There’s something about writing in a notebook that makes me feel powerful.

Okay, I realize that sounds absolutely ridiculous, but it’s true. There’s just something about it that really gets to me.

It makes me feel productive in a way that for whatever reason typing on my laptop doesn’t. Putting ink on paper makes me feel like I’m actually doing something.

It makes me feel like I’m not half-assing it. That I’m being all committed and serious and important about my writing.

I think part of it is perception. When people see my typing on a laptop, I could be writing, I could be tweeting, I could be updating Facebook, I could be doing a lot of things that have nothing to do with actually writing. When people see me writing in a notebook, they KNOW I’m writing. That’s what a notebook is for, after all.

I use my notebooks for different things, ideas, outlining, first drafts. But it really doesn’t matter what I’m doing in the notebook. Just the act of writing whatever it is makes me feel more accomplished than doing the same thing on my laptop. In fact, there are certain things that just belong in my notebook and the idea of doing them on my laptop is ridiculous to me.

For example, I’m outlining the new Ivy novella that I’m calling The Timeless Man. The way I’m going about working it could easily (and probably more practically) be accomplished on my laptop, but that approach feels so wrong to me that it’s like you just suggested I chisel everything out on stone. This sort of thing needs to be scribbled down in my notebook.

In my notebook lies my power.

I can’t imagine that I’m explaining this well at all and most people reading this will think I’m some kind of nut (thank goodness I’m a writer; that sort of crazy gets excused).

But I’m sure there are a few people that will read this and know exactly what I’m talking about.

Notebook power!