Alison Kent has a nice entry up on handwriting her books, in which she links to a blog post by Susan Wiggs (I didn’t even know she had a blog) describing her handwriting of books. (Links to blog post, notebooks and pen can be found in Alison’s post. It’s Sunday, and I’m being lazy). Here’s a snippet from Alison:
We all know how I feel about my pen, though my ink of choice is black, but I also share Susan’s love for Clairefontaine notebooks.
I’ll confess I had some notebook envy. I’ve never seen a Clairefontaine notebook, but they look and sound lovely. And unless Walmart gets on the distributor list, which judging from Clairefontaine’s website doesn’t look likely, I’ll probably never see one. But I’m okay with that, because I have a notebook I love, too.
I discovered these little beauties at the Dollar Tree. Pretty damn sophisticated, huh? I got my pink feather boa there, too. They’re available in top or side binding (I use steno-sized notebooks—more portable, less noticeable while someplace like…Applebee’s, and very cozy to curl up with on the couch.) I prefer the side binding because I get directionally confused with top bound steno books and end up flipping pages and flipping the damn thing over and over trying to figure out which direction I was going. You’d think being able to outwit a pad of paper would be a requirement for being an author, but—lucky for me—it’s not.
They have a hard cover—not just stiff, but hard enough so they’d break if you tried to bend them. Love that. And the texture of the paper just works beautifully with the Uni-ball micro, my pen of choice. Of course, the paper’s recycled, which means it probably started life as toilet paper, but considering this is for rough drafts, that’s not entirely inappropriate.
The sad news is that my Dollar Tree stopped having these in stock at least a year ago, so I’m now hoarding the ones I have left. Not sure what I’ll do when the last one’s full. Cry, probably. Make a map of all the Dollar Trees in NH and go on a roadtrip? They say “Dollar Tree Distribution” on the back, so I don’t even know if they’re available through any other stores.
I knew I should have bought them all.
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Handwriting has been the method of choice for me these days, as well. However, I use loose leaf three ring paper (college ruled, tho) and any ole pen I can get my hands on.
But I’ll stalk my Dollar Tree for ya, Shan.
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I love the sensual qualities you describe. Of loving the paper, what type of pen. Even as a kid my favorite stores were office supply stores where I’d spend hours fondling paper and looking over the choices like most kids did in candy stores *gg*
Makes me wonder if half our love of writing has to do with the implements. Also makes me wonder if that’s what I need for more inspiration. It’s interesting that ya’ll have returned to pen and paper lately. Perhaps we’re suffering from sensory deprivation.
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:coffee: If my dollar tree has them, Shannon, I’ll buy a whole slew of them and send you a bunch and keep some for myself. I use the side-bound ones as well. Love them for writing. I like using mead too but they’re not as pretty and the covers are too flimsy. I’ll check it out this week and if they have them, I’ll email for your snail mail addy. :clap:
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The last notebook I bought was a Moleskin, which I love because they’re so portable and sort of elegant and a very convenient size. I feel like a real artist packing around a Moleskin. But I don’t handwrite much, I find it much easier to read my typing. :type:
http://www.moleskineus.com/moleskine-books.html
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Ooooh, those are nice, Charli. I think I saw some of those at our Borders. I’m pretty sure they were Moleskin. Very, very nice, and I almost bought one, but I couldn’t spend that much on a notebook while my husband was with me.
And thanks, y’all, for keeping an eye out for me. I’ll buy any I can get my hands on.
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I looked at one of my Dollar Trees today, Shan, and they didn’t have them. I’ll look at the other two when I’m near them again!
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Hey Shannon! They just opened the new Dollar Tree in Plymouth.:woot: I hear it’s phenomenal, next time I’m down there I’ll check out the notebooks for you.
Glad to see you’re doing well, and luv the blog!
Ro