The Value of An Ideas Notebook

It's been almost a month since I subscribed to MasterClass -- thank you to MasterClass for offering a 2-for-1 deal, and thank you to my Mom for making the dream come true! (It's been on my bucket list for over two years now, but I continued to let the price stop me ... less than a month in, and I can confidently say it is ABSOLUTELY WORTH THE INVESTMENT, and I will be subscribing every year for the rest of my life!)

I'll be doing a regular series in my Instagram stories (starting today), called #MasterClassMonday -- sharing a snippet of something I learned from one of the 100+ classes MasterClass offers -- and I decided I also wanted to use Vocal as a platform to elaborate on these snippets of information.

In honour of April being Poetry Month, I'm starting with Billy Collins' MasterClass, "Reading and Writing Poetry"!

Carry A Little Notebook

Billy Collins has been writing poetry for DECADES -- so I completely understand why MasterClass would choose him to impart wisdom and knowledge around the subject of poetry.

"You're not a poet all the time, but you CAN be a poet when you're not writing poetry."

In one of his lessons, Collins says we can be a poet even when we're not writing poetry -- looking at what's around us, finding inspiration for our writing (or any creative outlet, really!). A key piece in this process of discovering new pieces of inspiration is making sure the ideas don't leave us ... and we can do this by carrying a notebook (and a pen/pencil to write with) everywhere we go.

This is a practice I already started doing a few years ago; I'm someone who is notorious for owning multiple notebooks, anywhere from dollar store quality to the nice $20 ones you find at bookstores. Having an ideas/inspiration notebook (or two, or five) specifically, however, is a practice I learned to incorporate the hard way.

I touch on this in a TikTok/Instagram Reel, about falling asleep and then suddenly getting an idea, knowing you'll never remember it in the morning unless you write it down ... such a rough feeling when you don't write it, and can't remember it the next day. (If you can't tell, I'm speaking from personal experience ... so, I now have a notebook in my nightstand drawer, and am slowly adding one to every room in our apartment!)

My Takeaway

As I mentioned above, having an ideas/inspiration notebook is something I already began incorporating into my life ... in fact, I've brought this concept up with a couple coaching clients, because I've seen the benefits it can have for creativity.

The thing that Collins mentioned that I hadn't considered before is the benefit of relieving Blank Page Anxiety.

"... when you sit down to write, you're kind of coming to the table with a beginning.

It doesn't necessarily have to be the beginning of a poem -- it could be the middle or the end ... or not a poem at all. The point is, by having ideas jotted down before you take the time to sit down and write (or paint, or *insert creative outlet here*), you're eliminating the scary blank page. Start with the idea(s) you DO have, and you'll find the page begins to fill a lot easier than starting completely from scratch. Without an idea, or a writing prompt, I can spend 5 minutes just staring at a page ... and feeling unproductive/unmotivated as a result (even doubting myself as a writer and a creative, on my dark days). We don't want those feelings!

So, take this advice: Have one small notebook in your office drawer, one in your bag that you take to school/work/everywhere, one in or on your bedroom nightstand, one in the bathroom ...

Yes, you read that correctly, because how many times have you had a genius idea while you were taking a shower? (Right? We've all been there!)

Anyways ... definitely have a small notebook that you can take anywhere and everywhere, and be sure to have a few laying around the house (particularly in spots you know ideas will come to you). Your creative self will thank you later as you begin working on a new project.