A peek inside the writerly testing grounds of Sue Grafton Kim Stafford Maureen Stanton and others This collection of essays by well-established professional writers explores how their notebooks serve as their studios and workshops--places to collect to play and to make new discoveries with language passions and curiosities. For these diverse writers the journal also serves as an ideal forum to develop their writing voice whether crafting fiction nonfiction or poetry. Some entries include sample journal entries that have since developed into published pieces. Through their individual approaches to keeping a notebook the contributors offer valuable advice personal recollections and a hardy endorsement of the value of using notebooks to document develop and nurture a writer s creative spark. Designed for writers of all genres and all levels of experience Writers and Their Notebooks celebrates the notebook as a vital tool in a writer s personal and literary life.