Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. Image from The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick was taken by me, Allison Symes. Two images directly from Pixabay.
With apologies to the late Jane Austen, I will start by saying it is a truth universally acknowledged that writers have two obsessions, okay three if you count chocolate, but what are the other two?
- Books – our own and those we love reading.
- Stationery items – pens, notebooks, items for the computer, but especially the first two.
The Joys of The Notebook
Every writer I know has a good collection of notebooks. There are those we use. There are the ones which are “too nice” to write in and “must be saved for a special occasion”. Whether that special occasion ever crops up is another issue…!
Every year when I go to The Writers’ Summer School, Swanwick, I use a new notebook (and buy another one for the following year from their excellent Book Room while I am there!).
Then there are the “spare” ones. No writer ever wants to run out of notebooks. This is despite the fact we all use laptops, tablets etc. I do put my notebooks to good use at workshops and events but at home I save them for jotting down those ideas when, inevitably, I am in the middle of writing something else. Good ideas rarely strike at a convenient time!
Also don’t ever think you’ll remember those additional ideas later on. You don’t. No prizes for guessing how I know this but it is the mistake you only make once (along with failing to back up your work – that’s the other “big” mistake so many writers make but again only the once!).
So it does pay to have a notebook and pen to hand even in this technological age.
Pleasing Pens and Matching Notebooks
As for pens, we all appreciate nice ones. For my two book launches, I had pens made up via the good people at Vistaprint with my book covers on. They look great but I was so pleased when someone who won a notebook and pen set from me at one of my online events told me later the pen was a “good writer”. I knew exactly what they meant and they were right. The pens do “write well”.
I was pleased to be given for my recent birthday a lovely notebook and pen set. Nice hardback with a beautiful floral cover too. The notebook even has a separate section for ideas at the back. This will be put to good use. And yes writers do rate their stationery. I prefer hardback notebooks to paperbacks and absolutely adore those which comes with their own pens.
Have I got enough notebooks? Word to the wise: never ask a writer that. The answer will inevitably be a short sharp no even if you know for a fact your writer friend has at least a dozen different ones which do not appear to be in use. The potential for use is there – we just haven’t got around to the practicalities yet but we will. Give us time.
If you think writers might have a stationery addiction, see us as beneficiaries to the stationery industry. Someone has to be – it may as well be us. We do make good use of the products!
Phone “Notebooks”
I also appreciate online notebooks. I have a lovely note taking app on my phone which I use whenever I’m on the train, being a car passenger on a long journey etc. The nice thing with those apps is being able to email myself those notes should I wish (and I often do, it makes for a useful back up here). I also have the option to use audio notes here but I still prefer to “tap out” a note instead and I don’t disrupt those around me. Okay, I don’t get the pretty hardback cover or pen here but the usefulness is beyond question.
Preferences
Pens – you can’t beat the humble biro. I also like the good old ballpoint (which my book launch pens are) and it has to be black ink. I remember when I was a kid seeing those pens which could write in multiple colours with a simple switch at the top end of the pen. Everyone of my age wanted one of those. These days most writers like the black and blue inks. Some of us are less keen on the red especially if we get to see plenty of it from our editors. As an editor myself, I do only dole out the red ink when it is needed, honestly!
Then there are the writing notebooks which share tips on the craft, set exercises and give you space to write in the books themselves (if you can bring yourself to do so). I have some of these. I’ve not written in any of them but find the advice in them invaluable. I suspect I’m not the only writer to do this.
I still like to use a notebook and pen for first drafts especially when away or when I just want to freewrite as an exercise for a while. I do find the connection between paper and pen encourages my creativity. It also mixes things up for me given most of the time I’m writing straight to my laptop.
Do I have a favourite notebook? No. I love them all (though I do have a soft spot for the notebooks with my book covers on them, which again I used as prizes in my online launches).
Mind you, it is ironic the idea for this post came to me as I was writing away on my laptop – no use for the notebook and pen at all! I am sure though I will rectify this as my writing week goes on. It is a rare week when I don’t jot something down the old school way.
Conclusion
I’ve long thought writers have more than one interest. Every author I know loves reading. It is what encouraged our own wish to write. But every author I know also loves their stationery!
All of us have inevitably the potential to end up with more notebooks than we’re likely to use. But then they’re bound to come in useful some day, aren’t they?
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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