GOODNIGHT, FUCKERS #623: HOARDING NOTEBOOKS

 I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I'm about a pubic hair's width away from being a hoarder. I'm working on killing that in me, but one thing that was particularly difficult to deal with was my habit of hoarding notebooks. I have a bunch of legal pads and composition notebooks and other vast and sundry notebooks on my desk in my bedroom. Also, on the night table, I have a pile of smaller notepads, most of which I have never used and I'm not very likely to use.

So I had to face some hard facts about these notepads. If I'm not going to use them, I have to get rid of them. And I started the process. Some of the smaller ones, the ones not even big enough to fit in half of my palm, had to go. I don't think I can even write small enough to fit more than a couple of words on them anyway. Into the garbage with you. You know the glue that holds most notepads together at the top? You know how, if the notepad is old enough, that glue strip starts falling apart and even coming off? And then pages start coming loose? I have a lot like that. Into the trash with you. And then there are a few notepads missing the cardboard backs. Those were the hardest to get rid of because they're perfectly good pieces of paper. Do I really need the cardboard backs to use them? Maybe not. But fuck it. I threw 'em out, too.

I actually still have school supplies from when I was in college between the years of 1996 and 2000. I'm probably going to work on getting rid of those, too. When have I ever, outside of school, used loose leaf paper? Or even graphing paper? Index cards? I know a lot of writers use the latter when plotting books, but I'm not that kind of guy. I'm going to have to get rid of it all, too.

Someday soon. Just not today.

GOODNIGHT, FUCKERS #343: NOTEBOOKS I HAVE LOVED

 

I love notebooks. Always have. Every year just before school started, I'd con my grandparents into getting me extra notebooks, just in case. I even love those stupid spiral notebooks that usually fell apart pretty quickly or the wire would warp so you couldn't open it properly. To this day I still buy all kinds of notebooks that I will probably never use. Like the one above. My version has a different design on the cover, but otherwise it looks just like that. Handmade. You can still see the wood pulp in the paper. For some reason I thought I'd gotten it at the Bristol Ren Faire. Nope. Looking back I actually picked it up at Wizard World Chicago back when I still went to that wretched con. I still haven't used this notebook. I'm saving it for something special. I will probably write in it using my quill pen.

While still in high school I started writing my stories--the ones I would actually submit to fiction magazines--on these yellow legal pads. I was possibly inspired by Thad Beaumont in The Dark Half. I wrote in pencil--Black Warriors, not Black Beauties--and I was always happy with the result. I may one day return to this practice.

Then I started writing a nightly journal in composition notebooks. I felt I'd really classed myself up with this move. I used to write with Pilot Precise pens, but those wound up pissing me off because the tips were so easy to bend or break. Now I use a Uniball whenever writing in my journal. I rarely do this anymore because I write Goodnight, Fuckers instead.

I'm a huge fan of Field Notes, even though I only recently figured out what to do with one of them. I write down my ideas for Goodnight, Fuckers! In fact, Notebooks I Have Loved is written in my Field Notes. These were used by reporters back in the day. Watch on old fashioned black and white movie, and you will see reporters hounding City Hall while scribbling madly into these things. Sometimes I fantasize that I'm doing just that while writing in this thing.

I love a good Moleskine notebook. Hell, they're all good. I have one in which I write story ideas. Many of the books of mine you've enjoyed/despised had their starts in this notebook. I also got a Moleskine pen to go with it, but I stopped using it because it does not have a natural feel. Pens are supposed to be rounded for comfort, not squared so you kill your fingers every time you use one. Inspired by Warren Ellis on this one. Yeah, he suffered the consequences of his unsavory actions, and I'm glad he did, but credit where it's due.

Yes, I have a waterproof notebook. I have no idea what to do with it, but I like that I have it. I'll probably write in it with my space pen. Yes, I have a space pen. Jealous?

I also have a tiny notebook that looks like a Canadian passport. I bought it for the laugh. Who knows what I'll ever do with it. It's got a map of Canada in there, even though I was pretty familiar with it to start with. Well, more than most Americans. At least I know more than just Montreal and Toronto. There is even a list of helpful phrases for the French areas. Also, they list if an area has bears. Good to know.

The second fountain pen I bought came with this notebook. It looks pretty cool and sturdy. I imagine that when I figure out what to do with it, I will use that fountain pen to write in it.

That's the brief tour. What are your favorite notebooks? Please let me know in the comments and send me links so I can get them, too.