The most important thing about a notebook, physical or electronic, is to have a strategy for what to do when you lose it, erase it etc. How many writers have lost their single copy of their greatest work? We can't all be like Rossini who (allegedly) was both so lazy and so talented that when he was writing a new opera he stayed in bed most days composing, and if he happened to drop the manuscript on the floor, he could not be bothered to get out of bed to pick it up, so he simply picked up a fresh sheet and started a brand new opera.
Seriously though folks, if your dog eats your laptop or notebook, you do have a copy don't you?
It's a good point - but I've got so Zen about these things that I think I'd just shrug and reckon that another day would send me some more good ideas. Different, but as good.
Drafts of actual writing projects, obviously, are different, and I abide by the rule that everything which matters is stored in at least three places*. But my habit notebook is as much about process as product/record.
* Five, actually: on my desktop's hard drive; in Dropbox in the cloud; on my NAS array; on my laptop's hard drive; in the most recent hard-copy print out: yes, post Armageddon, copy-typing it would be a bore, but as Plan F, it'll do.
It has to be wide-ruled with a wide margin for me. However much I try, my writing line rises gently from left to right. (My life as an uphill struggle these days?) Any notebook has to be clean and sharp and lie flat when opened.
I don't draft on paper - I only think in my notebooks, and write actual stories on my laptop. But I've recently had the revelation that I love dotted paper. Not because I do much drawing, but because it usually offers narrow ruled (dotted) lines to write on, which I prefer because it keeps my handwriting neat. There are so few options for narrow ruled notebooks that aren't refill pads (i.e. with nice covers) that I'm very happy I can simply look for notebooks with dotted paper!
Aha! Another fan of dots! Good point about narrow-ruled, although in my case I'd avoid them. Somehow with dots I feel more able to write across lines - effectively, on every other line - than I would just ignoring lines. Dots are so versatile.
The most important thing about a notebook, physical or electronic, is to have a strategy for what to do when you lose it, erase it etc. How many writers have lost their single copy of their greatest work? We can't all be like Rossini who (allegedly) was both so lazy and so talented that when he was writing a new opera he stayed in bed most days composing, and if he happened to drop the manuscript on the floor, he could not be bothered to get out of bed to pick it up, so he simply picked up a fresh sheet and started a brand new opera.
Seriously though folks, if your dog eats your laptop or notebook, you do have a copy don't you?
It's a good point - but I've got so Zen about these things that I think I'd just shrug and reckon that another day would send me some more good ideas. Different, but as good.
Drafts of actual writing projects, obviously, are different, and I abide by the rule that everything which matters is stored in at least three places*. But my habit notebook is as much about process as product/record.
* Five, actually: on my desktop's hard drive; in Dropbox in the cloud; on my NAS array; on my laptop's hard drive; in the most recent hard-copy print out: yes, post Armageddon, copy-typing it would be a bore, but as Plan F, it'll do.
It has to be wide-ruled with a wide margin for me. However much I try, my writing line rises gently from left to right. (My life as an uphill struggle these days?) Any notebook has to be clean and sharp and lie flat when opened.
Oh, I'm with you on the lie flat thing - there's nothing worse than a notebook which doesn't stay open and where you've put it!
I don't draft on paper - I only think in my notebooks, and write actual stories on my laptop. But I've recently had the revelation that I love dotted paper. Not because I do much drawing, but because it usually offers narrow ruled (dotted) lines to write on, which I prefer because it keeps my handwriting neat. There are so few options for narrow ruled notebooks that aren't refill pads (i.e. with nice covers) that I'm very happy I can simply look for notebooks with dotted paper!
Aha! Another fan of dots! Good point about narrow-ruled, although in my case I'd avoid them. Somehow with dots I feel more able to write across lines - effectively, on every other line - than I would just ignoring lines. Dots are so versatile.