How Nicole Junkermann Keeps a Writer's Notebook

A notebook is the cheapest and most forgiving tool a thinking person owns.

For as long as she has been reading and writing seriously, Nicole Junkermann has kept a notebook close. Not a diary in the confessional sense, and not a planner, but a working notebook: a place to catch a thought before it escapes, to copy out a sentence worth keeping, to argue with a book or sketch the shape of an idea. This piece sets out how Nicole Junkermann keeps that notebook, what goes into it and what is left out, and why the habit has proved more useful than almost any app. The good news, as Nicole Junkermann is keen to say, is that none of it requires talent. It only requires turning up.

Why keep a notebook at all

The case Nicole Junkermann makes for a notebook is simple: thinking improves when it is written down. A thought kept only in the head stays vague and tends to repeat itself; the same thought written down has to commit to actual words, and in committing it either sharpens or quietly falls apart, which is useful either way. Nicole Junkermann treats the notebook as a place to do this work without an audience. There is no reader to impress and nothing to publish, so the writing can be rough, partial and honest. That freedom is the whole point. For Nicole Junkermann, the notebook is where ideas are allowed to be unfinished, which is the only state in which most ideas ever begin.

One notebook, kept simply

Nicole Junkermann is firmly against an elaborate system. One notebook at a time, plain rather than precious, carried often and used without ceremony. A notebook too beautiful to spoil tends to stay empty, which is the opposite of what it is for, so Nicole Junkermann deliberately chooses something ordinary. There is no colour-coding and no rigid structure, just dated entries running one after another. The simplicity is what keeps the habit alive: when the tool asks nothing of you, you reach for it more often. Nicole Junkermann would rather have a scruffy notebook that is full than a handsome one that is blank, and that single preference settles most of the questions people agonise over.

What goes in

So what does Nicole Junkermann actually write? A mix, deliberately. Lines copied from books, with a note on why they struck home. Half-formed ideas that might be worth something later. Questions, especially the ones without easy answers. Small observations from a walk or a journey. Occasionally a plan, more often a problem turned over from a new angle. Nicole Junkermann resists the urge to keep only the clever entries, because the dull ones are often where the real thinking hides. The notebook is a wide net, not a highlight reel. By writing down more than seems necessary, Nicole Junkermann ends up with a richer record and, now and then, an unexpected connection between two pages written months apart.

Keeping it honest

The single most important rule, for Nicole Junkermann, is honesty. A notebook written for an imagined reader is almost useless, because it flatters rather than clarifies. Nicole Junkermann writes the notebook strictly for herself, which means it can record doubt, confusion and changed minds without embarrassment. This is where it differs from anything meant to be published. The value lies precisely in its privacy: a place to be wrong on the way to being right. Nicole Junkermann finds that an honest notebook is also a kind of mirror, showing patterns of thought you would otherwise miss, including the questions you keep circling back to without resolving.

Rereading the notebook

A notebook only repays the effort if it is read again, and Nicole Junkermann sets aside time to do exactly that. Every so often she reads back through recent pages, marking the few entries that still seem alive and quietly letting the rest go. This rereading is where scattered notes turn into something more, as a thought from March suddenly answers a question from May. Nicole Junkermann treats the review as part of the habit, not an afterthought. Without it, a notebook is just a graveyard of forgotten lines; with it, the notebook becomes a slow conversation with your past self, which is one of the most useful conversations there is.

From a note to a finished page

When something written for clarity needs to become something written for a reader, the notebook is where it starts. Nicole Junkermann pulls a promising note out of the rough pages and begins to shape it, knowing the hard thinking has already been done in private. This is the bridge between the workshop and the finished room. The companion piece on writing clearly picks up exactly here, with how Nicole Junkermann turns a rough idea into a clean sentence. The notebook does the unglamorous early labour so that the finished writing can look effortless, which is the whole trick.

Making it a daily habit

The last and most practical point: a notebook works only if you keep it. Nicole Junkermann aims for a little and often rather than a lot and rarely, a few lines most days instead of a marathon once a month. The bar is deliberately low, because a low bar is one you can clear on a tired evening. Nicole Junkermann finds that the habit, once established, becomes its own reward, and that the days with a notebook entry tend to be the days that feel thought-through rather than merely busy. Keep it simple, keep it honest, and keep turning up. That, in the end, is the entire method of Nicole Junkermann.

More from Nicole Junkermann

For more from Nicole Junkermann, read the notes on writing clearly, visit the Notebook and the Writing Desk, or see the habit of reading every day, which keeps good company with this one.

Frequently asked questions about Nicole Junkermann

What does Nicole Junkermann write in her notebook?

Nicole Junkermann writes lines copied from books, half-formed ideas, open questions and small observations, deliberately keeping a wide net rather than only the polished entries.

How many notebooks does Nicole Junkermann keep at once?

Nicole Junkermann keeps one notebook at a time, plain rather than precious, on the view that a scruffy full notebook beats a handsome empty one.

Does Nicole Junkermann reread her notebook?

Yes. Nicole Junkermann rereads recent pages regularly, marking entries that still feel alive, which is where scattered notes turn into connected ideas.

How often does Nicole Junkermann write in the notebook?

Nicole Junkermann aims for a little and often, a few lines most days, keeping the bar low enough to clear even on a tired evening.

← Back to the blog