I know I'm posting an odd thread. YES I know its 2011, who the hell writes on paper anymore? Well I still do and am currently using a Classic Moleskine Extra Large Soft Cover Ruled Notebook with my cherished Pilot Precise Grip Pen, Fine Point.
So tell me what are your prefered writing tools these days?
Weird...I use the exact same thing... :/ I use mine, however, for notes. I'm much too lazy to type out everything I've written.
Artist's Loft illustration pen and a moleskin journal.
Note my screen name... I obviously use a Moleskine too on those rare occasions I write anything these days. I'm partial to Uni-ball Signo pens, though. Gel ink rules.
And I love those Precise V5 fine point pens. Most comfortable pen I've ever used.
I also joined the moleskin crowd. I debated on a gel pen today and just couldn't make the commitment yet to smear half the ink on the page before it dries. I wish I could rock a fountain pen but I don't posses the patience for learning calligraphy.
Calligraphy is very fun to learn, and very challenging if you're left handed. They do make pens more suitable for lefties, too.
I'm probably going to sound wackier than your Aunt Minnie, but I love writing on repurposed paper. Especially odd sizes. I have some big 2' X 3' strips that came in some shelves I had to assemble and they're awsome to get ideas down on: something in between a rough draft and mindmap, can throw in sketches or whatever. I try to choose sizes to fit stories. I dig practicing sentences on receipts too. Love notebooks as well--Tokyo has some awesome gear for notebook junkies.
It depends what mood I'm in. I can type on a computer. I can write in a notebook. I've written on napkins at a restaurant if I had a really good idea. I like gel pens mostly.
Yellow legal pads and Uniball Micro. I could never use a moleskin, I would write something stupid or an unconnected idea and then have to rip it out and ruin the notebook or I would have to buy a whole new one for each project. No way.
I had this conversation the other day with a friend. He loves to write on quality paper with a fountain pen. Personally I like spiral notebooks or composition books. When I sit down in front of the computer and absolutely nothing comes, I will pick up a notebook and gel pen, sit down in the recliner and start writing. The combination of pen and paper seems to be a magic one for me.
I love the gel pen, waiting on ink to dry is the closest I will probably ever get to writing with a fountain pen.
My favorite pen in the world is the Pilot Razor Point. I prefer graph paper, so I usually carry around a small moleskine cahier - but only the ones with the detachable pages (which are getting harder to find). I can't bring myself to write in a notebook without detachable pages because it feels like chaos and poison when I (inevitably) end up putting something in the book that taints the whole thing. Plus, another benefit to having a notebook is that I can paste/tape in items of inspiration, such as the back of a match book, post card, or receipt, as needed.
Side note: Match books are becoming scarce. They'll soon be a lost art.
I didn't write anything serious until I got my first word processor. It was the edit-on-the-fly capacity that gave me encouragement to write. Back then, the printers had tractor-feed paper but you didn't have to print until you had a decent draft. Then you made additional edits on hard-copy and when you printed a second draft, that was the final one. Even before computers, I used an IBM Selectric II typewriter with correction tape in my first writing job which was a weekly, 750-word column, for a local newspaper.
Now, I often use voice-activated mode on the computer--it is built-in on the Touch Smart HPs--for a first rough draft, but edit in MS Word in insert and review modes.
@Renfield you're absolutely right I only write in my moleskine when im 130% sure what I'm going to write. I have a great quality spiraled 8x5 note book that I got for free from an insurance company, go figure but so far I'm enjoying both dearly.
@BenevolentForce Detachable pages you say? I need that desperately.
used to use spiral bound notebooks, switched to three-hole paper & clipboard, and now using blank paper. Any pen that doesn't bleed through is good enough. Black or blue ink depending on the day.
I've done calligraphy, and it makes my "f" "s" and "z" the envy of all the other letters.
Mostly compose & edit on the computer, but riffing ideas, outlining I do by hand.
I love pens that bleed and blur all over the place. Which is probably stupid because my c's, e's, and f's are indistinguishable, as are my m's, n's, w's, h's... it's all pretty much noise.
I've only written one novel on paper. I was 10, though, and I'm sure the "novel" was under 200 pages.
I've always written on a computer for as long as I can remember. (I'm actually envious of my little preteen self... I would wake up at 4 in the morning, drink a watered down pot of coffee, and write until the school bus came by. Why can't I do that anymore?) I carry around a notebook and a sketchbook at all times, but most of the time I'm within reach of a computer that has Dropbox access.
I used to write on a netbook, but the keyboard was too small for my hands. It wasn't until an ergonomist at one of my previous places of employment scolded me that I realized a netbook might not be the best thing for hours of working. :(
This past summer I bought a Macbook Air. After the initial pain subsided, (dropping mad money on something I'd only be using for writing? Ouch!) I have found that I love the thing. It's much faster and far less distracting than a PC can be. The screen is just big enough to stare at for hours but not big enough to have multiple windows open, so I tend to focus only on Scrivener. The keyboard is the proper size for my hands. It's extremely light, too, and fits in my purse. The battery life lasts forever for me, but that's because I work with the screen dimmed considerably. I still keep a notebook on hand, but I use Sexy for most of my writing needs. (that's my little laptop's name. If anyone gets the reference, you win a free internets! Or, alternatively, a cookie.)
@Renfield - there's a lot to be said for the physical appearance of text on a page - I look at pages I'm writing now and pages I wrote twenty years ago, and they have very different personalities. The content has improved, the penmanship has gone downhill.
Canvas hardcover sketchbooks and stolen pens. Just w00t.
In my twenties I've filled three or four previous year organizers; when I was a bum - Orwell style ;) - I just picked up regular copybooks (whose pages are currently kept together with tape, for reference) and now this sketchbook upgrade that makes me appear like some sort of bohemian. Fancy. Ah, and I've also written stuff on walls, with big letters. My own walls, not those of the public (mostly).
Stolen pens are always those that come with some logo printed on the side. Therefore it's not really stealing, it's promotion. That way, those with gel ink are hard to find and when you do you don't use them in public. They get easily restolen.
Then for the typing thing I've got two crappy computers: 1. a mini pc with a pretty large screen, italian keyboard and an extremely uncomfortable chair that I cannot give away 'cause nobody wants to die that way and 2. a mini notebook (what? I'm petite) with an international qwerty that switches to dutch settings on it's own accord when the processor reaches the right temperature.
And Openoffice. That comes with own life too.
I would write something stupid or an unconnected idea and then have to rip it out and ruin the notebook...
I understand that more than you know.
I would write something stupid or an unconnected idea and then have to rip it out and ruin the notebook...
I think all the scribbles, crossed out words, margin notes, different color inks and other mania do nothing but add to the beauty of a notebook. It makes it a living, breathing being.
@1 3 3 Currently, both the Volant (http://www.moleskineus.com/volant-extra-small-ruled.html) and the Folio Note Pad (http://www.moleskineus.com/mbf6491-moleskine-folio-professional-squared-...) offer detachable paper - the Volant being good for your on the go notes, and the Folio being perfect for more in-depth writing. Enjoy!
Black inkpens, preferably the opaque Bics, and any college ruled spiral bound with a hard-ish cover. The paper covers aren't sturdy enough and end up warping the spiral.
I use gel pens and notebooks to write out ideas and outlines, which I then expand upon using Microsoft Word. I do journal, though, which I use a moleskin notebook for. I've always wanted an electronic typewriter, though. There's just something about a typewriter that intrigues me.
coffee mug - very very important to the writing process - also, music collection...
