by Ruth Harris
Who has used this secret superpower to achieve success?
Tom Brady, Quarterback.
A recent article on the sports page about Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Quarterback Tom Brady preparing himself and his team for the Superbowl grabbed my attention.
According to the story, one of Brady’s habits throughout a season is to create a vast notebook of slightly modified pass-play combinations and intricate options to help teammates prepare for games. He has done the same in Tampa.
“You’d think we’re building rockets with the amount of information that’s in a notebook for a bunch of football players,” Brady said. “But all those plays and all the schemes add up over the course of the year.”
Tom just won another Superbowl. Was it notebook juju?
Helen Gurley Brown, Author and Magazine Editor.
Helen Gurley Brown, bestselling author of Sex And The Single Girl and the long-time editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, was another devoted note-taker. Article assignments from HGB, as she was referred to, often came in the form of three or four word notes.
These scribbled notes memorialized her transient thoughts, fleeting ideas, quick insights, and flash observations. I received one saying “Robert Redford is vulnerable.” I don’t know what impelled HGB to make this note—did RR not get a role he wanted? Or the girl he longed for? (I know, hard to believe.)— but those four words ended up as a Cosmo article about ways in which everybody—even the rich and famous—is in one way another vulnerable, prone to disappointment and bruised feelings.
Another scrawled note read: “men who bring you down.” I questioned its source and discovered it referred to a Cosmo editor who’d been dating an attractive widower. No matter what she did or how hard she tried, she could not move him out of the depression that had ensued after his wife’s death. Instead, the weight of his gloom infected her. It affected her productive and successful professional life and eventually caused her to break off the relationship.
Those brief notes, passed to writers as starting points for articles, would be expanded. They formed the basis for what became one of the world’s most successful magazines. With 64 international editions, printed in 35 different languages, it was distributed in over 110 countries.
For HGB, those notes became an international language.
John Bolton, Washington Power Player.
John Bolton, attorney, diplomat, and Repblican political consultant served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006. More recently, he served as the National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump. Mr. Bolton is well known in Washington for voluminous note-taking during high level DC meetings.
Those notes served as the basis for his best-selling book about his tenure in the Trump administration: The Room Where It Happened. It was published in 2020.
Richard Branson, Entrepreneur.
The billionaire founder of Virgin Air carries a notebook with him everywhere. He credits note taking as one of his most important habits.
“I go through dozens of notebooks every year and write down everything that occurs to me each day, because an idea not written down is an idea lost. When inspiration calls, you’ve got to capture it. I can’t tell you where I’d be if I hadn’t had a pen on hand to write down my ideas (or more importantly, other people’s) as soon as they came to me. Some of Virgin’s most successful companies have been born from random moments – if we hadn’t opened our notebooks, they would never have happened.”
Thomas Edison, Inventor.
During his life Thomas Edison captured over 5 million pages of notes to ensure that everything useful or important was captured and recorded so it could be referred back to as a powerful memory aid.
Bill Gates, Mr. Microsoft.
Bill Gates—you know him, the founder of Microsoft, philanthropist and one of the richest men in the world—is an avid note taker. Although the digital space is where he made his fortune, he goes old school and uses paper and pen to jot down items he wants to remember.
George Lucas, Movie Maker.
The Star Wars director kept a pocket notebook with him at all times for writing down ideas, thoughts and plot angles.
Phoebe Ephron, Screenwriter and Mom.
Screenwriter Phoebe Ephron famously reminded her daughter, Nora, that “everything is copy” and to “take notes.”
Caroline Webb, Scientist
Behavioral scientist, Caroline Webb, author How to Have a Good Day, advises: “Write it down as soon as it comes to mind. Use your intelligence for getting things done, rather than trying to remember what you need to do.”
Sheryl Sandberg, Leaner In.
Although she works at a tech company, FaceBook COO, Sheryl Sandberg is rarely seen without her notebook. According to Fortune magazine, she keeps track of her day with a “decidedly un-digital spiral-bound notebook.”
What do They Know that You Don’t?
- Brilliant ideas tend to come helter-skelter and in no coherent order. They often appear when you’re distracted or occupied with something else. Making a quick note guarantees that your brilliant idea will not be lost or forgotten.
- The genius idea you’ve been looking for suddenly comes to you from out of nowhere while you’re standing on line at the bank. A few words dictated into your phone or scrawled on the back of a deposit slip will save the idea—and your book.
- The killer plot point might arrive unbidden and not necessarily when most needed. Make a note and that plot point will be there for you.
- Characters can—and will—be flat, boring, uninspired. Sorry about that. A saved article about a woman who made a fortune selling burritos on the subway or an obituary about someone who fought sexism/racism/ageism and won can be the basis for your character’s struggle to achieve his or her goal. Whatever their problem, some characters need a kick in the butt and that note you almost forgot about can give the solution to their problem without the cost of expensive therapy.
- The “perfect” sassy/hilarious/devastating come-back might take a week (or more!) to marinate before it jumps into your head, fully formed. Better write it down. Quick. Or you might forget it.
What Should You Make a Note About?
The answer is, everything and anything as long it piques your interest and makes you perk up and take notice.
- An overheard lovers’ quarrel.
- A weirdo question from the person next to you at the meat counter. I heard a woman ask the butcher to spatula her chicken. A comedy of confusion and misunderstanding ensued. Turned out, she meant spatchcock. (Splitting, then flattening a chicken to cook faster.)
- The crass remark the pastor of my mother’s church made to me right after her death. Made a note. Forgot him. Didn’t forget what he said.
- The grass skirt blowing in the frigid breeze I saw on a guy very early one bitter cold NYC January morning. I guess that party ran really late.
- The bizarre encounter with a former colleague who thought I was someone else (which I didn’t realize until ten minutes later when I was trying to figure out what on earth he’d been talking about).
- Even meetings (Zoom or otherwise) provide fodder—the sleepy colleague nodding off in the middle of a presentation, the dopey comment in response to a boss’s qustion, the crabby guy from Accounting, the Marketing Director’s cute kid/kitten/dog, the smart remark, the brilliant solution, the funny moment.
If You Don’t Make a Note, You Might not Remember that Intriguing Detail
(even though you think you will.)
Use some or all of the following helpers—
- Post-Its.
- Dictated into your phone.
- A cyber note-taking app like Evernote or One Note.
- An email you send to yourself.
- Pen or pencil in a notebook.
- An index card.
- On the back of a grocery receipt.
- Or (ahem) on a cocktail napkin.
- Snap a pic because one day the details of wardrobe, grooming, or setting will be just what you need to set the “Perfect” scene or bring a season or a specific place to life. Your camera will remember details of shape, color, mood, background you might forget.
- Here is a list of the best notebooks in 2021.
- From the steno notebook, to the reporter’s notebook, the (very) pricey Smythson Soho planner, and the classic Moleskine to apps like Evernote and OneNote notebooks come in an almost endless variety of shapes, forms, and sizes. There is at least one that’s perfect for you.
PS: for Pantsers.
Even pantsers need a way to control the messy process of writing a book. Notes can and will take the place of—shhhh!—the outline you (I) hate to/can’t write.
Make Your Notebook a Habit.
There is every reason to think that what works for Tom Brady, Helen Gurley Brown and Richard Branson will also work for you.
Little by little, day by day, note by note you will create an invaluable resource file that is uniquely yours. It will be filled with your insights, your interests, and your observations.
As Tim Ferris said: “I trust the weakest pen more than the strongest memory.”
by Ruth Harris (@RuthHarrisBooks) February 28, 2021
What about you, scriveners? Do you carry a notebook to jot down all those gems to use in your fiction? Do you carry an elegant notebook, or a ratty one? (for some recommendations for elegant notebooks, see Ruth’s Post on Gifts for Writers.) Do you worry about ruining a lovely notebook with sloppy notes? (That’s my problem…sez Anne.) Have you perused an old notebook and found a wonderful inspiration for your WIP?
BOOK OF THE WEEK
HUSBANDS AND LOVERS (Park Avenue Series, Book #2)
The Married Woman—Once a shy wallflower, Carlys Webber marries multimillionaire Kirk Arnold. Soon Kirk changes from a loving husband to an angry stranger. Will Carlys risk her precious marriage for a few moments of stolen passion with the irresistibly handsome and sensuous architect, George Kouras?
The Single Woman—Fashion world superstar, Jade Mullen survives deception and divorce. She vows never to be betrayed again. But what will she do when her devoted lover, architect George Kouras, asks her the one question she doesn’t want to answer?
The Husband—Kirk Arnold struggles to forget the dark secrets of his tormented past. He achieves one dazzling success after another. But will he succumb to the tragedy that destroyed his family? And will Carlys pay the price?
The Lover—George Kouras rises from humble beginnings to the top of his profession. He and Jade fall madly in love and think they have discovered a new way to live happily ever after. But what will she do when she finds out about George and Carlys?
Set in the glittering world of fashion and in high-powered executive suites, in run-down houses, ethnic neighborhoods and sedate suburbs, Husbands and Lovers is about men and women losing—and finding themselves—in the gritty 1970s and glitzy 1980s. “Steamy and fast-paced, you will be spellbound.”–Cosmopolitan
Available from All the Amazons Nook Kobo Google Play
Ruth I must admit, this wonderful column takes me totally aback. I HAVE notes, of a sort, but seldom use them and have been an unforgivably sloppy thinker through most of my writing career. You really make me think- I know I’ve forgotten all kinds of incredible ideas, and while I do have my methods I’m sure I could improve on them.
{But I just KNOW, a week from now I’m going to find myself looking all over creation for the dang notebook…}
Will—Glad to hear the post is causing you to reconsider! Forgetting great ideas is just the pits, isn’t it?
PS: You’ll find the dang notebook. Or else, you’ll get a new one and not make the same mistake twice!
Great post. Brilliant ideas.
mcullen—Thanks so much! As I wrote the post, I was struck by how many accomplished people depended on their daily notes. We could all learn from them. 🙂
I make to-do lists, but not really a list of ideas. Since I tend to struggle for story ideas, I think I will pick up the notebook habit.
Can you imagine how much some of those notebooks you mentioned are worth?
Alex—Considering how many accomplished people in different professions depend on their notes, it seems the notebook habit is a great one to adapt. I hope it will serve you well.
Great point about their value. I wonder what happened to all those notes and notebooks? I imagine Edison’s have been kept, but what about the rest? Lost to posterity?
Ah, Ruth, here’s another fine habit you’ve gotten me into. Ha!
CS—Now that you mention it, a definite improvement over some of the *other* habits I’ve gotten you into. 😉
I enjoyed this post. It showed me I am in good company.
Now, who is making fun of all my notebooks?
Thanks, Ruth.
Ingmar—Happy to hear you enjoyed the post. I, for one, am most certainly NOT making fun of all your notebooks. 🙂
I am adding a note to my religiously used grocery list to buy a pocket notebook for writing. Your discussion of movers and shakers in the world who use notebooks moves readers to action. Thank you!
Mary—Thanks for taking the time to comment! BTW, my religiously used grocery list says “hello” to your religiously used grocery list. A never-ending grocery list, right?
Hope your new notebook serves you well!
Hi, Ruth,
A very timely topic topic for me. I’ve wrestled with notes for ages. I wanted something like a commonplace book or a version of Smart Notes, but it’s been challenging figuring out how to make the notes relevant and not just a junk drawer. I especially wanted a system so if I did research on Prohibition for a project, I could reuse it on a later project.
Tiago Forte’s second brain system has been really helpful (https://fortelabs.co/blog/progressive-summarization-a-practical-technique-for-designing-discoverable-notes/) It’s such a different way of thinking. The notes system becomes more than a collection of unrelated things, but a useful tool for fiction writing.
Linda—Thank you for the link! A very interesting, intelligent approach and, as you say, useful for fiction. In the meantime, I find tagging notes very useful and, as for notebook notes, I have a visual memory and can usually retrieve notes via a mental image.
The problem I’ve had with tags is that require you to remember them in some way. I was never sure if the tag I used now would be something I would remember or if my future self would even use the same tag for that topic. When I used them, I often ended up with many tags with one note, and there was always a handful that were spelled wrong.
Linda—Evernote’s drop-down menu remembers the tags for me. I find that a great help and stops the notes-gone-wild syndrome! At least for me.
I always keep a notebook–but my biggest problem is that now I have five of them, and sometimes I have to search through them to find what I want. I am a prodigeious not taker. But would you believe, I wrote an important note the other night and then could not find it. The context is there, maybe I need a different system.
Beth—Yeah, I’d believe it. Did you find your note yet? I “lost” some laundry yesterday. Drove me crazy. Then discovered that my DH was the culprit!
I use several notebooks–a notebook for my morning pages to a notebook for my WIP. I used to carry a tiny notebook and pen with me on walks–when I’m most inspired. Now I just carry my cellphone. Thank you for this interesting article, Ruth.
Leanne—Smart of you to dedicate different notebooks to different purposes. And, yes, the do-it-all cellphone! No wonder we can’t quit them!. 🙂
Excellent topic, Ruth! I’m obsessive about taking notes. The Coletta men have a wicked sense of humor. If I hadn’t written down their one-liners for one of my characters, she wouldn’t be the snarky, fun-loving badass she is today. I use Notes in my iPhone for most of my notes, but I also use any scrap paper that’s handy when inspiration strikes and/or a full-sized spiral notebook.
Sue—LoveLoveLove men (or people, really) with a great sense of humor. Smart of you to note their one-liners. Sure helps character-building!
I’ve been working out of a college ruled spiral notebook. The first few pages are my immediate or near future ‘To Do’ list pages. I scratch things off when they’re done and add new ones the bottom.
Bigger projects and my current WIP get their own pages. As things come to me, I scribble them down in the appropriate place and go back to whatever I was doing. A daily glance through the list shows me things I need to tend to. When I’m done with a page I tear it out. Notes for books and stories I’m working on, I keep. The rest of the stuff gets tossed. It’s done. On to the next thing.
Anne—Sounds like you’ve got a system that really works well for you. So smart!
I LOVE crossing out accomplished tasks!
Great subject, Ruth – important one for writers who should be constant observers but not expected to have perfect memories (especially as we age). 🙂 My background is three decades of criminal and forensic investigation. At they say in the biz, “If it’s not in your notes, it didn’t happen.” I have boxes and boxes of police and coroner notebooks stuffed away and now that I’m a “writer” I’m generating more ink to paper inventory.
I have two note-taking systems now. One is a hard-backed Cambridge lined book – on one side I write a daily time log and keep track of WIP, word count, and distractions. On the other side, I write weekly tasks to accomplish as well as having space for jotting down whatever pops into my head. The other system is an ever-evolving Word.doc where I copy and paste interesting stuff I see online. It’s like old fashioned tic-file where you cut out stuff and stuck the clips inside. Anyway, that’s what works for me. Enjoy your day!
Garry—Thanks! I LOVE hearing other people’s note taking/keeping systems. I use a jumble of Evernote / paper notebooks / Post-Its / Index cards. I ditch to-do notes (on Post-Its or index cards) as soon as the item is accomplished. Evernote is for stuff I want to keep more or less indefinitely, altho I periodically review it and delete things that are no longer relevant.
Also love the “If it’s not in your notes, it didn’t happen” quote. Sounds like authentic cop talk. Might need to swipe it one of these days!
Great post, Ruth! I’ve had notebooks of all kinds over the years, usually arising from the writing needs of the time. I have a small notebook I’ve used since college (many decades) that is worn leather and takes refills (fortunately, still available). It is my carry-with notebook, lives in purse or pocket.
I used a recorder in conjunction with this notebook for the muse attacks that would come in the middle of a deep sleep. I don’t usually like recorders, as the sound of my voice is distracting when translating an idea – it seems to trigger the ego, who must of course get their two cents in, which can really put the kybosh on the whole process.
I do a twice-yearly (opposite seasons usually) re-read of my notebooks. I do this after discovering 50 years ago that there were some ‘threads’ of concepts that continued year after year with tiny expansions or afterthoughts.
I also use my notebooks to capture things like places/locations that make me feel weird or resonate. These are used in my writing as well as to track deja-vu locations. This notebook has led me to ‘remember’ events in my past that were the ‘root’ to long-existing stigmas or emotional damage that still cloud my life and decisions.
My writing notebooks have evolved into specialized bits — one for characters, one for locations, one for observed body language, one for story ‘starts’, etc. The story starts notebook may have 1-20 pages on an idea — part actual material and part speculation on aspects of the idea and plot possibilities. Great fun, that one.
It’s fun to hear that so many innovative people consider the best notebook is the tactile one. I believe creative, innovative folks need and enjoy the transfer of thought and ideas in this connected-to-the-physical and ultimately silent way. Almost like automatic writing. Often my hand only just barely manage to get down the words that explode from my mind. I want a notebook that I can simply press my palm to and my thoughts flow seamlessly onto the page….
Thanks again, Ruth, your post pulled me back to my stacks of muse information! :O)
Maria D’Marco/TigerXGlobal
ye gads! posted, then looked at my gargantuan comment!! forehead to keyboard — guess it shows how your post affected me…?? :o)))))
Maria—Many thanks for such a complete run down. Very inspiring and offers lots of excellent ideas.
Soiunds like writing in your notebooks sometimes almost automatically puts you into the zone. Wonder if you can bottle that?
Yeah. About pressing your palm and thoughts flowing seamlessly onto the page? Can you figure out a way to make that work for books?
Thanks for saying how you reread your notes! I have a mishmash of notebooks – always one bullet journal type but also a bunch of writing related ones, some dedicated to particular projects and some miscellaneous, plus a bunch of Scrivener documents and phone note app stuff and even voice memos – I’ve got capturing down pretty well, but actually using the notes is my next hurdle. I’ll try your approach!
Yes to notes! I even write them in the dark after some dream or night thoughts . . . because I won’t remember. It’s something one of my profs encouraged way back when.
Gabe—Thanks for taking the time to comment. I’m with you. If a thought/dream wakes me, I go into the bathroom so as not to disturb my husband and write in the dark. Or, if the note is more than a few words, by a night light.
Interesting that your prof’s comment from years ago has stayed with you and become a productive habit. Fascinating the stuff that sticks…and the stuff that doesn’t.
Glad to hear I’m not weird, well not in this way. My writing predates electronic devices by many years. I use compact notebooks I’m given, outdated pocket diaries and even 10 cent school notebooks, stocking up at “back to school” sales, great to keep all the notes related to each book. Biggest problem is trying to read my own writing.
Valerieparv—amazing, isn’t it, how so many of us are weird in the same way? I’m with you recalling pre-electronic devices. How did we ever get along? Lol
Great topic. I’m always taking notes. I use post-its and keep them until what I want them for is done. I write smaill lists on a little note pad of things I need to do or get then stick it/them in my silicone pocket stuck to the back of my phone for quick access. I have a word doc (s) where I add ideas for writing.
That’s just part of my note taking 🙂
Ann—Just part? lol
Still, sounds like you have created a note-taking process that works well for you. Congratulations!
If I ever needed an excuse to buy another notebook, this was it! Thank you!
gailaldwin—What? You need an excuse to buy a notebook? 😉
Anyway, happy to provide what you require!
Ruth,
I laughed out loud at your comment about characters sometimes being flat and boring (“Sorry about that”), and needing a good kick in the pants. Too true!
I’ve always been a compulsive note taker but my problem is trying to organize and keep track of all my random ideas so I can find them again.
I use a plain, 300 page spiral notebook both as a planner and for note taking and organize everything with a very basic bullet journal system. No crazy drawings, graphing, dots or art skills (thank goodness!) are needed. I learned the basic techniques from a quick, online search. Of particular interest to me, was how to create a master index that organizes scattered fragments into easy-to-find collections on the fly.
When the notes are related to a specific writing project, I snap pictures of the notes and upload the digital versions into my writing software for easy access during writing. Then they become part of the work.
At the risk of sounding like a shameless fan ( which I am), I also create linked bookmarks to your blog, especially to posts about writing craft and technique. If I’m hung up on a particular problem, I’ve got an easy reference guide inside my writing project. No need to get distracted by online searches (a wormhole of doom for me).
lindabrowne—What a brilliant solution to organizing notes! Brava and congratulations! Several comments have brought that up and you’ve solved it.
Anne and I have the smartest, most creative readers and commenters. We’re delighted to hear our craft posts have been helpful enough to bookmark. High fives all around!
But about that “wormhole of doom…” Let’s not even go there. 🙁
Fun article Ruth. I’m a long-time notetaker. I write my books in longhand and several notebooks on the go at one time. Sparks of genius disappear as quick as they come. No notepad, we snooze, we lose. Lol 🙂
dgkaye—Thanks! Wow! longhand? I turn to longhand when I get stuck, but never a whole book. Impressed!
You’re so right about sparks of genius. Better make a note. Quick! Or they’ll disappear. 🙁
True dat! And yes, I’m a dinosaur. My creativity doesn’t get inspired in front of a screen. 🙂
I am a total pantser and I’ve never taken notes and I loved this article. I’m going to start taking notes.
Thank you!
Patricia—So glad to hear the post rang a bell. 🙂
Be interesting to see how taking notes turns out for you. Lead you in new directions? Solve plot/character issues? Result in slow-burn ideas or quick flashes of brilliance? Will be super interesting to find out. Good luck!
I’ve never been a great note-taker. Even in college I wasn’t because jotting notes in a hurry during a lecture usually resulted in notes even I couldn’t read. But I do know I’ve forgotten some ideas. Last week, though, I did something smart. I had an idea for a story–just two words–while at work. So I took a minute and emailed them to my home email. Idea saved.
Fred—just wonderful and something smart indeed! Two words jotted down in an instant makes a huge difference & you just proved it. Congratulations!