Last month, my wife bought me furniture for my writing office. This month, I ordered my office supplies. What did I get?
3X2 1/2 cards – smaller than 3X5 cards. I got those because I don’t want an entire wall of untidy cards not tacked in even rows. I like order. Order and cleanness creates calmness. So, smaller cards mean that disorder is more likely to be minimized. Remember, I want to be PRODUCTIVE. As soon as my corkboard is ready, I’ll get started.
Tul pens. Pronounced “Tool.” Tul owners actually call themselves Tul users! Read the reviews on Officemax. The common thread is, “I won’t use any other pen.” I found one at work, and it lasted four months of incredible smooth note taking. I ordered a 12 pack for $17 and gave my wife one of them, because I love her. But if you want to borrow a pen, the answer’s no. Nobody takes my Tul pens!
Colored pens. I got papermate colored pens to mostly underline things in writing books. I’ve found the really good books by the really good authors (Iglecias, Kress, Snyder) often have huge chunks of stuff to underline on one page. If you do it, the page blurs out as a dark mess. If you combine colored underlining with black, each thought stands out. You don’t need a system of “Green means…” just alternate.
I also use them for writing on 3X2 cards. That you color code. Yellow is this guy. Red is this guy.
I bought colored highlighters for the 3X2 cards as well. Just single dashes in colors will let me know who’s present in a scene.
Brass tacks. Got those for my cork board.
My wife bought really nice coasters for my desk, because I’ve been using a Webster’s New world dictionary as a coaster up till now.
New, smaller notebook. I tell ya what, you live or die as a writer by your notebook. I really wanted to get the Tul notebook system, but at this point, I’m convinced that it’s too expensive. It might be the right level of organization I need! But I don’t know if I want to spend what will probably be about $30 to find out.
