“Once I decided to keep everything in one notebook I found a partner and participant in keeping the words and pictures and ephemera that are part of day to day life. That feeling I have about wanting to write something or draw something or make notes about something or glue something down— my composition notebook holds all of it. It’s a place. A time and space.”
– Lynda Barry, Tumblr, March 2022
I have been keeping a creative notebook in a composition notebook for over a year. I was first inspired to do so after reading Lynda Barry’s book Syllabus. For most of that time, any handwritten notes went into my notebook. If I was taking an online seminar, the notes went in the book. If I got mail with pretty packaging, it went in the book. If I was upset about my day, my emotions went in the book. If I was planning a party, the lists went in the book. If I wanted to play with watercolor, swatch new markers, or create a collage, it went in the book.
The end result is undoubtedly greater than the sum of its parts. As it fills, the notebook becomes a unique collection, with the whole becoming so much more than any individual page.
Your creative notebook is a collection of all of your thoughts and writings and drawings and musings. Its power comes from the juxtaposition of all of those different things side by side, page by page. Plus, you not only get the experience of filling it up but also the experience of revisiting it and learning from yourself. (More on that soon.)
I break the one notebook “rule” sometimes. For a while, I tried keeping the creative notebook AND doing daily pages in a Hobonichi Techo Cousin. While I enjoyed doing the pages, it became too much after a while, and I returned to the creative notebook. I also use digital tools like DayOne, Apple Notes, and Bear for daily journaling, random notes, and writing drafts. But any physical notes, lists, outlines, collage, or play goes into the creative notebook. I return again and again to these notebooks.
Keeping one notebook may not work for everyone. Multiple, dedicated notebooks is just as valid and will work better for some and at different times. But keeping one creative notebook is something I recommend you try.
Textual Play 