Writer’s Notebook Overview

Writer’s Notebook Overview The Writer’s Notebook is a SAFE place to write. If you cannot write freely, you will not write truthfully. If you do not write truthfully, you do not write well. There is an exception. You may request that an entry not be read. The Writer’s Notebook is a place to develop ideas, not to finish them. Do not censor your writing.

When taking notes, everything in RED is to be copied into your notebook. Start a new page for each entry. Date each entry. Label each entry on the top line. I will always tell you what to label. This will ensure I am able to check each entry.

First Page Put the DATE on the top right hand line. Label the page “Entry #1”

The Philosophy: “A writer’s notebook works just like an incubator: a protective place to keep your infant idea safe and warm, a place for it to grow while it is too young, too new, to survive on its own.” -Ralph Fletcher

Teaching Point Writers pay attention to the world around them. As writers, we need a place to keep our notices, our thoughts and ideas, our questions about things we want to know more about, and practice writing in one place. There are certain things that writers do in a writer’s notebook, like recording memories, conversations, things that bother or interest us.

Ways to Use a Writer’s Notebook Character Observations Descriptions of a person, a place, or a thing Dialogue Extensions of earlier drafts Family lore Favorite quotes Imagined stories Lists

Ways to Use the Writer’s Notebook Cont. Overheard conversations Questions and answers Re-write a story’s ending Reading responses Story ideas Memories

My Example: After hearing my entry, what… did you notice about my writing? created a visual in your mind? did you want to hear more about? left you wondering why I thought that?

Individual Practice: Put the date on the next clean page and title your entry “Entry #1: Childhood” Prompt: Choose a vivid time from your childhood. You might think of the first time you rode a bus, of a time when you went to the principal’s office, the first A your earned on a test or paper, earning money to buy something that you wanted, getting into trouble, breaking a bone, etc. Write about the events related to the childhood memory so that you readers will understand why the event was important or memorable