On Keeping a Notebook
Writing is an act of faith: faith that what I have to say, how I see the world, are important. I listen. I see. I feel and I record. Keeping the words flowing is an act of faith.
Painters have brushes, paints, a palette, an easel—writers have notebooks. A notebook is an ear, always tuned in, always ready to hear more.
(from Writing Toward Home: Tales and Lessons to Find Your Way by Georgia Heard (Heinemann, 1995)
(Some of my notebooks)
I actually keep several notebooks going at once. For each project I’m writing, I keep a notebook to keep all my notes, thoughts, writing and any research.
[Here is the notebook I kept for Creatures of Earth, Sea and Sky]
(Notebook page for “Song of the Dolphin” in Creatures of Earth, Sea and Sky (Boyds Mills Press)