/lit/ - Literature

How about writing with a word-processor

notepad.exe

I have a larger Piccadilly one (use it mostly to keep track of things). It's of good quality but it doesn't lie completely flat when open.

hopw about tipin it niggers

As long as I can write some notes in it...

My handwriting is garbage I can't read it
How would you guys recommend starting writing? How should I get inspirationized?

>>630031
>>630017
>>630015
Because I can't take a laptop on a hike or a camping trip or to the beach.

I'm rather fond of those shitty spiral-bound memo-pads the detectives on TV use.

>>630036
>inspirationized
Read the dictionary. That might inspirize you.

>>630038
Obtain an alphasmart or similar device. Easy to carry around, only requires batteries.

>>630044
>>630042
lol u mad cuz i inventenized a werd

>>630039
>>630038
>>630038
Yes youc an you nigger

I have a shitty A5 recycled paper pad. 160 pages or something and it does me fine. I don't feel bad about tearing out pages that I've decided are crap either. I often write stuff while drunk or tired, and when I look at it in the cold light of day I cringe my face off and bin the pages.

I keep less than 1/4 of what I write.

bump.

bump (again)

bump III

I've bought 2 Paperchase notepads, with one, the spine broke, and the other, the elastic band got very limp and worthless.

Moleskines, a) their spines don't break and b) the elastics don't go limp.

What sort of faggot doesn't use a yellow legal pad?

if e-readers had a notepad function, i would fucking buy one RIGHT NOW

I have the same problem as 630072 above ... I'm a harsh critic of what I write and moleskines are too beautiful to tear pages out of ... so I use spiral-bound.

Some of the notebooks from this article on lifehack are awesome though:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-great-notebooks-productive-people-love.html

fuck the paper-on-clipboard thing. if you want to be serious, then get some serious stuff to write on. i only use loose paper for notes which i'm anyways going to throw away in less than a week .
moleskine is really good quality. i own a diary and a notebook by moleskine. i'm happy with them, but they're really expensive, especially here in euro-land...
In India you can buy 'rubberband' notebooks, which were great quality for a value price.
lately I use my moleskine diary for organisation and a spiralbound notebook w/ a cover band and another rubber band as a bookmark for everything else.

pic related: it's the cover of a great novel mostly on... notebooks...

I have this nice little notebook I got from the giftshop in the Louvre when I went last month. It's small (and purple) with a small painting of Monet on the front. The good thing about it is it's sturdy, small enough to stay in my pocket, the elastic band does a good job keeping it shut, and the paper is great quality. As an added bonus, it seems to be able to survive anything. I fell into a reservoir with the damn thing in my pocket the one day, after much scrambling to get out it was barely wet, the ink remained smudged and there's no warping.
I consider it a good use of four Euros <3

this is what i use.

>>630333
>I'm a harsh critic of what I write and moleskines are too beautiful to tear pages out of
>my face when he uses the notepad for actual writing and not ideas
>my face when he throws away drafts

>>630402
yuck, I hate the black/white design and the textile(?) black binding on the book's side. I presume it doesn't lie flat on the table, does it?

>>630454
Nope. They're dirt cheap though. My biggest gripe is that the covers are made out of cardboard with a thin paper liner which tends to peel.

>>630012
>Don't buy something you think is too nice to write in.
I bought a Moleskine in Berlin two years ago. So far I haven't written a single word in it. It's just there, on the shelf. Being unworthy feels horrible.

I use a plain composition notebook, but I wish to hell they came in college-ruled.

I use a block of A4 paper, it cost me about 1$ it has the line space of like 6 notebooks, I can use it for writing ideas, I can write an pages if I get inspired, I can do drawings or make mind-maps too! :D

>>630484
>>630402
griffen x?

I use virgin paper after binding it.

>>630486
You've payed $6 a year (or Euro equivalent) for that notebook to take up space on your bookshelf. You drop that much into the street as coins every year. Take the plunge, use your notebook! Write something! Unleash your creativity! A notebook is a tool - it holds words, absorbs ink. Would you buy a hammer and think it was too nice to hammer nails with? Would you buy a saw and leave it in the box, afraid to cut with it? Use a tool for its purpose - your Moleskine wants to be written in.

I just recently bought a small Piccadilly notebook. I am loving the fuck out of this thing. I'm glad I can write wherever I need to (it's almost always in my jacket or pocket) and its look isn't too shabby either. I might invest in a larger book once I get this one filled. I never was much of a notebookfag until now, I used a plain marble notebook up until I bought this. It's much more sexy and sleeker.

>>630640
Is virgin paper hymen skin?

I use a three-ring binder.

No fuss, easily emptied/refilled.

http://fieldnotesbrand.com/
Field Notes lined paper, sooooo good, so small, so amazing

>>630774
nah its paper where no one has had sex with the binder-hole-things

On the subject of notebooks, fuck ball-point pens, fountain pens rock.

>>630305
My Moleskine's spine fell apart after four years. It survived almost all the way through college, then the black cover over the spine started to rip and eventually came off completely. The binding itself was fine. Black electrical tape patched everything together and its as good as new. There are only 16 more blank pages - then it's done!

>>630759
>sexy and sleeker
Sort of not the point of a notebook, don't you think?

I write in a NORCOM Composition book. Works well for me.

>>630874
In almost all cases I agree with you.

But if you write on one of those cheap soft kiddie pads with a ballpoint pen the feeling is pretty awesome.

>>630874
Have you tried the disposable fountain pens by Pilot? Awesome, cheap, perfect.

Only pretentious asswipes write in Moleskines or any notebook over 10 bucks.

But then again, this is coming out of the mouth of a guy who spent over $150 on fountain pens so fuck me.

>>631845
Those are pretty good, but the best best best cheap fountain pens without a doubt are Preppies.

3-4 bucks for one and bottled ink and syringes are cheap. They write as well as any $40 dollar Lamy or $500 Ivory MontBlanc that CEOs sign mergers with.

>>631852
Only poorfags and twatbeards worry about the cost of anotebook that will be attached to their person for years before it needs replaced.

I use a 72 page notebook that I got for 50 cents.

>>631870
How do you use the same notebook for years?
I write a good 2-300 pages worth of notes, prose and poetry. I purchase new notebooks quarterly.

>>631886
>2-300 pages worth of notes
> per year
Sorry for the omission.

>>631886
My Moleskine is about 200 pages and I used it mostly for day-to-day things: to-do lists, notes for programming projects, dream journal, book journal, etc. It seems to have lasted.

>>631911
Ah, I generaly divide things. I have separate notebooks for each class (which I recycle each semester), a simple notepad next to my computer for random notes and lists, a off-brand Moleskine rip-off for a dairy, a spiral for a dream journal/random poetry at bedtime, and another spiral for the book I'm "actively" working on.

>>631927
If I bought that many notebooks, I'd get cheap shit too.

>>630874
GEL INK up in this motherfucker.

>>631936
To speak honestly, I steal most of my notebooks. I spend my money on pens. MMMmmm pens.

I use this, but with lines.

It's cheap ass and you can take out, add and reorder pages without to much hassle.

Win

>>631988
Thanks some nice looking motherfucking ink, goddamn. Also, his handwriting is really cool. I dig that.

I dunno man. What does quality of the notebook have to do with the writing itself?

>>632613
Since Nabokov wrote on index cards we can conclude it doesn't matter. Check the pic - it says something like "No shiny notebook gimmick will make you a better writer."

I prefer to use the Nabokov-system because it makes it so much easier to rearrange my notes and I can just throw out the shit that I don't need.

>>630012
Writing on paper in year 2010 is fucking unforgivable.

Seriously, it's not just stupid. It's very, very bad.

>>632640
Because a Microsoft word document on a CD-ROM is much more likely to be readable in fifteen years than words on a piece of paper, amirite?

>>632640
Oh, you.

Also
>>631988
I have that exact pen. It's so sexy. Dunno why, but writing with it makes me want to write more. But I'm strange.

I only write per hand to take notes when at the library or in a lecture.

I don't care much about the notebook I use as long as it fits into my backpocket.

whoever writes his whiny little stories and poems in such a thing while not intending to re-type it later, is pretty much lying to him/herself. You only write because you like the idea of being a writer, not because you like writing itself.

>>633237
I agree about the intending to rewrite them. But I still write everything out by hand first. I've had too many problems with crashes or lost data with computers, and grew tire of constantly making sure everythign was backed up. This way I have a digital copy and written back up if needed.

>>630333

>my face

I just use these?
problem /lit/?
They're cheap... I can take them out of the house if I want and I'm usually never anywhere without my bag...

Moleskine is only $12? I always figured it was closer to 100.

I grew up in an orphanage; and when I was 18 years old and graduating they gave me a moleskine notebook as a gift. Shit was so cash.

>>633287
Fucking spirals break way too easily

anyone tried this notebook yet?

>>633514
yepp.

same shit

>>631988
I have this pen, it's beautiful.
The Pilot Hi-Tecpoint series is neat too.

>>631988
>an 0.38mm
I'm trying to think of how he verbalized this, but I just can't.

>>633634
oh-three-eight milimeter?

>>630774
>Is virgin paper hymen skin?

Just greentexting this so others can notice it and lol.

>>631988
hell yeah, I've got a pencil case full of these bad boys.

This is what I use.

>>633702

Britfag here.

I use Muji notebooks.

>>630309

Yellow legal pads, fuck yeah. Whenever I'm forced to write, I always use those. They're cheap as shit and you can take copious amounts of notes on them.

Also, I do most of my work/writing on my netbook. Typing at 70-80 WPM > handwriting.

Whats the play where the guy writes in his prison cell using his own shit on the walls?

>>630309
Yeah, these are great. Brilliant for school/college/uni. An absolute slut to organise though.

>>633741
I don't think typing is as good. The information doesn't really enter your head as well.

Anyway, my favourite notebooks for writing is moleskines. I like leather, they last ages, and the paper is nice as fuck.
The Leuchtterms look nice though.

>>633741
My dad uses those for his equations... Nostalgia'd thinking about when I would ask what something meant and he would reply with " The answers are infinite."

>>633778
Moleskines aren't leather. The Leuchtturms are exactly the same as a Moleskine except they first and last line on a page are full-size, so you can actually write in them. The top line has a printed "Header:" or something so you can title the page (which I think is annoying - let me decide on my own how I should title my pages). Also, every page is numbered, which is nice. It's a bitch numbering every page of a Moleskine by hand, which I do everytime I buy one.

you guys are putting too much thought into this shit

>>634059
cool story bro

>>634337
Cool handwriting, bro.

>>633702
You should write your name in it so people know that it's yours.

>>630402

Hi 5

That Leuchtturm looks sweet.

Can anyone confirm or deny it's greatness?

>>634337
I like your handwriting. I'm gonna start using your "G" now. I hate the way I write it and was looking for a new one.

>>634371
Dude, your fingers turned into wood...

>>634371

So is this a yes or a no for the Leuchtturm?

Should I get one?

>>634382

Aww

That Date thing at the top kills its elegance.

>>634384
its nice enough I really like some of the features like the numbered pages, the white paper not the creamy stuff like moleskine and the table of contents at the beginning. but the paper is a little too thin for my taste.

>>634382
DUUUUUUUUDE THIS IS GETTING SCARRIER

>>634393

What dimensions is that one?

Is that the 8.25 X 5.25?

>>634410
pocket 3.5x6

>>634337
I wish I could change my handwriting like one would change fonts.

>>634393
i might have gotten an earlier batch, the newer ones seem to be a lot better with bleed through.

>>634413

Just ordered the larger version from Amazon.

>>630402
That actually reminds me of something....

>>634507

Did the killer in Seven use a Marble?

I forget.

>>634517
Yes.

>>634512
I think I may be sexually attracted to your handwriting.

>>634544
I think he's pulling those pictures off of a stationery review site.

>>634554
I don't care whose handwriting it is. I want it for my own.

>>634557

image title + flickr reverse search = http://www.flickr.com/photos/70603712@N00/3581007735/

>>634544
JUST CAME TO THAT HANDWRITING

I still do not understand the benefits of a moleskin. I am currently using a typical spiral bound notebook. I use the same one for creative writing as well as a journal and do not have any complaints.

But I have been thinking about getting a moleskin and my only real concern is if it will open flat. I detest having to fight with my notebook when I am trying to write. That is why I use a spiral.

Apart from that, is there any real benefit besides the famed durability?

i made my own notebook

>>634867
moleskin? jesus no wonder you didn't like it. try moleskine instead.

dun worry tho, i thot it was moleskin win i first saw it

>>634934
how?

if it's paper you're set. pen holders are also like the most convenient thing on journals ever, and if it fits in your pocket that's a bonus. But really, anything that's paper or a paper derivative.

>>634867
Moleskines and most moleskine knockoffs open perfectly flat. Get one if you want a small durable notebook. The band to cloes the cover is nice, the bookmark is nice. I use the pocket in the back cover to keep 3x5 index cards, post it notes, and colored bookmark tabs to keep track of what I'm reading.

bump for interest

I use the Hipster PDA: a stack of 3x5 cards and a binder clip. It's portable, easy, cheap, and as durable as I need it to be.

>>635422
why did I never think of this... there goes half my need for an iPad!

I usually just type stuff into a note on my phone

>>635198

I have had a 3-pack of moleskines for a long time now that I never opened, but this kinda makes me want to start carrying them around.

I'll want some sorta small writing utensil as well though. Any place to get those? I'm hoping to find some of those golf-pencil type things that are even smaller than a regular golf pencil. Just a plastic holder thingy with a lil chunk of lead on the end. Preferably with some sorta lid. Or maybe something that could fit into a wallet.

>>635517
I have a super small pen that can clip into the hole between the spine and the cover. Never gets lost.

>my face when no PaperBlank

seriously people. They're god-tier hipster notebooks and none of you have mentioned them

>>635549
This is a thread about practical journals you can carry around with you, mostly. PaperBlank are all expensive with artistic-fruity covers. I would be embarrassed to pull one out in a cafe.

>>636051
¿What kind of faggot goes to a cafe?

>>636066
Real men drink coffee.

>>636071
Not frilly fru fru shit from a cafe

>>635543

Aw that sounds perfect, didn't know they came that small. Gotta find one of those. Anyone think I could find them at a place that just has a generally good selection of pens, or would it need to be some kinda... pen.. store?

>>636051
But...but...but...they have a magnet! That's like 50 times cooler than some dumb elastic strap. And if you're embarrassed about what other people in a cafe think of your notebook, trust me- they already think you're an unemployed hipster prick.

What are some good notebooks for class notes? I've switched to standard A4 paper in a 3 ring binder because I fucking HATE spirals and their horrendous translucent paper.

I use a mechanical pencil with .7 graphite.
I feel I will get some sort of shit for using a pencil.

>>636092
>pencil
I'm ok with thi-
>0.7
FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

>>636092
I prefer pens for some reason

>>636075
You know you can order black coffee at cafes, right? When I order my coffee I slap my waitress on the ass, too, to make me manlier. Is that fru fru?

>>636136
Nope, but real men stay at home and force their women to make them coffee.
Saying "cafe" makes you seem like some mochacrappadick drinking hipster who sits there and writes angsty novels about finding meaning in life on his Macbook pro

>>636082
Magnets release when they are jostled. Expensive artsy-fartsy covers fade and tear when jumbled in with the rest of the contents of a backpack or bag. An elastic straps stays tight and keeps the books closed. The covers look the same at five years as they do on the day you unwrap it, fresh from the store.

Buying an flower-covered notebook that is absurdly expensive and closes with a magnet makes you look stupid no matter where you open it. A plain black notebook doesn't.

>>636088
Really the binder and paper method works best. This way you can moves pages around in order, add paper, remove paper without ripping, etc. It's pretty manly, too. Bonus points if you just have a stack of A4 paper stuffed in a big A4 envelope, instead of a binder.

>>636144
I live in a place that has many cafes where you can stick around with your own table all day for the price of a cup of coffee ($2.50) plus refills every few hours (.50). They are cafes, not Starbucks.

>>636160
what if said flowered magnetized notebook also has unicorns on it?

>>636169
same shit

>>636172
If you write in the notebook with a unicorn horn dipped in unicorn blood (or a unicorn penis dipped in unicorn semen), you're A-OK by me.

>>636175
:-)

Blank A4 and a Bic medium. What else do you need?

>>636187
inspiration

>>636188
If you didn't have that already why would you be picking up the paper?

>>636195
Real writers write all the time, even when they aren't inspired. Writing is a job.

>>636197
what the fuck do you write about when you don't know what to write?

>>636197
That must be why they suck.

Totally worth 60 dollars.

>>636212
I've never used a fountain pen, what's so good about them?

>>636262
Theres something beautiful about them, they're so easy to write with too. Its one of those things where when you use one, you really dont change back to what you were using before. Or maybe thats just me

>>636262
They write really smoothly and neatly, so you can write fast and legibly while barely lifting your pen. If you're a lefty the page looks like octopus rape though.

>>636212
I always use up the ink in this things. They are so comfortable to write with.

I got a notebook at a local bookstore that was made by a local company. I didnt really want to buy one from a large company (moleskine)

I love it but I look kinda weird when Im walking down the street, get a reflection on something that I want to write down and then duck into an alley, lean on a wall and write something into my little book. Im not really a writer, im more of a visual guy, so I write down ideas on how the placement of the sun can make someone feel in a film/drawing/cartoon or something like that (stood in the middle of a football field to write that one. I was cutting through a highschool to get to a 7-11 to buy beer...)

I also write down story ideas for films/cartoons.

>>636324
Larry David walks around scribbling ideas in a notebook too. You're in good company, don't worry.

I have a notebook that I keep in my purse that's pages are made of 'stone paper'. It's amazing. It doesn't rip easily, it's pretty liquid resistant and it's super smooth.

Thanks to this thread I'm going to start carrying a notebook

>>636337
>Quote from New Yorker:
>Like many comedians, Larry David carries a pocket notebook for writing down ideas. "You're in a parking garage, and Larry’s wallet is empty--he forgot to ask his assistant to go to the cash machine," [Robert] Weide, who directs several episodes a year, says. "So he says, 'Shit, I have no money for the valet--could you give me a few bucks?' So you find yourself giving money to Larry David, who has a few bucks. And then out comes the little notebook."

> "What would I have done if he hadn’t been there?" David said. "That could have been funny."

> The notebook is a ratty brown thing that looks as if it might have cost forty-nine cents at a stationery store. Its pages are covered with David’s illegible scrawl.

>Endquote

>Ratty? I think not. The notebook, as seen in Curb Your Enthusiasm, seems to be a Boorum memo book, made by Esselte Pendaflex. The photograph above is of one of mine ($1.55 whenever I bought it, not all that long ago). Sad to say, I can't find one reference to this well-made item online. Has it become, like the Blackwing pencil, a part of the past?

Bump. i like this thread

Hey I am the Pencil user from before. Does anyone know of any good pens for beginners or sloppy writers? Most of the time when I use Gel or Fountain pens it comes out looking like a chimp was given a pen and told to write all over the page.

>>636444
My handwriting looks like a firstgraders, don't worry. Just use a normal fucking pen, or spend some bank on a fountain pen.

>>636444
Use bog-standard ballpoint pens. There's no ink to leak or smear all over the page.

Any ideas worth keeping will distract me all day long, so there's no need to write them down.

>>636472
The Beatles, when they first thought of a good new song idea, would never write it down or make any note of it. They'd go about their day and try to forget it. If the song came back to them, they knew it was a song worth keeping so then they'd start to focus on it.

Do this with your writing. Ideas are cheap and easy and come thick as gnats. Let the bad ones die, and the good will be left buzzing around your head.

I HAS QESTION:
Is there an inherent problem with writing on a computer text editor AND carrying a paper notebook if you want to take notes while you can't write on the computer?

Where do I find small, slim mechanical pencils I can slip into my pocket easily?

Pens make my writing sloppy as shit.

>>636487

fucking second, this is a problem for me

I fucking hate writing. With my hand. I cannot cannot cannot stand that shit.

>>636492
Practice and abbreviate, you'll get better and faster.

Really, though, writing by hand is good because it forces you to consider individual words. With a computer it's so easy to word-vomit: language flows thick and quick from fingers to keyboard, and erasing is cheap and easy. You can write whatever you want, without having to really consider what you're saying. In a notebook, writing by hand, each word is an investment in time and space. You don't want to waste it.

is there such thing as a cheap, quality fountain pen?

>>636495
you have convinced me with pure reason
from today i will improve my writing skills not only for math

How cheap are you thinking? $3 or less will buy you disposable fountain pens that feel smooth and easy to write with.

>>636499

Catch a goose and pluck one of its feathers. Then, use a razor to cut a diamond near the tip, thus making it a fountain pen.

>>636504
Anything under $20, really

>>636488
>mechanical pencils
explainfurther.jpg

>>636514

The pencil lead is in a filament and pushed out as more graphite is needed, thus removing the need for sharpening and guaranteeing a reasonably consistent thickness.

Are mechanical pencils only used in some countries or something? It seems weird that you would not be familiar with them.

>>636514

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&source=imghp&q=mechanical+pencil&gbv=2&aq=f&amp
;aqi=g3g-m7&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

>>636526
I fucking love mechanical pencils. My handwriting is always most legible with .5 lead and I actually take my time and enjoy writing.

>>636514
Mechanical pencils are the shit.

>>636077
It's the Zebra T3 or T3s. You can find them online pretty easily, maybe in stationary stores. The two pens on the bottom in the pic.

>>636534
It comes in mechanical pencil and pen versions.

>>636540
Also checkout the Ohto Petit-B. It also fits in the crack between spine and binding in a Moleskine. It has no sharp points so you are unlikely to puncture your scrotum if you put it in your pocket.

You forgot to mention Moleskin having a woven binding, but generally agree.

fucking cheap and nice colours

>>636311

Invest in a piston and bottle of ink, there are some baller colours out there.

>>636526
Yeah, but i'm not a native english speaker, so i couldn't associate the meaning with that word. In my country that is called 'marking core carrier' roughly translated.

>>636724
Those look awfully hip and thin. But if they're cheap I guess it's not too bad.

>show my new notebook to my english major room mate
>he says he was gifted one a long time ago but he never used it
>ask if I can see it
>really nice
>open it up
>COMPLETELY FULL

This is exactly why you get a notebook

what happens if my handwriting is fucking terrible?

You can't go wrong with this motherfucker.

as far as inspiration goes - write anyway, you'll make shit up and eventually you'll get a pretty good train of thoughts going

regarding beatles - that's music and thus much easier to keep in your head. if it stays in their head long enough they know it's catchy. same rules don't quite apply to lit

>>632640
It's the feeling. I like how it feels to write on paper. I like to start there, with more 'inspired' writing. Somehow, writing on a computer feels more forced. Then, I take what I've got written on paper and type it, while doing a quick edit.

The appreciation for fine pens has brought a tear to my eye. No one else understands but you, /lit/.

I don't think anyone on /lit/ uses this pen except me.

It was only 12 bucks and is the smoothest, finest pen I've ever written with.

>>638870
External spiral binding...

Last two days.

Do people who are writing shit actually bother to handwrite it? I can type faster than I can handwrite, and it's much more convenient.

>>639154
a small notebook in the back pocket is great for when your out and come up with an idea, or need to write a reminder.

then when you get home you can put it on your laptop

>>639159
I use my phone as a notebook when I am shitfaced. Nothing in it is ever coherent and I send it to my mom for safekeeping

>>636836
Wwhere do you live?

>>639154
Writing by hand keeps you honest and thoughtful as you write. Every word is a pain in the ass to get down so you are more economical with your writing. With a computer you spit out whatever words first come to your head - you probably aren't nearly as careful with your language.

What does /lit/ use to write in the moleskins?
Pens, pencils.. crayons?

>>639215
drool

>>639215
I don't have a moleskine but I love writing with pen

My favorite are the Uniball pens. They write so smoothly..

>>639154
I hand write 1500 words an hour of good draft.
I type 90wpm (5400 words an hour) but don't think academically that fast. I think about 1500 words an hour.

>>639092
Where2get and do you have any pic of this uncovered?

I just write on anything I can find. Whatever is nearest to me when inspiration hits.

>>639595
Look around online for the Platin Carbon Ink DP 800s and you'll find it.

>>630011
T ｈ i S i Ｓ C Ｏ P Ｙ p A ｓ T Ａ Ｉ ｆ o U n ｄ i t h Ｅ r ｅ : Ｈ Ｔ T P : / / 8 8 . 8 0 . 2 1 . 1 2 /

>>639614
Thanks :))