EPTThe Big One
The first notebook that I have is the largest, and is divided into five parts. This where I record notes for particular matchups. The notebook includes basic openings, general guidelines and specific build orders for the 5 matchups that relevant to me. I say five parts because I don't only record TvZ, TvP and TvT, but also ZvT and ZvP. I feel this is important because it is very helpful to understand the mindset of the opponent based on the state of any given game, and to know what all of their options are for combatting you. This is really the last notebook in a lot of ways, because it contains only finalized information for once an idea has been as mapped out as it can be. This is because my other notebooks help me record things that I am still learning about
The Little Three
I have three small pocket notebooks. One I take with my wherever I go. This is so that I can record whatever thoughts happen to come to mind while I'm away from my computer. My mind wanders a lot and I'm very absentminded, so this helps me keep track of ideas that I've had at unfortunate times. The second notebook is to write down any vods or replays that I'm interested in going over in more detail and why I'm interested in them. These are easy things to forget, and having it written down significantly reduces the time it takes for me to find them. The last one is to keep track of the time I've spent on Starcraft in some way each day. The entire point of this is to encourage me to be honest with myself about how much I'm working at improving. I (like many others I'm sure) have a habit of embellishing my work to myself, and this simply helps get a more realistic idea of the effort I'm actually putting forth.
The Other Six
These may not each seem worthy of having their own notebook, but I find it easier for myself if I separate them in this fashion. The first is for notes from watching pro level vods and replays. Anything that I find interesting or important gets written down, from general playstyle functionality to specific build orders and timings. The second, third and fourth are connected. The second is for my thoughts immediately after I complete a game, while the third is for when I go over the replay later. These two together allow me to get an idea of what I'm thinking about incorrectly during a match. The fourth is where I combine the notes from all of the games in the third, allowing for a very broad view of where my gameplay needs to be improved most. Here I have written down over 20 different gameplay elements, and I keep track of how often mistakes are made within each element, and how impactful that mistake was on the game. The fifth is for notes about my stream and blog, which aren't so much about gameplay obviously. But I do find them important as they help me take any feedback and turn them into better content for you guys. The last is simply an anything notebook. Whatever random little note I want that doesn't fit elsewhere goes there. "How many SCVs does it take to repair X with Y damage incoming?" or "How many Orbitals should I have in the late game to replace my SCVs but maintain a strong economy?" are the sort of things that go in there.
Obviously many of you won't need all of these. But I do highly encourage at least writing or typing out some of what you know. Your own builds and notes about your play are likely enough for most, and should be considered. Many people think they can just remember everything, but I much prefer not having to do that and having an organized system for retaining all of the knowledge I've gained. So I encourage you to give a try and see if it helps you too.
On a barely related note, I'm planning to start posting replays each blog entry. I'm hoping that showing my improvement to all of you will help convince any doubters that my ideas are at least worth considering. That will start tomorrow, as I decided to do this about two paragraphs ago and don't have any prepared for today.
Stream: http://www.twitch.tv/zultar327 Live around 10 CDT Monday through Friday
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Zultar327 @Zultar327
