Cracking Magic (5) – Tools

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The hardware is being expanded by some very important tools …

Having mentioned in the last article already that the computer is not my most important tool for the archive, here is one of the most important tools (besides the brain, of course): notebooks. Not the electronic ones, but the ones made from real paper.

I have been using Moleskine Cashier Notebooks (pocket size) for years now. Before switching to these relatively small notebooks, I used much bigger Moleskines. Probably hoping that bigger notebooks will result in more and bigger ideas. How wrong I was!

But first of all: why Moleskines? They are a bit more expensive, but then – they last almost forever, due to the superior quality. And this is what I wanted: a longer notebook life. The surface and feel are beyond everything else, it is a joy to work with them. The pocket size with soft covers makes them easily transportable and they fit into almost any pocket. It is the quality, the brand and the way they look and feel. A sort of cheating and seducing myself. As well as the fact that because I spent a lot more money for them, I will value them more than a cheap spiral bound notepad.

They come in different colors, which is what I like. I use several of them in different colors: a color for each category. One for ideas, one for the act, one for problems to be solved, etc. So it is easier to grab the right notebook (and also nicer looking on the desk).

When later working with the Gene Anderson A-B-C list system, each trick from the A-list could even have its own little notebook. The trick that is on the A-list is worth having a small notebook on its own! Maybe you will end up having ten notebooks, if your act consists of these ten tricks, but then you have it all in one place and – more important – the trick will “live”. it is more fun to do the work of keeping a trick up to date when you have a notebook and see how it fills with improvements and further ideas. It is sort of having a diary of a trick. Or maybe a documentation of a trick’s evolution.

Barebones For Note Taking

There are dozens of informative websites and blogs on how to take notes properly and probably you have your own system already. For those who have not, here is my way. Instead of having you check out all of them on the internet and waste time, here my summary and shortcuts that should be sufficient to get you started the easy way:

  1. One notebook – one category/topic/trick
  2. First page is left blank at the beginning of a new notebook. When it fills, this is the place to put in a title, short description of the content and a brief table of contents. That way, it is easy to navigate the notebooks later.
  3. Each entry has at the top of the first page the date and some tags.
  4. Scribbling and drawing is allowed, in fact desired. A bad hand writing might be an obstacle years later in trying to identify what has been written. It doesn’t matter how crude the scribblings are – only you will see them.
  5. Use post-it notes and bookmarks for easier orientation and flexibility. The post-its can be removed, moved and discarded as well as expanded. They can be shifted from topic to topic. There is always the possibility to make them “steady” and transferring the content permanently into the notebook later. Post-it notes and the bookmarks are some of my most important tools (along with the notebooks themselves).
  6. Use color. Text markers, colored pencils and felt tip pens and so on. The more color, the better. The brain likes colors.
  7. And that is enough to know. Go ahead and start a notebook! This shows the “system” of the marvelous first page in each and every notebook I have. This is the new home and surroundings for your ideas: the ultimate archiver’s tool kit – I doubt you will need anything more in the next few weeks and months to come (besides fresh notebooks).

Why hand-writing?

No need to go into the details here. Prof. Richard Wiseman has done the scientific work for us already in his book “59 Seconds”, where he touches this topic briefly (and, as the book title promises, it takes only a couple of minutes to learn it). Get this outstanding book here: Prof. Wiseman book on Amazon.

The reason I take new ideas in handwriting is to speed up the process of their integration into my brain. May sound weird, but works. Whilst writing, I already wrestle actively with the idea, and much of the creative process starts with the writing by itself. A big time saver and very efficient without me making a conscious effort or realizing it!

It is proven that writing or drawing by hand is much more efficient than just typing something into the computer. Therefore, my main work is done by hand within the notebooks. 80 % of my important work is done this way. Always.

I tend to see it this way: in the computer, all the collected ideas and information are invisible, hidden somewhere in files that are hidden in the filesystem. These ideas exist as a digital file, for sure, but I cannot immediately see them. Like a drop of water in the ocean. They are not visible immediately for me, and therefore not really accessible.

However, in the notebooks, the simple act of flipping through the pages makes the ideas visible within a fraction of a second, as if by magic. The information has come to life and can be read, touched, looked at. Far better and more human way to tackle information in order to literally seize the information in your hands.

Why the smaller format of the notebooks?

The main reason is: brevity. As we all know: “Brevity is the soul of wit.” How true! And in order to get used to brevity and one of the best ways to learn to handle it when taking notes, is to reduce the available writing space! So simple and so effective. Therefore, the smaller format.

Take advantage of a major productivity hack: Parkinson’s Law. Parkinson’s Law states that work will expand to fill the time available for its completion. If you have less time to complete a task, you’ll likely increase your effort. In our case: note taking will be much easier and effective if the space permitted for notes is smaller, not allowing those notes to “expand”. Smaller space means more notes in less time. Perfect.

Another point: there is less resistance in actually writing something onto the paper, which is the most important thing to do with a notebook. A smaller space is not that intimidating!

Kickstart

Now what to do with all that for your archive? The most dangerous enemy lurking here at the start is intimidation. You look at all the archives others have (or reputedly have) and think: “Man … I am never gonna have this … it will take ages … where should I start?”

Put these questions and self-doubts into the trash can. Start the easy way and don’t give a shit on what archives others apparently have or do not have. Think only for your own little archive, the most important one in the world. Get three of the small Moleskines for the beginning. Use the first three categories, one notebook for each topic:

  • Knowledge
  • Props
  • Ability

Knowledge: jot down routines, tricks, systems, procedures and what else is interesting and important for you now and in the future for your act.

Props: start to take notes on which props you are interested and jot down the ideas you might have for modifying them, making them personal for your act. Write down the props you might want to have. Draw. Scribble. Colorized. Invent. Think and then design the “hardware”.

Ability: start to think about necessary sleights and techniques you will be using or must be able to execute. Rethink your tricks and start to search for where techniques are applied or necessary. Research these techniques that you need to do your tricks. Find better ways, jot them down. Take note of what you have to practice or learn. Start thinking this notebook as a sort of to do list.

Later you can add some more notebooks: gags, patter, presentation, routines, tricks, specialities, whatever you want or need. But right now start with just the three! If you have more in the beginning, then chances are that you get involved too much into preparing empty notebooks and wasting your time with thinking about perfect organization systems and topics. Stay cool. A daunting task can be made into a pleasure and fun with a small first step. Three little notebooks, small as they are, serve the purpose perfectly and even will make you feel like a “conqueror”, will make you feel like a winner. That is what we want.

You will be surprised how much valuable information you are going to store within the next few days. Work done! You are on the way, because you have started your archive with three little notebooks. That wasn’t too difficult, wasn’t it?

For me, this system works so good is because the focus is on that few notebooks and not on the vast amount of information that is on my computer (which at some times makes me feel helpless and uninformed). As already said, for me the computer is only the place to store and research the information I might need in the process of writing my ideas into my notebooks. That mountain of knowledge would be more in the way rather than a help.

Conventions And Lectures

Once you got started with entering your ideas and stuff into these notebooks, they can (even in this embryo state) be already useful for your next attendance of a lecture or convention. Just have the notebooks with you and when you see some magic, think of your notebooks, evaluate whether the new information could be useful for you and if so, put it into your notebooks. The books act as a the guide for you. A Ziplock bag transforms the kit into a power tool. All in one place, easy to carry, coffee and beer proof, you can use it anywhere (even in tropical climatic places) and it is cheap. All you need to constantly work and jot down your ideas …

That way, you are prepared to squeeze all the relevant information tailored to you out of the event. The notebooks help you to stay focussed on your stuff. No more distractions …

And that is the whole secret behind the secret!

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