As an author in 2021, I have to admit that most of my writings are done on my computer. But from time to time, I like to go back to the old pen and paper combo, because it feels different.
When I came back to poetry in 2020, I started by writing in a notebook. It felt more intimate, safer in some way, as if it was just my own little project, my own little piece of secret garden. Just a little secret. Writing on paper takes me back to my teenage years when I was taking notes everywhere, for poems, story ideas, random thoughts… anything and everything. Now I tend to do that on my phone, but from time to time, I like to go back to writing on paper.
Sometimes inspiration will strike on paper, where I had been completely stuck on my computer.
As probably a lot of authors/writers, I love to collect pens and notebooks. Whenever I travel or visit some nice place, if there are pretty pens or notebooks, this is what I’m going to buy haha.
So I’m going to show you what I currently use when I’m writing the old fashion way.
First, the pens. These are not my most beautiful ones, but the ones I use the most.
From left to right :
- Tower Records pen, bought in Tower Records store in Tokyo, Japan. I bought it 2015 if I remember well, and the black color ran out of ink only recently. Blue and red are still fine. Amazing quality, I really didn’t expect it to last that long haha. And I use it a lot.
- Glittery turquoise pen, bought in an Hema store around 2 years ago, cheap and works well. (Also it was the color of my favorite music band so haha.)
- Cloudy cute pens, bought as a set in a Flying Tiger shop. Was surprised by the quality because they were really really cheap (like 1 euro). Love them, and the material is quite soft, which is nice to hold.
And here are the notebooks I currently use ! Not everyday of course, but each has its purpose.
From left to right :
- 2 notebooks from Muji, I really love the feel of the paper, so smooth to write on. The shop I usually went to closed down though, so I’m not sure where I’ll be able to get them once the big one is full (the small one is already full of poems). I mostly write poetry in these ones.
- At the top : 2 tiny notebooks, one from the Chambord castle in France (yeah, fancy, I think about it a lot before writing anything in this one haha), one bought at a Noz store for less than one euro. Both are good for taking notes on stories, sudden ideas that come to my mind, or things I need to write down to make sense of it or to think on it.
- Below : tiny Song Song Line Note, bought in South Korea, I don’t remember exactly in which store, but I truly love it, it’s so easy to take it with me everywhere. I use it mostly to set up my budgets, keep track of my finances.
- The angel notebook, bought in Tokyo, with illustrations from the manga ‘I’m not an angel’ from Ai Yazawa. This one is hard to find, so I kept it preciously. Now I’m writing notes and drafts for my collection of short stories in it.
- The beige one with the stickers, notebook bought in France (would have prefered another color but well), stickers bought all over the world. When I was traveling a lot in Asia in 2016/2017, I loved to buy stickers as souvenirs, and so this notebook has several ones on it. I write down random ideas, projects, quotes in this one, it’s a bit like my brain dump.
- The notebook with the flying dolphins, bought on YesStyle, the brand is Lenwa (Chinese brand that does a lot of beautiful notebooks), drafted a lot of personal pieces of stories in this one. Real memories that will probably end up in one of my books at some point. It’s also a way not to forget these memories.
That’s it for today ! There’s also my bullet journal, but you will find all the details about this one on my article : https://marie-ricci.com/2021/07/21/bullet-journal-where-to-buy-supplies/ !
What about you ? What do you use ? Do you have a favorite brand for your notebooks and/or pens/other supplies ? š
I hope you all have a lovely day, and see you next Wednesday !
Marie.
Marie K. Ricci - Author | Translator 