Posts filed under Writing

Enough is Too Many is Just Right

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

We Pen Addicts spend a lot of time talking about finding the right notebook and paper to best use our nice pens. But there are days when I think what I'm really doing is searching for the right pens to use for my tower of notebooks. I'm just as enchanted by a nice notebook as I am by a nice pen, and I love a plain and simple notebook as much as an ornate one. It's very possible that I own too many notebooks. I'm not even sure how many there are... But it's also true that I use them. A lot of them. Constantly. Here's what I'm using right now.

This stack is just what I'm using on a weekly/daily basis right now. There's a separate stack for ones I'm using slightly less often.

The Lineup:

A hardcover Cognitive Surplus notebook with their insect pattern that I'm using to outline and research a new novel. These are gorgeous notebooks. The recycled paper is not the best for fountain pens, but they are still among my favorites. You just can't beat the cover designs.

A Barnes & Noble Italian Leather notebook that contains the draft of the novel I'm currently writing. These are my go-to novel books because they have lots of pages, durable but flexible covers, and the paper is thick and great for fountain pens.

A Field Notes Dime Novel edition that contains the outlines and research for the above novel.

A Graphilo slim notebook that contains the research, outlines, and notes for the novel that is finished, but which I am currently editing.

A huge notebook cover system that holds four slim notebooks (one Midori MD, two Kunisawa, and a Kawachiya) that I use for school. One is for general notes, two for class notes, and one for career planning/course schedules, etc. There's also a Field Notes pocket notebook in the back pocket of this notebook cover that I didn't even remember was there. It has random notes in it.

A Midori MD A5 daily planner that started off the year as my planner but has become my commonplace book where I make random lists, take meeting notes, and write down everything that needs to be written down. It follows me around everywhere I go.

My Seven Seas Writer that is my short story notebook. It has just enough pages left in it for one more story, then it will be time for a fresh story notebook. I'm extremely excited to pick out what notebook to use next.

My Hobonichi Techo that has become my day planner. I've found that I can't have my planner be my commonplace book because I need my plans to stay simple and organized, and my commonplace book must endure utter chaos. No one who looked inside the two notebooks would think that they belong to the same person.

A Doane Paper Grid + Lines spiral book. This lives on my desk as scrap paper. Everything gets scribbled here, like doctor's appointments that need to be transferred into the planner, grocery lists, reminders, lists of which fish I still need to catch in Stardew Valley. Things that get written here are either transferred into another notebook later, or thrown away.

A Traveler's Company notebook system in passport size. This is where I jot down new story ideas, the starting lines of new drafts, or outlines before they get written into the Seven Seas. It's also where I take notes when my writer's group critiques my stories. It serves the same function as my novel planning notebooks, but for stories.

It's a lot, right? Maybe too many, but maybe not. It's a system that has evolved over decades and reflects my need to keep different areas of my life organized and compartmentalized. It also allows me to try lots of different notebooks so I can pass my thoughts onto all of you. I really do put all these through the wringer. You can even see some of them are starting to fall apart. But most of all, and most importantly, using this many notebooks lets me justify buying more notebooks.

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Posted on March 31, 2022 by Sarah Read and filed under Notebooks, Writing.

How to Get the Most Out of a One-Day Writing Escape

If I could hide away from the world and write all weekend every weekend, I probably would (more often than not. Beach weekends need to happen, too). That's not how most writers' lives work, alas. We write when we can. But every now and then you get a day that's a gift--or even just half a day--where you can set your imagination free. How do you seize that day?

# How to Get the Most Out of a One-Day Writing Escape

1) Unplug. If you're reading this blog, you're probably already all about the analog life, but take that up a notch. Put a focus app on your phone and make good use of it. Or give your devices to a friend for the day. Part ways with the things that might distract you. Bonus: You can bring your favorite pens and notebooks and spend some quality time with them.

2) Take care of your body. Dress comfortably so you can settle in. Have water and a snack nearby. Don't give yourself reasons to get up once you've hunkered down to write. If you know you'll get restless, take a long walk before you sit down. It will get your endorphins going, work out your fidgets, and you'll be grateful to sit down and focus.

3) Pick a good setting. I like to be close to nature when I write and I like to be able to rest my eyes on a nice view when I'm between thoughts. You might prefer a city skyline, or a bustling cafe. Organized writers' retreats are a wonderful place to escape for the purpose of writing. But be careful to ...

4) Set social boundaries. When you are around other writers, it's natural to want to talk about writing. And that's good! Take a break from the isolation of the write life. But make sure you have work time set aside and stick to it.

5) Underpack. It's tempting to want to bring lots of projects, or all of them--everything you want to work on. But if you only have one day, just bring one project. Only one. Set an achievable goal for yourself. Focus on that one goal. You'll be more likely to hit the finish line if your efforts aren't divided between your goals.

Having a day to write is such a rare, precious thing. So savor it and make the most of the time. I was lucky enough to get such a day this week. It was wonderful, even though I did break a few of my own rules. I socialized a bit more than I'd intended, but we've all been a little too isolated this past year, so I forgive myself. And I brought two projects: The haunted house story I need to write on a deadline, and this blog post. I'll let you figure out which one I actually got done.

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Posted on August 5, 2021 by Sarah Read and filed under Writing.

Writing Retreat/Retreating Writing

Long weekends are good for writing. Thing is, they're also good for not writing. This past weekend I ventured off to my usual retreat spot--a small inn on the shores of Lake Michigan, where it's usually just me and the water and the words for days.

What I brought with me:

— A lofty list of goals.

— A Nock Sinclair loaded with good pens.

— My laptop, because one of the things on my list was to finish a rewrite and revision of a new short story I needed to turn in.

— A printed draft of the current novel I'm editing/synopsizing.

— Two notebooks that each contain the beginning of the same novel that I accidentally wrote twice, years apart, so that I could combine them into one preferred draft.

— My stack of planning notebooks for several writing projects (the short story planning notebook, the novel planning notebook for the novel I am synopsizing, the novel planning notebook for the new novel I am drafting, and the random ideas notebook in case I had any random ideas.)

— Far too many snacks.

— Far too little discipline.

I also brought a writing friend this time, a dear person with whom I normally would have been attending a writing convention that same weekend. This was our substitute for that lost convention. It was also the first time we'd seen each other in nearly two years, and perhaps we didn't take that enough into account when making our lofty goals.

I did finish the short story and turned it in on time. I also managed to fix my diverging novel drafts. I did not make it far on my synopsis--the main thing that I had hoped to finish. I only completed three of the twenty chapters.

What I did instead:

I visited with my friend. We had many snacks, and took walks, and chatted. We watched the waves on the lake and boats passing by. We watched a beautiful red moon rise, listened to audiobooks and podcasts. We came across a trove of fossils and climbed over boulders to meticulously document our discoveries. We inconvenienced seagulls. We had the best ice cream ever. We spent five hours strolling a beach, picnicking, sifting through rocks, finding more fossils, dozing in the sunshine. We exhausted ourselves with fresh air and fell asleep early with our work undone.

Sometimes I need to remember, when I look at my lofty lists of goals, that I can't just write. I need to write about something. And if you're going to write about life, you also have to live it--soak up the experiences you can draw from later. If you only write about the world as you see it from your office window, it will be a filtered view, textureless, scentless, incomplete.

I didn't get done what I needed to get done, but I did what I needed to do, and while today's drafts are half empty, tomorrow's are half full. There are lots of ways to work on your writing, and sometimes that work involves ice cream, spectacular rocks, and neglected stationery.

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