Unleash Your Creativity: Embrace the Magic of a Physical Notebook

By Christopher di Armani on Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory. -Jack London

Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters up into your brain.
Cheap paper is less perishable than gray matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory.
-Jack London

There’s something magical about a physical notebook that a digital notebook simply can’t match.

When you open your notebook and write down your latest idea using the pen or pencil of your choice, the physicality of the act anchors the idea firmly in your mind.

Studies show physical writing delivers many other benefits to the scribe, as well.

You process information better, you remember that information more vividly, and physical writing even improves your spelling.

But beyond these benefits, I love the feel of paper beneath my hands. I love my increased focus as I write out each word, too. And, as London notes, the written word remains long after memory fails us.

Think back to the last amazing thought you had while falling off to sleep. It’s so profound you tell yourself there is NO WAY you could possibly forget it.

Yet you do.

For this reason alone, a notebook and pen beside your bed is a great addition to your author toolkit. Click To Tweet

Then carry your notebook and pen with you every day, so when the next passing thought or brilliant idea strikes you, you have somewhere physical for that thought or idea to live.