From Writing Journal to Da Vinci Notebook: Developing New Tools for Creativity

Writers, artists, scientists, inventors, lawyers, teachers -- all sorts of people keep journals, notebooks, or sketchbooks to help them collect information, jot down ideas, and make connections. They are a primary tool of creative people throughout time. Keeping a journal of some kind helps to develop observational skills and creative thinking, and it's invaluable for capturing and fostering inspiration for writing or making other art. But is a plain text-based journal really the best tool for the job? This workshop series introduces the technique of keeping a Da Vinci Notebook instead.

Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) — the self-taught “Renaissance Man,” painter of the Mona Lisa, student of anatomy, inventor of flying machines, and on and on — whose notebooks overflow with drawings, codes, notes, and imaginings, we will work together to learn, develop, and share new techniques and practices for journaling and experiment with ways to use our journals as fodder for our more purposeful writing.

This series is a dive into serious play and is appropriate for writers of all genres and levels. There will be some work to complete between sessions, in order to establish and explore the notebook process.

The class takes place remotely online via Zoom. Register to receive the zoom link and class instructions.

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