Calling all West Coast pen enthusiasts: The L.A. Pen Show starts today! It’s open to the public on Sunday, February 15, though it looks like they’ll be running a bunch of cool seminars (pen repair, pen collecting, etc.) on Saturday the 14th for a small admission fee.
Check it out if you can!
As readers of this blog already know, Jeff Abbott, bestselling author of suspense titles Panic and Fear, uses Clairefontaine notebooks to sketch out his works in progress. Here, Jeff answers a couple questions about his methodology.
On your blog, you mentioned that you use notebooks to keep track of ideas that occur to you while writing, to sketch scenes, outline plot points, and so on… is this something you do systematically, or just whenever inspiration strikes? Do you organize your notebooks according to project (i.e., a specific novel or screenplay) or by theme (characters, research, plots)?
Each novel starts in its own Clairefontaine notebook, and serves as a catchall for ideas as they come to me. I don’t try to organize it overmuch (with separate sections for characters, plot points, etc.), except I do keep a running list of research issues and questions. If I do need a separate section I mark it with a durable index tab from Post-It. Those are easily labeled and removed when I don’t need them any more. But pretty much, ideas get written into the notebook as they come to me. So one page might be the initial sketch for a character’s background, and the next might be an idea for a scene that involves a different character. That’s okay. This approach provides a map or diary to see how the book evolved. For other projects that aren’t books, I keep a small pocket notebook with me all the time, and notes about those ideas, or any ideas non-book-related go in there. If an idea evolves into a bigger project (such as writing a film treatment for a studio), then the project graduates to its own Clairefontaine notebook. I label the front of each notebook so I know what’s covered inside at a glance. Right now I have active notebooks for the new novel I’m writing, one for short stories, and for a film project I’m involved with.
I don’t want to “overorganize” the notebooks—there is a lot of value in flipping through the pages, revisiting ideas as the book evolves, and seeing what I originally planned and how the book turned out.
Thanks to an administrative mix-up, guest blogger Stephanie “Biffybeans” wound up testing our Notor day-per-page planner. Here are her thoughts:
I received a package in the mail today, from Karen at Exaclair. I open it, and it’s a Red Quo Vadis Habana Notor Daily Diary. I scratch my head and think… “Hmmm… why did she send me this? I never spoke to her about a Notor.” I dashed off a quick e-mail to her and found out that it was sent to me in error. Back when she was looking for people to test planners, I didn’t volunteer because I don’t use a planner. I do have one of the tiny Exaplan monthly planners, which I use to jot the most basic of details, but since I journal fairly regularly, I just never even thought about using a diary/planner.
But since I’m such a paper junkie, I just *have* to test it out.
To help me move beyond my utilitarian Pilot V-Balls, Karen generously sent me a small glass pen and some J. Herbin inks.
The idea behind the glass pen is simple: the nib has been sanded to a point, which you then dip into a bottle of ink, and start writing. Tiny ridges on the nib help store extra ink, enabling you to write for longer than you might expect—often a full sentence or two—and if you rotate the pen, you can squeeze out a few more words.
At any rate, it works surprisingly well (though as Biffybeans pointed out, the line does get thinner as you write, after each new dip). Beyond that, it’s just plain fun, and it turns writing into something that’s decidedly NOT utilitarian, and isn’t that what we’re all after when we talk about the sensual pleasures of paper and pen and ink? I found myself wanting to write something extra special, or make holiday or greeting cards, or at least some sort of drawing.
Next up: a test of the Waterman Phileas that Beth recommended…
We may have to start a regular series on writers over here… Thanks to Biffybeans’s sleuthing, we just found out that Susan Jane Gilman (author, most recently, of the memoir Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven), uses Clairefontaine notebooks:
For whatever it’s worth, my “drugs” of choice these days are great little French bound notebooks with lined graph paper (see www.clairefontaine.com) and omniBall rollerball pens. For special occasions, like book signings, I’ve got two Waterman pens—a black fountain pen and a red rollerball.
Glad you like ‘em, Susan!
Our friend Jeff Abbott, bestselling author of suspense titles Panic and Fear, has more advice for writers who want to manage their creations through notebooks and paper planners.
Jeff currently uses a Filofax A5 to complement his Clairefontaine notebooks, though he describes two other brands that he likes (Moleskine and yours truly!), pointing out:
The good thing about changing paper planners is that while not necessarily cheap, it’s not nearly as expensive as changing a PDA or smartphone.
For more tips, check out the “Organized Writer” series on Jeff’s blog!
Punxsutawney Phil, the world’s most famous groundhog, saw his shadow this morning.
He emerged in front of an estimated 13,000 witnesses, many dressed in gold and black to celebrate the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl victory the day before.
The annual ritual takes place on Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill in Punxsutawney, a town of about 6100 residents 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.
The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club announced the forecast in a short proclamation, in which Phil acknowledged the Steeler’s 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
According to a superstition brought to North America by German immigrants, if a hibernating animal casts its shadow on February 2 – the Christian holiday of Candlemas–winter would last another six weeks. If no shadow was seen, spring will come early.
Three other groundhogs also make predictions on February 2nd: Shubenacadie Sam in Nova Scotia, Wiarton Willie of Wiarton, Ontario, and General Beauregard Lee of Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Those of us desperate for daffodils have a few more weeks to go.
But the birds may know something the groundhogs don’t. I saw my first robin on Saturday morning – January 31st.
Lots of people use our planners to keep track of their entire schedules. Geralin Thomas, for example—a professional organizer based in Cary, North Carolina—uses an alphabetical system and a Minister to organize her time.
I’ve got a much more haphazard way of doing things. I use my Outlook calendar to keep track of my phone calls and appointments (mostly on account of the “automatic reminder” function, which is great for an absentminded person who’s always at her desk). But whenever I go anywhere, I take my Sapa X with me so I can schedule things on the road.
I have a two-columned notebook on my desk to keep track of current projects. On the left-hand side, I write down my ongoing tasks in order of priority. On the right-hand side, I list some errands I’d like to run (dry cleaning, for example) that I probably won’t get around to for a while, but don’t want to lose track of entirely.
Then I have a bunch of other notebooks on which I write stuff down and actually do work, and a small pad in the kitchen to write down grocery lists. It’s not a system, per se—I’m always adjusting and rejiggering things like how much detail I go into on my to-do lists, or how I keep track of deadlines (mostly in my head). But I don’t think I’d be able to maintain anything more… well, systematic.
What’s your time-management system?
