I have a writer’s notebook. No, I do.

It’s just that I haven’t yet gotten in the good habit of having it with me—all. the. time.

So, of course, inspiration strikes when I’m at the grocery store, or at work, or in the car; and random notes get jotted down on the back of receipts, post-it notes, and half-typed into my iPhone at my-thumbs-aren’t-fast-enough speed. Often, while I’m pulled over on the side of the road with my hazard lights on.

 It’s time for a change.

I need to eliminate the little bits of paper from my life, because one of these days, I’m going to lose one.

And of course, it will be the one shining brilliant star of an idea that I ever had for a novel, or the most beautiful sentence I will never write again.

Annalisa (I hear you saying), just type your ideas into your iPad. Yeah. About that.

Put a pencil in my hand, and I’ll write you a tome.

Sit me in front of a computer, and my muse suddenly goes mute.

I cannot create and interface with technology at the same time. That’s just not the way my writing process works, and I’ve accepted that.

However, recognizing my limitations is not enough. I need to make the next step in the all-important word to writers: discipline, and start carrying my notebook everywhere with me.

So, if you see me around town without a notebook in hand, you have my full permission to ask me about it.  

No, nag me about it.  Foist a notebook into my hands.  Send me one for my birthday. (That would be a good reminder, wouldn’t it? Nothing like a little behavioral conditioning.)

But, enough about me, what are your writing goals these days? Drop a comment below, or give my company a call so we can chat about how to achieve those goals. 

(This entry was drafted on a single leaf of notebook paper from my desk at work. Hey, at least it was a full sheet…)