Caroline Starr Rose

picture book and middle-grade author

  • home
  • Bio
  • Blog
  • Books
    • Anthologies
    • Blue Birds
    • The Burning Season
    • Jasper and the Riddle of Riley’s Mine
    • May B.
    • Miraculous
    • Over in the Wetlands
    • A Race Around the World
    • Ride On, Will Cody!
  • Author Visits
  • Virtual Visits
  • Events
  • Teacher Resources
  • Contact
  • Writing One to One

Ode to a Research Notebook

26 Comments

I’m in the thick of the manuscript connected to this notebook. Thought it might be fun to share again!

I wrote this a few days ago in an attempt to express a piece of my writing process — the behind-the-scenes work that goes into writing historical fiction. You guys. In four years of blogging I can honestly say this is the most fun I’ve ever had in writing a blog post. Writing this poem has reminded me I need to give myself more permission to play. There is something incredibly satisfying in starting and finishing a project in one day and in experimenting with a format I’ve never used before.

Here’s to your own creative processes and the opportunity to find joy there!

I
Oh, notebook mine,
the place I gather records, thoughts
before I know the way a story winds,
unsure whether or not
I’ll need what I’ve written down,
or if the scribbling of a word will be mere passing fact,
a jot to teach, inform me of the world I’m learning,
a collection of phrases to ground
me in the things I sorely lack,
to multiply my yearning.

II
You are a place of lists,
dates, maps, quotes, sometimes a sketch,
this novelist’s definition of bliss,
my source when I long to catch
a whiff of history, a summer berry’s hue,
a sense of place, the voice of one long dead,
the temperature when kerosene solidifies —
truths I can bend and shift, make new,
and like a ball of dough transform to bread
with heat and time. You stoke the fire in my mind’s eye.

III
You are a testament to months of labor,
a tribute to half-formed thoughts and starts,
a vestibule which leads to something greater,
the fresh firsts of a future art,
a net that gathers every object nearer,
sifts and filters, groups and sorts,
until like seeds that push to germination,
truth and story blend, grow clearer:
dear notebook, you help me bring forth
a story to its liberation.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Filed Under: the writing life

Comments

  1. Kimberly says

    October 31, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    I love every single bit of this…the poem, the handwritten notes, the drawings. Everything!

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      October 31, 2013 at 3:02 pm

      Thank you! It was a fun way for me to process this early stage of my writing process. And it was so quick! That alone was very satisfying.

      Reply
  2. Valerie Geary says

    October 31, 2013 at 3:30 pm

    I love it even more with the pictures! 😀 This is inspiring….

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      October 31, 2013 at 3:33 pm

      Thank you! It was so fun to write it and get feedback the same day from my in-town critique group. How often does it happen that you get to finish and polish something wholly in just a few hours? Truly, I’ll be doing more of this.

      Reply
  3. Valerie Geary says

    October 31, 2013 at 3:33 pm

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    Reply
  4. Kenda Turner says

    November 1, 2013 at 12:31 am

    Was truly inspired by both the poem and the journal! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      November 1, 2013 at 1:00 am

      Kenda, thank you! And now for the writing. Gulp.

      Reply
  5. Margaret Simon says

    November 1, 2013 at 10:43 am

    Taking a break from the long hours of research to write this wonderful poem about the process satisfies the soul. You should consider linking up to Poetry Friday today at Teacher Dance. I post every Friday and learn so much from the whole kidlitosphere. http://www.teacherdance.org/

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      November 1, 2013 at 12:50 pm

      Thanks for the tip! I just linked up.

      Reply
  6. Ruth says

    November 1, 2013 at 9:17 pm

    Gorgeous post!

    Reply
  7. Bridget Magee says

    November 1, 2013 at 11:08 pm

    Lovely! I enjoy the snippets of your journal interspersed with your verse. =)

    Reply
  8. LInda Baie says

    November 1, 2013 at 11:26 pm

    Happy that you linked, Caroline-This is lovely, a peek into the process is always beautiful to see, words and pics! I’m glad you enjoyed doing it, am sure others will enjoy seeing it! I love “like a ball of dough transform to bread
    with heat and time.” Thank you!

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      November 2, 2013 at 2:57 pm

      Thank you, Linda. I’m partial to that, too. 🙂

      Reply
  9. Mary Hill says

    November 2, 2013 at 12:18 am

    I love your notebook. Looks so much better than mine. I loved the poem too. So inspirational. Now I have a desire to take pictures of mine and write a poem.

    Reply
  10. Mary Lee says

    November 2, 2013 at 11:11 am

    Wow! I can’t wait to show this to my students! You take Writer’s Notebook to a whole new level! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  11. Jill the OWL says

    November 2, 2013 at 2:36 pm

    I need to share with with my students!! They will be in awe 🙂

    Reply
    • Caroline Starr Rose says

      November 2, 2013 at 2:59 pm

      If teachers are looking for a fun example for students, Robin LaFevers is the author who creates an amazing notebook. Look hers up!

      Reply
  12. Augusta Scattergood says

    September 15, 2014 at 8:18 am

    Fun seeing this again. Looks much more creative than my Scrivener “notebook”!

    Reply
  13. Robyn says

    September 15, 2014 at 9:13 am

    How neat to see what all goes on behind the scenes! Miss you.

    Reply
  14. Amy Rogers Hays says

    September 15, 2014 at 12:19 pm

    love this!

    Reply
  15. Elizabeth Varadan says

    September 17, 2014 at 1:03 am

    Really good poem! And it captures the whole process. This was a nice start to my day.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Meet Caroline Starr Rose
  • Email
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter

my books

Subscribe to my newsletter + to receive regular blog posts

categories

  • A Race Around the World
  • authors
  • Blue Birds
  • books and reading
  • classroom connections
  • encouragement
  • faith
  • family
  • historical fiction
  • home
  • Jasper and the Riddle of Riley's Mine
  • May B.
  • Miraculous
  • non-fiction
  • Over in the Wetlands
  • poetry
  • publication
  • Ride On, Will Cody!
  • Song of the Raven
  • teaching
  • The Burning Season
  • The Notebook Series
  • the writing life
  • this and that

Copyright © 2023 · Caroline Starr Rose · Site by Design by Insight

I participate in Amazon Services LLC Associates and Bookshop.org, affiliate programs that allow me to make a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting this site!

Sign up for biweekly blog posts + my quarterly author newsletter and receive a printable quote from my novel, Blue Birds.