Field notes

Keeping a small notebook

A place for details that would otherwise get lost.

Write the detail before the explanation. 'Two pale leaves on the dark step' is easier to return to than 'a beautiful autumn morning'. The first gives you something to see. The second asks you to remember a mood.

A notebook doesn't have to be a diary. Leave dates out when they don't matter. Sketch the bend in a path, write down the colour of a door, or keep a question you couldn't answer on the walk.

Long entries can make the next page feel like homework. Keep a page short enough to finish while standing still. There can be blank pages between the notes.

Read an old page occasionally. If you can recognise the place from a few words, those words did their job.