Stephen King’s View on Having a Notebook
A lot of great writers carry a notebook with them.
Whenever they have a great idea, they are quick to write that idea down.
Soon, that notebook becomes holy to the writer.
That’s their shrine for great ideas.
Stephen King is different.
He says he doesn’t carry a notebook.
When the interviewer asks him why not, Stephen responds with:
‘Great ideas just stick with you. No need to write them down.’
I like this philosophy by Stephen King.
He is implying that if he forgot about an idea, then it wasn’t worth writing about anyway.
Stephen King has an unorthodox approach to note-taking.
I believe there is also a middle-ground approach.
Why I Believe Notes Are Overrated
During school, I had the habit of writing down anything the professor said.
I’d write things verbatim from his slides.
This was before information technology was advanced.
These teachers weren’t going to be uploading the PowerPoints on SharePoint.
What eventually happened was that I thought the purpose of these lectures was for me to write down the notes verbatim.
Understanding was not the goal, catching every word was.
I learned how easily a productive task can turn into something unproductive.
Later, I changed my approach.
Rather than write down everything that my professor had on his PowerPoint…
I’d read the content he was going to discuss the week before.
The teacher gave out a thing called the syllabus that shared the agenda of the course.
I’d read chapter 7 in detail.
Next week, the professor would give a lecture on chapter 7.
Since I was somewhat familiar with chapter 7, I wasn’t tempted to write down every word of the lecture.
I was able to distinguish relevant info from irrelevant info.
My body would fire up with sensations when the information was worth writing down.
I soon built a more intuitive take on note-writing.
How I Take Notes for Content Creation
Thus far on YouTube, I have uploaded 1200+ videos.
A lot of the video topics just came to me on the day of the talk.
But every now and then, I’ll get ideas when I’m not near a camera.
On those days, I will write a few words on my phone’s notepad.
Example:
If I am going to make a YouTube video called:
- ‘What is the purpose of love notes in Toastmasters?’
In my notepad, I will write:
- ‘Love Notes.’
I’m not going to be too detailed with the notetaking.
The only reason I write 2ish words for my notes is because I only want a reminder.
In the future, when I have nothing to talk about, I will reference the digital notepad.
I’ll see “Love Notes.”
- Those 2 keywords will automatically activate the string “What is the purpose of love notes in Toastmasters?” in my brain.
If the 2 keywords do not activate a larger string in my brain, then I will remove the words.
I don’t know the topic well enough yet.
Some Ideas Haunt You
My strategy is different from Stephen King.
Where he doesn’t write anything down, I write things down in a vague way.
The vague strategy allows me to assess how well I know a topic and how much I want to talk about it.
I do get what Stephen King is saying though.
At times, an idea will HAUNT you.
A few weeks back, I developed this strong aversion for dog owners who don’t leash their dogs.
It’s one thing if the dog is unleashed in a dog park.
But nowadays, I see dog owners not leashing their dogs in public places!
This pissed me off.
What if the dog chases someone?
What if the dog runs into oncoming traffic?
What if the dog slobbers all over a germophobe?
After feeling the anger, I tried going back to my life….
But I couldn’t
I had this desire to get that talk out there.
Many times, I said:
‘Stop being stupid, Armani. Your brand covers communication skills, not pet etiquette. Just go on with your life.
I couldn’t.
I was being haunted!
One day, I had an idea.
I could create a piece on ‘how to spot selfish people.’
And I would make these irresponsible dog owners the main character of the piece.
I get what Stephen King is talking about.
Some ideas, you don’t have to write down.
You’re actively trying to forget it, but it won’t go away.
Those are the ideas that seek expression.
It won’t leave you alone until you express it.
Which Strategy is Right for You?
Writers come in all shapes and sizes.
JK Rowling and Dan Brown write notes in detail.
They also outline all of their works before they write the novel.
Stephen King doesn’t do that.
He just begins writing and likes to be surprised by what he creates.
Don’t just burn your notepad because Stephen King said so.
Discover what is right for you.
I’ve noticed highly analytical people love notetaking.
Highly creative people feel like the notes suffocate them.
If you’re a mix between highly creative and analytical, then my strategy may work.
Where you write vague keywords to recall detailed strings in the brain.
A big part of writing is experimenting.
What works for someone else won’t always work for you.
Be Haunted
Stephen King is one of the most prolific authors of our time.
He is prolific because he does things in an unusual manner.
Every now and then, an idea will keep following you around.
These ideas will often come in the form of annoyances.
Dog owners who do not leash their dogs.
Sloppy service in fast food restaurants.
Friends who try to sell me on their services.
It’s annoying at first.
These firsthand experiences turn into potential ideas.
These ideas don’t go away.
These ideas haunt you.
The only way to make them go away is by expressing them.
These are the occasions where the notepad remains untouched.
For more insights into writing, be sure to check out the Prolific Writer
