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Tools of the Trade: Longhand Edition
Apr. 20th, 2010 10:38 pmAs a writer, I'm curious about the writing habits of fellow writers. I don't know why - I guess I just like to know others' preferred methods of writing, how they prefer to do so in longhand, what their writing nooks are like and whether they have to be in a specific sort of place to create, what rituals they have and what tools they use.
In the interest of sharing about myself what I find interesting in others, I present Tools of the Trade: Longhand Edition!
THE PEN
Zebra Stainless Steel Retractable F-301. That's a fine black pen with a trigger setting and a sturdy metal body. Refillable, which excites me ridiculously - a pen's not an entirely proper pen until I've used it so long the logo's been rubbed off.
I used to have this beautiful, incredibly heavy slimline retractable from Papermate that was likewise fine and refillable. I didn't write with anything else for years - unfortunately, one day I dropped it in a parking lot. I actually found it later, but our joyous reunion was tempered by the fact that it'd been crushed by a passing car. Or ten. I still have it, tucked somewhere in a memory box.
My handwriting is generally so small that I can't write with anything but a fine tip. And I love skinny pens... I feel the need to wrap my entire hand tightly around my writing instrument and so transfer my thoughts to paper in a crabbed and intricately composed series of arcane movements.
Of course, lately, I've been having trouble writing as precisely as I usually do with my preferred pen. Wondering if it's the grip circumference, I picked up these Papermate fine-tipped Design Pens with a thicker body. We'll see how they work.
THE PAGES
These days, it's typically a small Five Star notebook because they can take a lot of punishment and have built in pockets. Also, since they tend to represent my brain on paper - not only holding creative scrawls and drafts, but also to-do lists, shopping lists, and sometimes class notes - it's easy to remove the non-creative bits before storing them later.
I carry a miniature Moleskine for catching sudden and fully-formed lines or brainstorming at cafe tables (or dinner tables at restaurants, as I am not above jotting down whatever I need to in front of guests). I keep scrap bits of paper available in the car tray between seats, scribbling on my knee at stoplights when needed. (This happens quite often. I've actually composed poetry and Twitterfic in the car while driving.)
I'm a perennial collector of notebooks as well: mostly hard-sided with lined pages, picked up from the bargain bins at bookstores. I've hardly written in one of them - I don't know why, but such nice notebooks (compared to the Five Stars I usually use) seem like they should be treated with greater organizational respect than I usually have when writing longhand. I should probably get over that.
And you, my dear writers on Livejournal? What are your preferred tools for longhand writing?
This entry was originally posted at Livejournal. You can comment here or there.
In the interest of sharing about myself what I find interesting in others, I present Tools of the Trade: Longhand Edition!
Zebra Stainless Steel Retractable F-301. That's a fine black pen with a trigger setting and a sturdy metal body. Refillable, which excites me ridiculously - a pen's not an entirely proper pen until I've used it so long the logo's been rubbed off.
I used to have this beautiful, incredibly heavy slimline retractable from Papermate that was likewise fine and refillable. I didn't write with anything else for years - unfortunately, one day I dropped it in a parking lot. I actually found it later, but our joyous reunion was tempered by the fact that it'd been crushed by a passing car. Or ten. I still have it, tucked somewhere in a memory box.
My handwriting is generally so small that I can't write with anything but a fine tip. And I love skinny pens... I feel the need to wrap my entire hand tightly around my writing instrument and so transfer my thoughts to paper in a crabbed and intricately composed series of arcane movements.
Of course, lately, I've been having trouble writing as precisely as I usually do with my preferred pen. Wondering if it's the grip circumference, I picked up these Papermate fine-tipped Design Pens with a thicker body. We'll see how they work.
These days, it's typically a small Five Star notebook because they can take a lot of punishment and have built in pockets. Also, since they tend to represent my brain on paper - not only holding creative scrawls and drafts, but also to-do lists, shopping lists, and sometimes class notes - it's easy to remove the non-creative bits before storing them later.
I carry a miniature Moleskine for catching sudden and fully-formed lines or brainstorming at cafe tables (or dinner tables at restaurants, as I am not above jotting down whatever I need to in front of guests). I keep scrap bits of paper available in the car tray between seats, scribbling on my knee at stoplights when needed. (This happens quite often. I've actually composed poetry and Twitterfic in the car while driving.)
I'm a perennial collector of notebooks as well: mostly hard-sided with lined pages, picked up from the bargain bins at bookstores. I've hardly written in one of them - I don't know why, but such nice notebooks (compared to the Five Stars I usually use) seem like they should be treated with greater organizational respect than I usually have when writing longhand. I should probably get over that.
And you, my dear writers on Livejournal? What are your preferred tools for longhand writing?
This entry was originally posted at Livejournal. You can comment here or there.