The Writer's Notebook is a central element of English 112; it will be where you do a large amount of your writing even though it will not specifically be graded for quality. That is, the notebook is where we will engage in the kinds of "low stakes" writing that writers do all the time: a place where they explore ideas that never make the light of day, where they talk to themselves about their own processes and changes they want to make, even where they "spout off" or note strange happenings that might just become the start of a new text in the future. In short, writers write a lot that the rest of us never see. Far from the "trash" that we might imagine false starts and scribbling to be, this type of writing is actually what most writers find the most useful and necessary to producing the kind of finished work they send "out there" to do their communicative work. Without the fits and pauses, though, little would make it to the next stage. As a result, your notebook in this class will be quite large (a three-ring binder is recommended) and will be added to almost every night and/or class period in one way or another. Generally you will be asked to write three-four pages per week. The notebook will be divided into the following two sections.

Part I: Directed Writings

This section will include all the generative writing (including exploring topics you may never take to a full essay) that we will do in class and as homeworks. All generative writing activities in class, exercises, very rough work on essays, and even research notes will form this part of the notebook, providing a single space where you can continually return for new ideas while drafting to be reminded of the material you had hoped to include or address.

Part II: Non-Directed Writings

This section is completely open and provides you with a space to write about whatever you wish in a private space. It's your place to vent, reflect, moan about your classes, or remark on the weirdest thing you saw that day. The writing done in this section can be very helpful in finding later writing topics, but you should not be thinking about this as you write. Instead, go with whatever sparks you. To get you started I will give you topics and/or prompts which you may or may not do. I will check this periodically—meaning I won't read what you wrote, but rather I will count the number of pages you wrote.