Tools of the Trade

Have you ever visited a bookstore and noticed all those lovely, and usually expensive, leather-bound journals? And there are lots of them with less expensive coverings but still very cool outerwear.  I love looking at them and bought one of the priciest for my daughter last Christmas.  She's filled it with private stuff and keeps it close as one of her more precious possessions.  My one son bought me a cool leather journal too and my daughter added a little moleskin journal too.  But do I use them to write stuff in? They're really too cool to use.

In a few short months, I'll be shopping with my daughter for supplies to start her college life with.  We'll visit the office supply store.  They make such neat paper clips and binder clips.  There are so many pens, I can never decide which to get.  And of course, there are lots of colors and widths of highlighters to select from.  Staplers, pencils, and spiral notebooks. And I always look at the envelops and I check out the legal pads. I debate between the different colors and then usually pick up yellow anyway.  I can't buy stuff for her without picking up a few little things for myself. 

But I have to wonder, what exactly do I need?  What writing tools are a must for my career? I still have a box of envelops from two years ago.  I'm not sure I'll ever use them all.  Paper clips? Still have some because I don't have that much paper sitting around my writing desk anymore. Pens and pencils? Still have those I picked up from last year.  Legal pads? Maybe one but it's not an emergency. I use them to jot some notes if I go to any kind of author talk but usually it just sits there.  Highlighters? Well, my children steal them off my desk but I don't have much use for them.

The tool I really need for my writing is my laptop.  I need the internet.  I need a few thumb drives to back everything up.  A few sticky notes to jot quick reminders on and I'm set.  The only time I've needed an envelop lately is to send a free book to a winner of a giveaway contest.  I remember when postage was one of my biggest yearly expenses when it came time to add things up for taxes.  And it's better this way. I save time and money by being able to do everything online.  But I do miss restocking my paper goods and replacing those pens. I don't miss standing in line at the post office.

So what tools are crucial to your writing? Do you miss anything about the way it used to be?

Know Me?

Mother's Day has come and gone for another year.  My gifts are scattered on my writing desk.  How well my family knows me.  My husband bought me flowers and a gift card to Borders.  Lovely.

My oldest son bought me a gift card to Barnes and Noble.  Oh yes, got both big stores covered.  My second son bought me a gift card to the local convenience store so I can buy my ice coffee there.  Heavenly.  My third son bought me a lottery ticket, $5 winner, and a small, beautiful leather portfolio.  He received it free at the golf tournament he was in but he is a poor college student.  And even if it says Penn State PGA program, it is perfectly suited to me.  My daughter bought me an iced tea at Border's and then gifted me with a feather quill pen and ink as well as a genuine Moleskin notebook.  Do they know me or what?

Of course they know me and love me as their mother but their gifts demonstrate the way their perceive my needs and desires as well as what they see as my profession.  They see me as a writer and gift me with wonderful little things to help me along.  Could I be a writer without those things? Yes and I probably wouldn't buy them for myself but they are so cool to have.

Does your family gift you with writing toys?  What favorites have you received or wish you would receive?

G: G-2 and Other Tools

I bet some of you writers out there know what a G-2 is.  For those who don't, it's the slickest, smoothest writing pen ever.  It comes in a multitude of colors and all glide across the page with such ease one looks for reasons to write something more. I keep a G-2 beside me on my desk at all times and intend to invest in more as soon as I get to an office supply store.

Office supply stores are my weakness so I should avoid them.  They always have something cool or new on sale but they're especially dangerous during those weeks of back-to-school sales.  Spiral notebooks for half a dollar, packs of cheap pens and pencils, note cards, sticky notes and all kinds of cute, clever clips.  The temptation to stock up is beyond my powers to resist. 

At the bookstore or craft store, I usually find some inexpensive journals which I already have a stack of at home.  And the craft store has reading glasses for as little as two dollars so I have to make sure I have enough pairs to have two or three in nearly every room of the house except my children's bedrooms.

Like most of you, nearly all my writing work is done on my computer.  So why do I need all those pedestrian tools like pens, notebooks and pencils? I don't know.  They're really cool though. 

Do you have a fondness for any of those 'old fashion' tools of the trade? Do love cruising the aisles of the office supply stores?