Create Your Process Notebook

I love my notebooks and journals. My annual New Year’s ritual is to buy a fresh notebook with a cover that speaks to me with intriguing designs or a favorite color. I have many notebooks now, both paper and online.

Here, you’ll document your writing journey, making the Process Notebook your own.

Begin by choosing the kind of notebook you want and setting it up.

Q. Do I have to keep a Process Notebook?

The short answer is yes. Each step of the lessons asks you to add something to your notebook – whether it’s a response to an initial prompt, a writing exercise, an image that represents your words, or a self-reflection.

Keep it, treasure it, and continue adding to your notebook.

The longer answer is that the Process Notebook records all your ups, downs, and discoveries. Like a story, your notebook charts beginning, middle, and end – where you begin the journey and how your writing changes along the way.

Best of all, by the time you finish the lessons, you’ll have a lot of writing and thinking collected in one place. Keep it, treasure it, and continue adding to it.

Q. Should it be online or a paper notebook?

This is up to you, but I suggest you keep an online notebook with the template.

The template includes all the lesson prompts.

Notebook template: Copy the Google doc provided (see link in the box above). The template includes all the prompts and sections for each lesson. You can also add other multimedia material and export your completed notebook as a PDF.

If you prefer to write notes by hand, download the Google doc template as a PDF or other text file, print it out, and fill in sections by hand.

Paper notebook: If you prefer your own hard-copy notebook, use one that gives you space to write and tape in images or other visuals. In this case, you’ll add the prompts you’re responding to by hand. Choose an attractive notebook, one you’ll want to keep and refer to.

Q. How do I start my Process Notebook?

If you’re using the online template, follow the instructions for setting it up. Once your notebook is ready to go, respond to the first prompt about your goals.

Make the notebook your own.

You can also customize your notebook. Insert a new title page and image with the Google doc, for instance – or paste a print image of your own on the cover of a paper notebook.

Make the notebook your own, even before you begin the lessons themselves. This is worth repeating, because the point is to keep using your notebook.