How Nature Journaling Can Help Your Writing

As writers, we want to transport our readers to the world we are describing or creating on the page.

- MARIA BENGTSON

To invoke this sense of immersive reality, we need to conjure our written world with evocative, multi-sensory detail that immediately resonates with our reader. This is true of every genre, from nonfiction through realistic fiction, and even the created worlds of science fiction and fantasy.

To write it, we must know it. To know it, we must observe it with all of our senses.

However, even when we spend quite a lot of time somewhere, it can be surprisingly hard to truly observe a place. Even something that strikes us as profound or unforgettable can be difficult to recall in detail after the moment has passed.

With nothing more than a pen and a notebook, nature journaling can help you slow down and engage in child-like fascination—and create a reference you can call upon to bring your reader into the worlds you build on the page.

GET STARTED

Start with what you have, and try new things as they strike your fancy. The perfect tool is the one that you will use.

What to Bring

At the most basic level, all you need is something to write and draw with and a notebook to write and draw in. Choose a notebook you can use comfortably when sitting down and writing on your lap. If your notebook isn't hardbound, a clipboard or other hard surface will help.

Creature comforts: a hat, sunscreen, bug repellant, snacks, and a beverage.

Nice, but not necessary: a pair of small binoculars, a hand lens, a small ruler or measuring tape, a small set of watercolors or colored pencils, and a camp stool.

An old backpack or tote bag is handy to carry your things. Don't use anything you would regret getting some mud or dirt on. We're going outside; that's where mud and dirt live.

What to Wear