On Writers' Notebooks and Maple Syrup

photo courtesy sxc.hu

"It takes forty gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. Maple sap is mostly water. To make syrup you've got to boil off that water. Much of your writer's notebook is like that watery sap. You have to boil off lots of water in order to make the syrup of your writing dark, thick, and sweet." --Donald Murray

Following this analogy, does it take forty notebooks to distill down to one successful book? Oh, my, I hope not. I'm certainly on my way, but no where close to that! Let's see. A notebook for my WIP, one for character sketches, those for ideas to develop, descriptions, fun word combinations, poetry, inspirational thoughts, tidbits I don't want to lose track of but don't know what to do with, various journals. Some I work out of regularly, others I haven't made an entry in for a long time.

Question of the week: do you keep a writer's notebook? What does it look like? Do you maintain more than one? Do you have one that's sticky with maple syrup?

Want to see what others say about the writer's notebook? You might check out:
Writer's Notebook, on Pinterest
Keeping a Writer's Notebook
Never Be Blocked
Enjoy!

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