My Favorite Writing Tools 1: Notebooks, Pens, Note-Taking Software, and Writing Software
Other writers procrastinate by binge-watching Netflix or reorganizing the contents of their hard drives or scrolling Twitter for 6.5 hours. I procrastinate by playing with new productivity tools (and scrolling Twitter for 6.5 hours and occasionally binge-watching Lucifer and… wait, where was I? Oh, yeah, productivity.) I geek out on notebooks, writing software, pens… basically anything that lets me feel like I’m doing something writing-related when I’m actually farting around.
But when I’m not farting around, I do appreciate having a solid suite of tools to help me organize the jumbled mess that spews out of my brain in search of a place to splat. I’ve tried a bunch (see: farting around), and I’ve found a few that work well for me.
Analog Notes – and My Favorite Pen
LEUCHTTURM1917 Notebook
A few years ago, I went to a presentation on bullet journaling at a library conference and decided to try it. I messed around with a few different notebooks before finding the LEUCHTTURM1917 Classic dotted A5. It’s probably the most popular and best-known notebook for bullet journaling, and even though I don’t bullet journal anymore, I still love my LEUCHTTURM. I use it to journal and freewrite, to brainstorm ideas, jot down key points from books I’m reading, copy down quotations I like or find motivating… basically, I use it to capture whatever interesting stuff grabs my attention. Also, because I have the maturity of a 12-year-old, I put stickers in it. I buy stickers when I travel (my favorites are from from national park gift shops) and paste in all my I Voted and I Gave Blood stickers. I even have my I’m Vaccinated stickers in there. Those’ll be interesting to look back on in a decade or two. But I digress.
Back to writing. I love having a lovely notebook with smooth, thick paper for brainstorming and freewriting. Using it helps me get unstuck, and it feels so genteel and literary.
Pocket notebook
I love my LEUCHTTURM, but it’s a little bulky to carry with me all the time, so I also keep a tiny notebook or notepad in my purse for jotting down ideas that come to me when I’m out and about. Why not use my phone? I do, but I’m slow typing on my phone, autocorrect is my sworn enemy, and I hate speech-to-text. I’d rather scribble my brilliant plot twist on the back of a CVS receipt than fight with my phone (and really, you could write half a novel on a CVS receipt–or use it as a jump rope. But I digress.)
I don’t have a favorite purse notebook. I usually use one I’ve picked up free at a library conference or some other event. The nicest one I’ve ever used was a Moleskin (like this one) that I got from a vendor rep years ago. LEUCHTTURM also makes a pocket-sized notebook. I might have to treat myself to one of those.