Notebooks?

[benlehman]

Am I the only designer in the world who doesn't keep tons of notebooks around?

Comments

[the-stalwart.livejournal.com]

Yes, Ben, you are.

We fully expect you to surrender your Game Designer Licence as soon as you get that whole passport thing straightened out.

Or was that your Licence to Kill? I keep getting them confused...

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Huh.

I mean, I keep all of my ideas in my head. Otherwise, how are they going to mix right?

I do have one notebook, but it was a gift from my brother, so it's mostly sentimental. I've used about 8 pages. No, wait, I used two more the other day, so ten. It's great for keeping stuff in, though! I use it for passport photos, rail tickets, visa forms.

yrs--
--Ben

[rob-donoghue.livejournal.com]

Well, to practically answer that, for a lot of people, the value is in getting material _out_ of their head, for any number of reasons. Possibilities inclue:
* Tactile value of writing assists thought process
* Allows a matter to be "closed" to it can be returned to with fresher eyes.
* A need to robust archiving.
* A love of doodling :)

There are huge swaths of organizational thinking out there that categorizes the various ways that people prefer to keep things organized, be it for business or for creative purposes. There are a lot of interesting ideas, but one recurring theme is that people should find what works for them and stick with it. All in all, it's not shocking that you'll find divergence among game designers.

I will say one advantage of not going with a notebook is that you get to avoid the holy wars about what _kind_ of notebook one should use. :)

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Oh, I understand why to keep a notebook. I just don't.

I puzzle me.

But if I did keep a notebook, it would be moleskine. (Indeed, the afformentioned single notebook is just that.)

[rob-donoghue.livejournal.com]

As well it should be!

...

Er.

Not that I engage in the aforementioned holy wars, nope nope.

[chgriffen.livejournal.com]

Well, I have about eight or nine on my desk and at least two in my briefcase...

[ethan-greer.livejournal.com]

No, you're not.

[rob-donoghue.livejournal.com]

@set me=paper_whore

[yeloson.livejournal.com]

I used to have a fuckload of scrawled ideas in notebooks. Now I am down to 2. If I get my head in order enough to just work on one thing all the way through, I'll probably pare down to one notebook.

[(Anonymous)]

MUSH jokes scare me.

[adamdray.livejournal.com]

Fuck, that was me.

[nikotesla.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm a serial notebook kind of guy, so I've got a dozen or so around.

I find that if I try to keep my ideas all in my head, some fall out and other people pick them up and use them. This way, I've put them away.

The primary function it serves is actually the mnemonic of writing the ideas down. They function better as little diagrams than a pile of half-ideas.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Right, but when you write them down, they enter fix form, and then they're harder to work with.

yrs--
--Ben

[greyorm.livejournal.com]

I would be completely lost without my notebooks -- I simply wouldn't remember all the various ideas I get. Plus, I've found recently, that writing out flowcharts really helps crystallize the direction of my ideas. More mysteriously, it is the act of writing by hand that helps, not typing similar material out on the computer.

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

Quite probably. I go everywhere with at least one notebook within arms reach all the time. But then again my notebook computer is a lugable and internet access spotty at times (and forces me to be tied down to a specific location by wire or limited wireless hot spot).

And if I don't write stuff down at all it gets forgotten too often, at least the deeper details.