So, you've decided to follow the Wiccan path.  You've had a ritual, though it was out of someone else's book, and you've tried a little magick, just to see how it would feel.  You've also finally cast a solid circle, and you bought your first tarot deck.  But something's missing - you need a way to physically show your efforts.  Is it time to start your Book of Shadows?  Definitely!

"A Book of Shadows?  How do I start one of those?"

I have gotten that question so many times, and I always say the same thing.  "Remember how much you read in the beginning?  That's how much you write now."
I also get questions on what it should be written in, what goes into it, and what order to put things in.  The key here is to remember that it is YOUR Book.  You will not be handing it in at the end of the week, and no one will be going through it to make sure everything is correct.  If you can understand it, then it's done properly.

For starters, if you are just beginning your BoS, then it needn't be a fancy leather-bound, pentacle engraved, parchment-filled 2-ton megabook.  Imagine having to tear pages and scribble lines out of that.  Start sensible with a 2" 3-ring binder and a pile of dividers.  Get yourself some pens and find a place in the binder where you can put them.  I also keep a little notebook with me when I go out in case something comes to mind or catches my attention.  Once you've got some things written that you know you will definitely be keeping (and I'm talking over a few years here), then feel free to go out and get yourself a nice-looking blank book, and start writing (Neatly!) what you've decided to keep.  Some people have several books, binders, and piles of loose paper as their BoS, and many are happy to keep it this way.  What you can also do is get a book-making program and print out 20 pages or so at a time, so that it's perfectly legible for one, and you can bind it into your own book... a few staples and some string does wonders, and when you have enough of these little booklets, you can combine them together and put them in a fabric-covered cardboard cover.  Very professional-looking!

Anyway, enough about that.  What to put into it?
That really depends on the person.  The following sections may prove useful to a beginner.  You might want to label the dividers with:

• Personal Journal
  
• Magickal Dictionary
  
• Ethics of the Craft
  
• Pathworking
  
• Pantheons
  
• Rituals
  
• Spellwork
  
• Herb Magick & Lore
  
• Magickal Correspondences

If you feel you would like to have more, such as general information on the Sabbats or other information, feel free.  This will likely become your main reference in the future.
In this book, you may want to write down any rituals or spells you have written yourself, as well as what you experienced when performing them, along with any spiritual experiences you may have had.  You may want to write in any Tarot readings you do, what you felt, and what the cards told you.  You may write recipes, either for, say, Esbat cakes, or maybe some herbal preparation for clearer skin.  Anything goes.  If it it something you feel is related to Wicca or Witchcraft in any way, then by all means, write it down.  You never know when things will get significant.
It's just my personal belief, but I think any BoS should start off with a copy of the Rede.  (That's just me though )
So, get yourself a binder and a few packages of paper, a pile of dividers, and a pen, and get writing!  Remember, if what you've written is no good, There's always a Sabbat just around the corner, and what's a Sabbat without a little bonfire?