Oh god- NIGHTMARE about the keyboard. So glad it was an easy fix. I was in a cold sweat for you by proxy when reading this, even though I knew it had a happy ending.
I like to make notes in physical notebooks when I'm in the planning stages, and have played around with drafting longhand, which I occasionally do before something is fully formed.
I nice compromise I have discovered is my Freewrite Traveler, a glorified folding word processor that doesn't allow surfing the web and makes it very difficult to scroll back through what I've written. I love it for early drafts, as it allows me to type, but not edit. I revise on the computer, with the tinkering you mention, but this has been huge for getting words down quickly.
As for fancy notebooks, I have gotten myself to use them, but this is largely because I despise lined paper and most cheap options seem to have lines. I am with you on the A5 size, which I also prefer, but I am all about blank, dotted, or occasionally a grid pattern as long as it is light- Stalogy makes one with lovely paper that is easy to write on. I prefer fountain pens, so I need paper that won't bleed. We deserve good quality tools as writers! I started #fancynotebookchallenge on IG, which I barely hang out on anymore, but got a bunch of people breaking out the good notebooks and enjoying them.
Hope you are happily writing away with the computer back- what a relief!
Learning to write on the Notes app on my phone was a game-changer for me. Helped me to break out of the 'must have perfect conditions/moment/equipment' feedback loop. I agree about reading/editing on paper too. I've just printed my book in its entirety to proofread rather than doing it on screen. Feels wasteful, but also...necessary?
I enjoy writing in a notebook, and I always have a Rhodia softcover dot A5 with me (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017NEHK76). I discovered this brand a few years ago and love the paper quality. The dots give me freedom to scribble all over. I mostly use this for my everyday jotting down all the things--details of a phone call, a quote I enjoyed, daily tasks. But I review it weekly and transfer anything important into Evernote.
As for writing, I have become a keyboard person. I know that it needs to end up there anyway, so it’s more about efficiency, being able (like you said) to move things around. And I don’t have to sort through a paper journal to find that quote I wanted to write about.
I would, however, like to try freewriting in longhand as a daily practice to see if that helps my ideas. It’s been a while since I did that.
Totally know what you mean about the cheap ring-bound notebook preference, I am the same! I got sent a very posh notebook from Symthson but the reality is I'll never use it, because the PRESSURE! Don't want to 'ruin' it with shit handwriting/shit ideas. Lol! Whereas my ringbound has can be covered with all sorts of things, freely! xo
I like those old marbled composition books (bound w/o rings) because they don’t get snagged. Like you say, it’s personal preference about typing or writing by hand. I’ve done both, either way a lot of editing is involved. I once completely rewrote a typed story by writing in the margins and filling up a legal pad-- I probably wouldn’t have been able to write the story directly on the computer though. I grew up in the time of typewriters and those early computers with green letters etc. so I’m biased, ha!
I'm not glad that your laptop nearly died, but I am glad writing hour is moved as I can make it now!
In my professional life as a journalist, I've also been faithful to reporter's notepads (plus my mum always had one in her handbag when I was a kid and I grew up wanting my own, full of lists and notes and scribbles) only transitioning to a computer when all the interviews are done. For work, I draft entirely on a screen. Partly for speed - transcribing interviews takes long enough without transcribing a handwritten draft too.
BUT I've found with my short story writing and dabbles at playwriting that I always start long hand. I get too distracted on a screen and, like another commenter says, really enjoy seeing all the scribbles and amendments. I've finally broken the spell and will now use posh notebooks alongside 3-for-£1 ringbound notepads and it feels good. I hated that all these beautiful bits of stationery were left unused in a draw, though I agree with Hattie that the ones that don't stay open are, frankly, daft.
Fascinating comments... I should own up to being an old guy, so this whole computer thing is not built into my DNA. That said I've been using a Mac for about twenty years and I love it.
I write by hand using a fountain pen (Parker ideally) or a pencil. The pencil more often. There is something about the connection between hand, head and heart that a computer keyboard doesn't give me. Whenever I get stuck, which is frequently, I close the Mac and open my notebook. I find just sitting with my pencil and waiting usually works. Later I will read and then put the words down on the Mac. Who was it who said, "Write like a child, revise like grown up." I am writing a memoir which requires me to really mine my experience, so if I can get a run going with handwriting, I'm happy. I can revise and be grown up on the screen.
So I do the opposite of Hattie - I write then go onto the computer.
I've used various notebooks over the years but have finally settled on Leuchtturm 1917, B5 size which is like an exercise book. I use the softcover version. I like them because the paper quality is good enough for ink, the pages are numbered, there's a contents page and they're big enough to write in, but small enough to get in a bag. Leuchtturm also produce a beautiful pencil called the Drehgriffel, which translates as a twist stylus. It's precision made from aluminium and brass and fits perfectly into my hand.
Am SO glad you got it fixed Hattie! And as I was reading this I was thinking about The Artists Way - then you mentioned it! I did The Artists Way at the beginning of my creative journey and it was transformational for me, so I still hand write my morning pages every day, and I have developed an unfortunate addiction to Papier notebooks which I use for this purpose. The designs are all so gorgeous (and I definitely don’t keep them for best!)
There’s a beautiful short film (a doc) by Julia Solomonoff entitled “hand, writing.” I know in America you can find it on you.tube— or on the website of The Shed in NYC. Hope you’ll be able to find it across the pond. Too, I don’t allow “devices” in the grad film classes I teach- I insist that students take notes by hand (some get furious with me). I make the case that I’m preserving an esprit de corps and want students present to one another. I also learned subsequently that taking notes by hand increases the odds of remembering— the kinetic action- that mind/body gesture works to etch it onto the emulsion sheet of memory.
Oh god- NIGHTMARE about the keyboard. So glad it was an easy fix. I was in a cold sweat for you by proxy when reading this, even though I knew it had a happy ending.
I like to make notes in physical notebooks when I'm in the planning stages, and have played around with drafting longhand, which I occasionally do before something is fully formed.
I nice compromise I have discovered is my Freewrite Traveler, a glorified folding word processor that doesn't allow surfing the web and makes it very difficult to scroll back through what I've written. I love it for early drafts, as it allows me to type, but not edit. I revise on the computer, with the tinkering you mention, but this has been huge for getting words down quickly.
As for fancy notebooks, I have gotten myself to use them, but this is largely because I despise lined paper and most cheap options seem to have lines. I am with you on the A5 size, which I also prefer, but I am all about blank, dotted, or occasionally a grid pattern as long as it is light- Stalogy makes one with lovely paper that is easy to write on. I prefer fountain pens, so I need paper that won't bleed. We deserve good quality tools as writers! I started #fancynotebookchallenge on IG, which I barely hang out on anymore, but got a bunch of people breaking out the good notebooks and enjoying them.
Hope you are happily writing away with the computer back- what a relief!
Learning to write on the Notes app on my phone was a game-changer for me. Helped me to break out of the 'must have perfect conditions/moment/equipment' feedback loop. I agree about reading/editing on paper too. I've just printed my book in its entirety to proofread rather than doing it on screen. Feels wasteful, but also...necessary?
I enjoy writing in a notebook, and I always have a Rhodia softcover dot A5 with me (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017NEHK76). I discovered this brand a few years ago and love the paper quality. The dots give me freedom to scribble all over. I mostly use this for my everyday jotting down all the things--details of a phone call, a quote I enjoyed, daily tasks. But I review it weekly and transfer anything important into Evernote.
As for writing, I have become a keyboard person. I know that it needs to end up there anyway, so it’s more about efficiency, being able (like you said) to move things around. And I don’t have to sort through a paper journal to find that quote I wanted to write about.
I would, however, like to try freewriting in longhand as a daily practice to see if that helps my ideas. It’s been a while since I did that.
Totally know what you mean about the cheap ring-bound notebook preference, I am the same! I got sent a very posh notebook from Symthson but the reality is I'll never use it, because the PRESSURE! Don't want to 'ruin' it with shit handwriting/shit ideas. Lol! Whereas my ringbound has can be covered with all sorts of things, freely! xo
I like those old marbled composition books (bound w/o rings) because they don’t get snagged. Like you say, it’s personal preference about typing or writing by hand. I’ve done both, either way a lot of editing is involved. I once completely rewrote a typed story by writing in the margins and filling up a legal pad-- I probably wouldn’t have been able to write the story directly on the computer though. I grew up in the time of typewriters and those early computers with green letters etc. so I’m biased, ha!
I'm not glad that your laptop nearly died, but I am glad writing hour is moved as I can make it now!
In my professional life as a journalist, I've also been faithful to reporter's notepads (plus my mum always had one in her handbag when I was a kid and I grew up wanting my own, full of lists and notes and scribbles) only transitioning to a computer when all the interviews are done. For work, I draft entirely on a screen. Partly for speed - transcribing interviews takes long enough without transcribing a handwritten draft too.
BUT I've found with my short story writing and dabbles at playwriting that I always start long hand. I get too distracted on a screen and, like another commenter says, really enjoy seeing all the scribbles and amendments. I've finally broken the spell and will now use posh notebooks alongside 3-for-£1 ringbound notepads and it feels good. I hated that all these beautiful bits of stationery were left unused in a draw, though I agree with Hattie that the ones that don't stay open are, frankly, daft.
Fascinating comments... I should own up to being an old guy, so this whole computer thing is not built into my DNA. That said I've been using a Mac for about twenty years and I love it.
I write by hand using a fountain pen (Parker ideally) or a pencil. The pencil more often. There is something about the connection between hand, head and heart that a computer keyboard doesn't give me. Whenever I get stuck, which is frequently, I close the Mac and open my notebook. I find just sitting with my pencil and waiting usually works. Later I will read and then put the words down on the Mac. Who was it who said, "Write like a child, revise like grown up." I am writing a memoir which requires me to really mine my experience, so if I can get a run going with handwriting, I'm happy. I can revise and be grown up on the screen.
So I do the opposite of Hattie - I write then go onto the computer.
I've used various notebooks over the years but have finally settled on Leuchtturm 1917, B5 size which is like an exercise book. I use the softcover version. I like them because the paper quality is good enough for ink, the pages are numbered, there's a contents page and they're big enough to write in, but small enough to get in a bag. Leuchtturm also produce a beautiful pencil called the Drehgriffel, which translates as a twist stylus. It's precision made from aluminium and brass and fits perfectly into my hand.
Am SO glad you got it fixed Hattie! And as I was reading this I was thinking about The Artists Way - then you mentioned it! I did The Artists Way at the beginning of my creative journey and it was transformational for me, so I still hand write my morning pages every day, and I have developed an unfortunate addiction to Papier notebooks which I use for this purpose. The designs are all so gorgeous (and I definitely don’t keep them for best!)
Yes keyboard nightmare! So glad it’s over.
There’s a beautiful short film (a doc) by Julia Solomonoff entitled “hand, writing.” I know in America you can find it on you.tube— or on the website of The Shed in NYC. Hope you’ll be able to find it across the pond. Too, I don’t allow “devices” in the grad film classes I teach- I insist that students take notes by hand (some get furious with me). I make the case that I’m preserving an esprit de corps and want students present to one another. I also learned subsequently that taking notes by hand increases the odds of remembering— the kinetic action- that mind/body gesture works to etch it onto the emulsion sheet of memory.
I've committed to Clairefontaine's Europa Notemaker. We met in 2005 and that's me done for life. Perforations, ring-bound...
I have a pal who sent me three on my birthday. True friendship :)
shorturl.at/klx26