Don't Forget Your Notebook

Before I go any further I must report that 300 people saw 'Hanukkah in Chelm,' not a mere 265! Pretty exciting.
And now, Young Writers, back to the notebook. Out of the blue I had a few ideas for my dog story - ideas that would change its direction a bit. So I grabbed one of my notebooks and began scribbling in it. Yes, it's true that much of what goes into my notebooks never amounts to much, but no writing is a waste of time, even writing you might not look at again. It's all practice. Now I make sure that I carry my notebook around with me almost every day because I'm regularly adding new ideas. It might seem primitive to you techno savvy kids but there is something to be said for the spiral bound notebook and pen.
Please don't forget to read over the winter break. I was looking at a book of snowflakes yesterday - as seen through a microscopic lens - and it reminded me again of when I used to sit on the window sill of my childhood home examining the frost on the window (inside and out). I couldn't see the snowflakes microscopically but the frost made those wonderful lacy patterns on the glass. Seeing the photos in that book gave me the same feeling I had then, as if my body had travelled back in time.
So read as much as you can and write a lot too. Write about your impressions over the holidays. The tastes and smells and colours and the feeling in the air. I've said this before, haven't I? Well I'm saying it again.
Have fun. Create. Joan