A Fetish for Stationery

All year I’ve been a very good girl and have resisted the urge to buy stationery – my not so secret addiction. In an effort to de-clutter I’ve been using old notebooks and work diaries for my writing.

 

I do have a particular thing about notebooks – all those lovely blank pages on which to imprint my handwriting. There’s something rather romantic about writing longhand into a special notebook; something about the connection between mind and hand. Although I am a touch typist and writing straight to my laptop would be so much more efficient, I always prefer this old fashioned method. Maybe it’s because it’s slower so that it allows the words on the page to be more considered which appeals to me. Or the fact that you can write anywhere with pen and paper (not that there have been many places to go for the last eighteen months). No need for power, charging cables or wi-fi to distract you. All you have to do is pick up pen and paper and you can carry yourself away into the world you’re creating. 

 

So when I do go into any shop that sells stationery, my first point of call is the section that sells notebooks. And for the whole year (when we’ve not been in lockdown of course) I’ve shoved my hands firmly into my pockets and walked away. 

 

But last week I fell off the wagon. In an effort to get organised I’d decided that I needed some new files and then I saw these and all my willpower deserted me.

 

Do all writers have a fetish for stationery or is it just me? And how do you prefer to write? Longhand or straight to screen?

 

February Challenge

I’ve decided to go back to basics for February as I wanted to make this month really count as far as my writing is concerned.

After a day of work, tied to a computer screen, I don’t always feel inspired to switch on the laptop when I get home, so I’ve decided to get out my notebook and start filling up the pages instead.

Now, I’m a big lover of buying notebooks  and as the pile of freshly printed paper is building, it’s about time I started to use them and I’m finding that the whole pen to paper way of letting my words out is a hugely satisfying process.

I’ve set myself a challenge throughout February to write a minimum of 500 words each day.  That might not sound a lot, but after a long period of editing rather than writing I am pleased that every day I am now producing something new.

I know it’s probably quicker to write direct to the screen as I am a fast typist, but I’m just glad that already this month I have written two new stories and am onto my third.

Obviously it will take time to type up the first drafts and edit them but I’m feeling really inspired.  And the good thing is that I can pick up my notebook whenever I have a few spare minutes and just carry on for however long I have. I’ve even managed to complete some of my word count on the bus to work. 

Now I just have to keep generating the ideas so that I can carry on writing for the rest of the month.

Is Writing Really a Form of Madness?

Sometimes, amidst the clutter of my family life, TV, the internet, emails and texts, I struggle to find the head space in which to write. 

On holiday I like to disconnect from technology and the outside world and exist in a bubble of my family, reading and writing.

I refuse to have a laptop and don’t even watch TV or buy a newspaper, and whilst my husband is snoozing in the son, and the boys play in the pool, I scribble away in my notepad.  I’m sure my fellow holiday-makers think I’m a complete loon. 

Fortunately my family are used to me and don’t bat an eyelid when I whip out my notebook while they are watching a game of football in a bar.  In my mind it frees us all up to do what we want to but who else goes on holiday with the aim of being more productive then they are at home. 

Perhaps I need to invest in an apartment in sun kissed climes where I could take my family every holiday (I wish).  Imagine my output over a six week summer holiday – I can but dream.

For now I’ll just settle for the crazy lady who scribbles in her notebook while lounging on a sunbed or ignoring the football.

My only problem really is on my return, trying to decipher the handwriting smeared by suntan lotion or the after effects of too many glasses of vino!

Inspiration Strikes

As well as my ever towering to be read pile of books and endless notes on what I want to write next, over the Christmas period I also amassed quite a few recordings on the TV.  Well it was a bit of a cultural highlight - Jane Austen and Charles Dickens all in one season. So during these dark winter nights I have been very much entertained.

The other night I watched the TV biography of JK Rowling.  Now I don't know how close to the reality it was, but considering it  was unauthorised and was made to entertain, I suspect that a fair proportion of poetic licence may have been involved in the making.  The further I got into the programme, though, the more I enjoyed it.

For me it wasn't really about the facts; it was about one woman's determination to achieve her goal, no matter how long it took or how many rejections she received along the way.

I especially loved the bits where she had a few spare moments and she would slip out her notebook and start writing.

Perhaps it's a lesson to all us writers out there - make the most of whatever writing opportunity we have, even if it's just for a few minutes.

I'm a bit of a scatty writer myself, I'm usually working on several projects at a time and have notebooks and folders on my pc all over the place.

At the moment I'm trying to edit several short stories written in first draft and am going through my back list to see if I can breathe life into some of my ancient relics. I'm also trying to edit a novel, so I often find it difficult to have the right piece of writing with me at the right time.

But for my next project, I have decided to use a dedicated notebook, which I can carry with me whenever I go, then when I do get a few spare moments, I don't have to log on to anywhere to see where I left off at my last writing session.

Technology is a wonderful thing and I'm so glad I don't have to type on a typewriter any more but this programme has inspired me to go back to basics - the good old pen and paper. And its also made me want to concentrate on one project at a time.  I think it's time to declutter my writing life.  A bit late I know but that can't be a bad resolution can it?

Too Much Clutter

Adverts are everywhere, exhorting the values of the next must have gadget. Items which will revolutionise our lives and make us wonder how you we lived without them.   Methods of payment are all too easy too – just one click and it will be on its way. So is it any wonder that we live in a “must have” society?

One of my resolutions this year was to de-clutter my house.   Well, I started but I have nowhere near finished, and over the year have probably accumulated more clutter than I have managed to dump / recycle / give away to charity.

I’m not a shoe or a handbag fiend (although on recent review of these items I do seem to have rather a lot) but my major shopping weaknesses are books and notebooks.   This year I have made a demonstrable effort curtail my notebook habit and despite the odd slip have been moderately successful.   I’ve even tried to resist the temptation to pick up a paperback (or two) whenever I’m doing the weekly food shop or happen to stray into The Works.  I still look but I try not to touch. So I should be feeling moderately pleased with myself.  But I fear that this is just an exercise in self-delusion.  

Despite diligent attention, the “to be read” pile has not depleted, in fact, it’s beginning to resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and I’m expecting an imminent avalanche.  How come?  Well, it’s partly thanks to lots of lovely family and friends who know how much I love to read and who insist on lending recommended books to me – yes I do love them, but please can you just hang on to them for a while to give me a chance to catch up?  It’s also due to the fact that my husband bought me a Kindle for my birthday.

The aim of the Kindle was to reduce the amount of books entering the house.  This has clearly failed. (Do you want to know what my guilty secret is?  I’ve started storing the overflow of  books in an empty filing cabinet at work – ssh! Don’t tell hubby.)

I do love my kindle, but it is incredibly easy to download books without the physical reminder to dog my day-to-day life.  So not only is my house full to overflowing (as well as my desk) but my head is too.  As if my to do list for family and writing wasn’t long enough, the reading one has gone ever so slightly viral too.

It has got to STOP!

So, one of my resolutions for next year as well as decluttering my house, is to stop buying any more books until I’ve read at least half of the ones which currently reside chez moi.

Its going to be difficult but I’m determined to do it. Might just slip in a visit or two to library if I find the temptation overwhelming.

What are your obsessions / guilty secrets?

New Term, Fresh Start

September and the boys are back in school!

I’m sure they don’t view this with quite the optimism that I do (I know for a fact my eldest doesn’t) but I’ve always liked September.

For the last few years it’s been a bit of a relief to be honest. The summer holidays are my busiest time at work, which also coincides with my husband’s busiest time. Whereas he assumes the mantle of work as usual, I’m the one who has to organise childcare and work as well. It’s a bit of trauma but I always manage it somehow. It does annoy me slightly that whilst everyone is going on holiday or chilling out in their jim jams until lunchtime, I’m running round like a headless chicken. But hey ho, I’ll get my own back by going somewhere hot in February while everyone else is shivering in their boots.

But now it’s back to routine which, whilst including numerous after school activities and taxi service, at least allows me to plan my day better. And my routine.

September has always been more of a fresh start for me somehow than January. Perhaps it’s because it always used to signify the start of fresh learning and new opportunities. Working in the education sector now, that is doubly so. A typical writer I’m thrilled at the prospect of new notebooks, files and pencil cases. Yes, I know I’m sad but I bet a lot of you reading this have the same fetishes.

And so for a new masterplan which is:

For the rest of the year I intend concentrating on short stories, fillers, reader’s letters and possibly some articles. After spending the first half of the year on my novel I feel the need complete something which doesn’t take so much time. And of course the more stuff I get out there the closer the odds will be on getting my name in print. Not just that but at the moment I need some short term satisfaction with my writing.

I have received my critique back from the RNA. At first I was a bit dismayed by how swiftly it was returned to me. As I only submitted it at the beginning of August I had prepared myself for a long wait.

Sadly, it didn’t get a second reading but once I’d picked my spirits up off the floor I found that the critique was really useful. It’s highlighted the need for a lot more work on my script and whilst that’s disappointing, unfortunately I have to agree with the majority of the feedback.

But it's better to know than not. In saying that, I think I’ll put it in a draw for a while, gain some perspective and then get back to it with renewed vigour in a little while. So it's off to my short stories ideas file, and perhaps a new notebook to fill?

 

Happy autumn everyone.