Painters, musicians, and writers--among others--often begin as novices by modeling the practices of their best teachers or favorite masters. The purpose of this article is to suggest that the habits of working, published writers can serve students as informal models for how processes happen behind the scene of public work. Students can examine connections between the private journals and notebooks of professional writers and their polished, more formalized public work; and then, through studying such models, they are in a better position to anticipate what is necessary for the development of their own effective writing habits and projects. Examining the ways in which working writers use journals and notebooks to suit their processes and projects helps student writers visualize the many possibilities open to them through such practices.