Today’s blog post is about something very special to me! A lot of writers know or have been told that they should write down their ideas. I’ve been doing that ever since 2016, back when I was in high school. I’m so glad I did. Today, I’m talking about my four “Idea Journals.” I think every writer who is serious about writing should have one 😀 They definitely come in handy! I will talk a little bit about each of them in today’s post!
From left-to-right are my oldest to newest Idea Journals. The cross-striped “Idea and Intentions” journal is my VERY FIRST idea journal. The dirty and faded journal with “Notes” on it is my second journal. The other journal with black and white stripes (which has now super faded words) is my third idea journal. Lastly, the blue one that says “Full of Ideas” is my fourth idea journal, which is still being worked on. It is full of blank pages right now ❤
I wanna talk a little bit about each of these journals for fun. I will also show some journal entries that might be entertaining to read.
IDEA JOURNAL #1
This is my very first journal! Considering how journals #2 and #3 are so faded and covered in pencil lead, I’m surprised journal #1 is in such good shape after all these years! How many years, you ask? The first journal entry is from September 25, 2016. That’s nearly SEVEN YEARS OLD! Let’s take a look at some of these journal entries, shall we?
Concept Artwork From Thursday, February 9th, 2017
I absolutely LOVE that I sometimes would draw out ideas in my head!! I 100% FORGOT about this idea, until I went flipping through pages today for this blog post.
Inside Jokes While Writing Down Dates — Wednesday, March 14th, 2018
Whenever I write down ideas on a day that is meaningful to me in some way, sometimes I will make a little reference or drawing to go along with it! It makes writing down ideas even more fun! For example, this is based on a scene from the SpongeBob Squarepants Movie in which Plankton says something about March 14th on a calendar. I also totally forgot that I wrote in my Idea Journal to write down theories and thoughts during my first playthrough of the video game Life is Strange.
Last page of Idea Journal #1 – Thursday, April 12th, 2018
The very last page of my idea journal was pretty sentimental to me ❤ I even wrote down how long it took to complete the Idea Journal 😀 It took 1 year, 6 months, and 18 days.
IDEA JOURNAL #2
Ah man! I remember this Idea Journal being so shiny and nice when it was brand new. Whenever I put it in my backpack, I’d put it in with a very nice pencil sharpener. I believe the lead from that pencil sharpener would dirty up the journal, so sadly it doesn’t look as nice 😦 This journal took 1 year and 10 days to complete.
Brainstorming Names — Sunday, May 13th, 2018
I would often brainstorm what to name my characters in my Idea Journals. This is just one example. I’ve seen several pages like this while flipping through Idea Journal #2. Funny enough, sometimes I would forget what names I would choose for certain characters, and then write a new name for them in a separate journal entry LOL
Funny Acronym — Sunday, July 1st, 2018
HAHA! I thought this acronym was hilarious! Perfect for satire comedy! Oink! Oink!
Coming Up With Trax Zarpp’s Backstory — Monday, November 5th, 2018
This is a journal entry where I brainstormed the details regarding Trax’s relationship with his wife Rel. Particularly why the two are separated, but still married.
IDEA JOURNAL #3
I can barely see what the original words are, because it’s so faded! I believe it said “Thoughts and intentions” in pretty cursive.
Girls’ Night Out Idea — Sunday, June 2nd, 2019
It’s CRAZY to me that 4 years later, this idea would become a published comic story! You can check it out in this link here: https://www.amazon.com/Space-Grind-Takeover-Alexandra-Nelson/dp/B0C9SNG88D/ref=sr_1_1?crid=293K1RD66NPLA&keywords=space+grind+robot+takeover&qid=1690572468&sprefix=space+grind+robot+%2Caps%2C237&sr=8-1
Amazon SP00 Stickers! — Friday, September 27th, 2019
I actually talk about this particular idea for a character named SP00 on page 50 of my comic book Space Grind: Robot Takeover! It’s so cool to me that I have the original sticker that sparked this character idea ❤
Writing Down Dialogue — Friday, October 11th, 2019
Sometimes, I would write down specific dialogue between my characters in my Idea Journals. This is dialogue between Trax and Onion (whose name was “Twig” back then). I thought this in particular was pretty funny!
IDEA JOURNAL #4
I’m doing my best to have this particular Idea Journal maintain its nice and clean look! I’ve had this one for a bit now, and so far so good! I think I’ll only post one idea from this journal, because there aren’t as many ideas to choose to show.
Brainstorming the Space Grind Timeline — Thursday, March 17th, 2022
I remember wanting to keep track of how time works in Space Grind, so I wrote down some ideas on this page.
Closing Thoughts
I want to end this fun blog post with a Bible verse: “And the LORD answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.” (Habakkuk 2:2 ESV) I think this Bible verse is very fitting for today’s topic! It certainly has been useful, as well as a feel-good accomplishment! 😀
I hope everyone here has enjoyed reading this blog post, and will also enjoy their day today! 🙂
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