it’s true, he did. Even though I jokingly told him I was mad at him for beating Honky Tonk Man for the intercontinental championship, I was still, secretly, a fan. He will be missed.

Tonight’s show was one of the best so far in this run. The suggestions were fun and it seemed most of the improvs were really hitting home. We saw Cat Curling (yes, the olympic sport…with cats), the Hot Dogs played Rock Paper Scissors, we saw a scene from Game of Thrones and the Alien Barbershop suggestion was Moon Cups. I’d never heard of Moon Cups before but we were quickly told it’s a feminine sanitary device. My autobiographical rhyme was:

Some sanitary devices,
Are called Moon Cups.
And if I ever saw one,
I would probably throw up.

Such a fun show, from top to bottom. After the show we went out to take photos with the audience and that is always a blast.

After heading back to the hotel, Dan and I struck out for dinner. It was a soggy evening but it wasn’t cold at all and we walked around the streets enjoying the people watching and looking for someplace to eat. After dinner, it was back to the hotel to write these words and just chill out.

“Every man’s heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe a final breath. And if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others and makes them bleed deeper and something larger than life then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalized.” – Ultimate Warrior – April 7, 2014 (The day before his death.)

10 in 20 – Day 19 – The End

This morning, the scale read: 167.5lbs. Not only did I meat my goal, I got a head start on my next goal. The new official goal is 10 more pounds by Thanksgiving. Totally doable I think.

No food record today because it was a travel day and I decided that’d it’s be a day where I have ‘cheat meal’. A meal where I didn’t care about points. That was a big prime rib meal here tonight in Toronto. It was amazing. Tomorrow, back to watching everything I eat.

Thanks so much for following along on this journey. I’ll chime in time to time with updates on how I’m doing. I really appreciate all of you for cheering me along here and on Facebook and Twitter. It really means a lot.

You guys rock! YOU helped me achieve this.