Boost Sales with a Notebook

What would a writer be without a notebook at hand? Perhaps only a dreamer with ideas wafting through her mind and out again, ideas never to be captured, never crafted into an article or play or story, and never shared in print with a world of readers.

I carry a notebook. Because I do, I have an impressive file of article clips.

For example, one afternoon I saw a Great Dane in the back of a pickup truck on the road in front of me. The driver made a quick left-hand turn in front of three cars, and I was appalled at what could have happened to the dog. My hand fumbled in my purse for notebook and pen to record my outrage, and a few words scrawled as I drove resulted in an article that I sold to "The Pet Gazette." I now carry a small tape recorder in the car, which is much handier and safer to use than a notebook in those circumstances. (I recommend that if you have to use a notebook, please pull over to jot down notes!)

Notes that I made about a comedy of errors that occurred in a parking garage turned into a guest column in a local paper. Not long after, I took notes of a talk by a recent widower in a church meeting. His comments on love lost and found anew led me to interview him, and I sold the resulting story to a local church paper.

At times, my notebook is electronic. Something I heard on television sent me to the computer, where I turned out an eight-line poem aimed at the religious marketplace. Another day, as I struggled to overcome an eye problem, I typed out my feelings by touch. When I regained my sight, the inspirational article I wrote sold to "Explorer Magazine."

Keep a notebook and pen (or tape recorder, PDA, etc.) with you at all times. You never know when an idea will come. Don't be a dreamer; take notes to help you become a writer.