If You Want to Write:  Pencil, Paper, Computer

K Wordbird Bate

When once the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the scratching of a pen.  But if you have not a pen, I suppose you must scratch any way you can.  ~Samuel Lover, Handy Andy, 1842

     Let’s talk about basic writing supplies and equipment. A writer must have two things: a writing utensil and a writing surface. Writers have created tremendous stories on everything from paper bags to napkins, chalk on the sidewalk, or birch bark engravings. The important thing is to write. It does not matter where, how or upon what. That is all you need to get started. This said, equipment is nice.

The writing utensil:  If you have the resources, buy a quality, handsome pen. It should create a smooth, clear letter on a page and feel good in your hand. Always have a reliable pen or pencil in your pocket or purse. I love this true story: the US space program spent millions of dollars to invent a pen that writes upside down in space. The Russians simply sent along some pencils. A pencil is an inexpensive friend. Pencil does fade and blur over time, and smudge when wet, so use it for early drafts, sketches, and scribbling down ideas. My parents gave me a wonderful gold plated pen for college graduation, with a matching pencil. Hint, hint.

The writing paper:  There are many gorgeous journals with leather covers and fancy closures. I love their feel and enjoy the way they look on a shelf. Try different ones, beg your friends to gift you, and then fall in love with and stick to one style.

Some may find beautiful journals over-fancy and even intimidating. Writing rough ideas in a fifty-dollar journal can feel like a crazy waste of money and paper. You may also feel pressured to write something “important.” If so, try an inexpensive spiral notebook. I buy them in bulk, on sale, all in one style for that year. You can fill them with scratchings, musings, and rough drafts without a care of how much paper you use or whether your words are profound. However, spiral paper is thin, so when you begin work on your lifetime masterpiece, shift to quality paper or computer.  

Quality paper:  Good paper is lovely to touch. It feels satiny and smooth but is not flat or pale. When you write on it, the ink soaks into the page. It may stay there well beyond your lifetime. It is a joy to write on and a great way to reward your muse. You might also enjoy making your own rag paper.  It is beautiful stuff.

High tech:  Computers are easy! They are so easy in fact, publishers today are flooded with thousands of stories, produced in a flurry of key pounding. They usually stink, say the publishers, who have to slog through the piles. Moral: Going faster does not make your writing better. When writing is too easy, we may get careless.

We also lose a visceral connection. Hand to paper is a special sensorial experience, slowed down, your entire body involved in the process. I recommend you start stories long hand. It is the difference between swimming in a lake under the moonlight, or swimming in an indoor pool. There is a place and time for both. A computer makes revising, cut and paste and other tasks so incredibly simple. Use the computer to make mechanical additions and changes. Look in writing magazines for wonderful articles and advertisements about the latest writing computers, notebooks and software.

Scans, photos, fax, writing software and back up:  Today’s hardware and software almost does handstands and finishes your sentences for you. Have a good time investigating!  No matter what though, you need a back up system. You know what it is like to be typing along, you hit the wrong key or out goes the power and …oh my gawd. All your work is gone. Yes, you know that feeling. Do you know this feeling? “No problem! I have a back up.”  Give yourself that.

Ink on paper is as beautiful to me as flowers on the mountains; God composes, why shouldn't we?  ~Audra Foveo-Alba

Let Yourself Bloom!

© Kimberly Bate

photo by F-2