View Full Version : What do you write with?
The revisions thread sorta got me thinking.... what does everyone here use to write? Computer, typewriter, pen? If computer, what software(and I guess computer too :)) ? If typewriter, what kind? - old school mechanical or a snazzy electric? If pen, what kind of pen, what kind of paper? And why?? What gives you the best chance to write the world's next masterpiece?
Also, where do you go to do your best writing? Is it your school's library, a cozy chair, your clean and organized desk?
Basically I'm just curious HOW people here do their writing, in a very literal sense. :cool:
As for me, I've got two: Mainly I'm a microsoft word kinda guy, and as long as I've got my macbook pro the location doesn't really matter - bed, desk, sofa, library, porch (on a nice evening). This summer I started writing in a moleskin notebook but it didn't really take. I guess I'm just not a journal type of person.
so what about ya'll?
edit: I guess the title should be "With what do you write?" or "How do you write?" Yikes, quite the grammatical faux pas.
TextEdit. The only difficulty is dealing with revisions, it can quickly become difficult keeping track of numerous edits and versions.
pscates2.0
2009-11-04, 18:26
My iMac, using TextEdit (I love this app...so clean and easy), at my desk.
I use it for everything...ideas, lists, plans, "what ifs?", any correspondence, etc.
If I need a bit more functionality/flexibility, I launch Pages.
I don't have Office on my iMac because I know the only thing I'd ever use is Word. And, even then, I don't like it as well as the two things above.
Hassan i Sabbah
2009-11-04, 18:26
MacBook, held together with tape.
I've abandoned Pages and returned to Word. About a year ago. I actually prefer the interface, with caveats (turn absolutely all the automatic crap off, hide all the toolbars, use the formatting palette, scoff at the stupid, useless and permanent waste of screen space that is the Elements bar).
It's stable. Renders text nicely, apart from on the upper and lower margins in page view, yes. Bloated like a pregnant whale, yes. And saving and opening files is pointlessly complicated and impossible to simplify in some circumstances. But...
Why have I gone back to Word? Can't remember. Pages annoyed me.
I don't have a desk here. I'm in Copenhagen permanently now, although militating for a move to Berlin where we can afford a flat where I can have a room with a table.
I'm writing in bed, in a cafe around the corner (never been able to do that before I moved to Copenhagen, but the cafe is full of people tapping away) and in the library, which is a beautiful building, for serious and grown up work which will change the world for the betterer and will win me literary awards and so on and shit. (Edit: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)
I'm finishing my second book, and battling my editor, and writing scripts for computer games for money. I will not tell you which. :)
TextEdit, on whatever computer I happen to be on, and an 8GB La Cie Iamakey flash drive. :D
UniBall Vision. Fine Point.
If it's not written hastily on a nice, thick paper that soaks up ink, it doesn't exist.
If I can actually read said scribbles the next day...a huge plus.
Analog: Pilot Hi-Tec-C, 0.4mm, blue ink, and either an extra large Moleskine Cahier or a Miquelrius journal. Both quadrille.
Digital: TextEdit (for lists, etc.), Word (manuscripts). OpenOffice (Linux).
Digital: Scrivener/TeXshop for writing, TextMate for coding.
Analog: 0.5mm Pentel mechanical pencil/5/1" green engineering paper (http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/105817/Staedtler-Engineering-Computation-Pad-5-x/;jsessionid=0000HFHyUUfzLR1sTd1Rl0xOis5:13ddq0tfm? cm_mmc=Mercent-_-Shopzilla-_-Writing_Pads_Notebooks_and_Clipboards-_-105817), Pilot G-2/random paper, Pilot Vanishing Point Namiki fine nib fountain pen/Moleskine 3.5"x5.5" pocket journal.
Or, y'know, crayons on walls.
faramirtook
2009-11-04, 21:12
Well, I don't really creatively write, but I do write a lot of essays, so I could go into that process.
I always start with making my works cited entries in Pages, and then I go to paper (usually a legal pad, the yellow is easier on the eyes and that the paper rips out easily helps for spatially organizing my thoughts), gathering my evidence and writing down possible theses, and then I formally write my thesis and make an outline that has some decent amount of flesh on its bones. I then like to write out a good chunk of my paper on paper, and then I start to type. If I'm on a roll, I'll finish the paper in pages, fiddle with it a little, and be done. If it's a tougher paper, I'll puzzle it out, paragraph by paragraph on paper and then type it up.
That's usually it. It's not a really strict formula, but I really like writing out at the very least my evidence (direct quotations usually, but occasionally thoughts as well), my thesis, and my outline on paper. It helps me think.
ezkcdude
2009-11-04, 22:01
I write a lot on whiteboards these days. More than I would like.
Compy: Scrivener/TeXshop and Finale (for engraving scores)
Non-compy (which is mostly music): Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic Mechanical Pencil in 0.9 and 0.5 mm, PaperMate Tuff Stuff Eraser Stick and Carta No. 27 (12"x18") Manuscript Paper
You text edit users should try Smultron.app. It's a nice, free text editor.
SpecMode
2009-11-05, 02:34
Computer: Scrivener, or TextEdit for quick notes.
Non-computer: Zebra F-301 Ultra ballpoint pen. They're cheap, they write well (enough), and they fit nicely in my uniform shirt pockets.
Hassan i Sabbah
2009-11-05, 02:40
Oh... analogue. Good point.
I like fine nib Pilot pens in black in. I'm not too fussy which ones. I buy Moleskine journals and I don't use them.
I use a Parker pen and mechanical pencil. I like the feel of the steel.
Pilot G2 Mini Black Fine for normal writing (or whatever pen near me that actually writes. :rolleyes:)
TextEdit or Word/Pages depending on which system I'm on at the time.
I don't write anything in analog. For one thing my handwriting is almost unrecognizable as English, and for another it's much slower. If I write something, it's on a keyboard.
TextEdit has been working for me, I've written a number of longer stories using it. I've been thinking of trying something like Scrivener for my next larger scale story though, just to see which features I'd find useful.
UniBall Vision. Fine Point.
YES.
Good to see that I'm not the only one here with taste. :p. Uni-ball is where it's at. I dig the Vision Exact but I also use 207s because they come in more colors and I need the...click. :o
That said, what is UP with the rest of you?
Paper-Mate? Are you shitting me? :p
Nothing.
I don't write for pleasure, nor do I write anything by hand other than little reminders. The vast majority of my personal writing is on message boards, and at work, the only writing I do is e-mails. Otherwise I'm using Word all day, but for editing and proofreading rather than writing on my own.
pscates2.0
2009-11-05, 18:13
If I'm doing it old-school (pen on paper), I use whatever's around. I don't get that precious about my pen preferences and choices, freaks.
:p
I do like those gel roller thingies. They write very smooth and easy, with little "press down" effort. And for someone who does 3-4 crosswords, a Jumble, Crypto-Quote and two Find-a-Words a day, that's a nice feature! I usually just buy a pack of whatever's cheap, that has that type of design...Bic, Paper-Mate, Uni-Ball, Pilot, etc. Whoever.
I did have a boatload of contoured, translucent orange and white ;) Bic gel rollers years ago, and I've been trying like crazy to find replacement fillers for them!
Total "jellybean iMac" pen, those were! People were buying them for me because they knew how much I loved that look (and color). In about a 2-3 week period, various friends and family members bought me about 6-8 of the two-pack pens. So I've got about 16 drained ones sitting around...
The day I find workable refills for them, I'm throwing this iMac out the window.
:D
By hand, Uni-Ball Visions, preferably the 0.5mm ones; I'll take 0.7 if I have to, but 0.5 is my fav :)
On Windows or Linux, OpenOffice; in OS X, TextEdit for quick documents and Scrivener for fiction.
By hand, Uni-Ball Visions, preferably the 0.5mm ones; I'll take 0.7 if I have to, but 0.5 is my fav :)
On Windows or Linux, OpenOffice; in OS X, TextEdit for quick documents and Scrivener for fiction.
OMG, we are like total twins! Except I don't have Scrivener yet, but I'm thinking about buying it. It's on sale for NaNoWriMo...
OMG, we are like total twins! Except I don't have Scrivener yet, but I'm thinking about buying it. It's on sale for NaNoWriMo...
I know, right? I am not doing NaNo this year due to having 3 papers, but I have a friend who if he wins NaNo says he'll give me his 50% off code for winning, since he has a PC and can't use it anyway. And 50% off would be amazing and there's REALLY no excuse not to get it then.
Dutch Pear
2009-11-06, 09:04
My tools (in order of amount of text entered):
ToDo's: Things (iPhone & macbook). Would be lost without it.
Note-taking/lab-journal: Evernote (iPhone & macbook). Perfect cloud-synching.
Article/thesis writing: Pages. Full-screen mode FTW!
Good to see that I'm not the only one here with taste. :p. Uni-ball is where it's at. I dig the Vision Exact but I also use 207s because they come in more colors and I need the...click. :o
OMG.
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.
You guys would not believe what I saw at Target (of course) the other day. It was a pack of Uni-ball Signo 207s...with a micro 0.5mm tip. They combined the best parts of the Vision Exact with the 207s! Oh, and the text on the barrel? Gold. I am in love.
Freewell
2009-11-11, 00:29
Try not to get too up-close and personal with your new-found flame there, Roboman! :eek:
As far as what I write with...
MacBook, with whatever software hubby puts on it!
iPhone (for notes and capturing quick ideas)
Pen (one that is smooth and dependable...brand is irrelevent!) and paper
In that order.
NSFW? NSFRm?
http://i37.tinypic.com/264ggf4.jpg
Pen porn? :lol:
Sean Connery: I've got to ask you about the Penis Mightier.
Alex Trebek: What? No. No, no, that is The Pen is Mightier.
Sean Connery: Gussy it up however you want, Trebek. What matters is does it work? Will it really mighty my penis, man?
Alex Trebek: It's not a product, Mr. Connery.
Sean Connery: Because I've ordered devices like that before - wasted a pretty penny, I don't mind telling you. And if The Penis Mightier works, I'll order a dozen.
Alex Trebek: It's not a Penis Mightier, Mr. Connery. There's no such thing!
Nicholas Cage: Wait, wait, wait.. are you selling Penis Mightiers?
Alex Trebek: No! No, I'm not.
Sean Connery: Well, you're sitting on a gold mine, Trebek!
NSFW? NSFRm?
http://i37.tinypic.com/264ggf4.jpg
Pen porn? :lol:
Those have been my day-in-and-day-out tools for years -- until I found the 207 Micro. I'm not sure if it comes in purple, though...
...but the best thing about Uni-ball pens is that the mascot for their "Super Ink" is a giant robot. Sexy.
I want to try the Sharpie Pen, too, but I'm always scared. Has anyone used one? Is it literally, like, an ultra-fine-tip Sharpie? (Does it smell?)
Freewell
2009-11-11, 00:50
...
I want to try the Sharpie Pen, too, but I'm always scared. Has anyone used one? Is it literally, like, an ultra-fine-tip Sharpie? (Does it smell?)
Yes, I have used them for years. It is exactly like an ultra-fine-tip Sharpie.
Mine doesn't stink, neither before or after I use it... but yours might... never know till you try it! :\
Thx Freewell.
The 207 Micro does not come in purple. :( I wonder if Uni-ball takes requests...
Freewell
2009-11-11, 07:01
No problem.
The only thing about them I do not like, is when attempting to use them for extended writing, they can readily bleed through. I tend to reserve them for signing cards, or "drawing" on heavier stock paper. I love the wide spectrum of colors available, and the fine tips enable me to define somewhat intricate details. I am actually going to pick up a whole set for a family member for Christmas, who likes to make their own greeting cards.
Mine doesn't stink, neither before or after I use it... but yours might... never know till you try it! :\
Quoted out of context for lulz.
hflomberg
2009-11-11, 19:23
if I need to read it - Word, though Open Office is sneaking up
MBHockey
2009-11-11, 20:41
mechanical pencils all the way!
0.7 mm though. I'm not a savage.
drewprops
2009-11-11, 23:50
Well I can't follow Sean Connery, but will say that I like using the disposable "Varsity" fountain pens... only they're actually reusable if you pull the nib straight out with some pliers, allowing you to refill them over and over.
I also enjoy writing with Speedball nibbed fountain pens you use to dip into an inkwell. Recently did some illustrations for a prop for a popular vampire-themed show using that setup.
At my computer I insist on using a Wacom stylus setup, am worthless with a mouse at this point.
When writing writing on the computer I use Microsoft Word to just flat-out WRITE. I have Final Draft 6 but don't really use it unless I honestly want to write screenplay in proper format.
...
(I'm also a big fan of the Uniballs, but also like solid graphite pencils)
rollercoaster375
2009-11-12, 13:59
I think we're all missing an appreciation here for the best (sub $5) pen I've ever used... The Uni-ball Jetstream (Black, of course). The smoothest writing I've ever experienced in my life, without the smearing of gels. It's amazing.
http://images.marketworks.com/hi/73/72964/41440.jpg
Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil!
http://www.dixonusa.com/Images/tic/tic-735x31.png
Always had a pack on me with a sharpener, collected shavings and a one of those rubbery erasers. Last writing utensil I actually used before I lost function of my writing hand.
Whenever I had to type a paper, from high school to college, I used an Olympus mechanical type writer. The satisfaction of every key-stroke made the experience that much greater. It was the sound, the direct effort in ever key and the lack of the #"1" key that was just an exclamation point. God bless those line white outs, they saved my life.
http://www.mrmartinweb.com/images/type/olympiasm3.jpg
But now I don't even have the strength to type on that machine and it just lays in the closet in it's rickety case. For the most part I just use Google Docs & Spreadsheets for my typing and I enjoy it's simple and yet effective design, especially when I have to collaborate.
Really now, I can't even use a mouse and had to buy a special keyboard with a touchpad in order to use a computer and I assure you, that's a product that lacks a significant selection. The extent of my writing by hand today is the scribble I write as a signature on checks.
I use Pages almost exclusively now. I don't miss MS Word one bit, though I still have it for reading .docx files (Pages seemed to have issues with footnotes with it last time I checked).
I type with my aluminum Apple keyboard, and I use any pens or mechanical pencils that have soft/squishy stuff where I pinch them.
Despite the fact that they didn't quite hit 500,000 downloaders, it looks like MacHeist has unlocked Mariner Write for all. I have a feeling that is going to be my new word processor - I hate booting up NeoOffice just to...process words. And it just seems so complex and open-sourcey.
This answer is split off from the college prof thread because it turned into a sidenote.
A pen is my wand, my athame.
As a pagan and a writer both, I wholeheartedly agree. A pen (or in some cases, a keyboard) is a tool with which to create words, worlds. I am actually considering getting another keyboard in a color I am not very fond of for my "standard" writing (general IMs, homework, gaming etc), and then ritually purifying my graphite keyboard. Then I could my fiction-only keyboard, and I will explicitly switch keyboards when I'm going to be doing concentrated fiction so as to get in an appropriate mindset. Likewise, when I am doing writing in class, I only use black pens for classwork. If I'm also writing fiction, I use blue pen for the fiction. This segregation helps me focus, and having a "dedicated tool" gets me in the mood.
A Tombow Havanna (http://www.tomboweurope.com/schreibgeraete/design_havanna.html#none)
http://www.tomboweurope.com/schreibgeraete/images/big/bw-2000lza71.jpg
But mostly my unremarkable HP keyboard at work.
;)
Haha. I was speaking metaphorically, but whatever floats your boat. :D :D :D
I agree that it is a very apt metaphor, though. One only needs to look at, well, our literature, to see how often a pen (or a paintbrush!) is portrayed as a magical artifact (I can't wait for Epic Mickey) to see that there's something to it. While I was exaggerating slightly in the other thread (hence the analogy to touching someone else's athame, which I am told is verboten) I do take my craft, that of writing, seriously. And there is something miraculous about it, that act of creating something on the page.
I, ahem, may be writing a book of essays about writing, which is an interesting turn, and the essays deal with this in more detail; however, it's not the sort of thing that's marketable until I'm an established writer elsewhere, so...
Oh, and I color-code ink (and notebooks and paper) all the time. It's more OCD than paganism though. :D :D :D
CitizenTony
2009-11-18, 15:27
I use Word for long documents. Full sized aluminum Apple keyboard. Best keyboard I've ever used.
I have a thing for pens and pencils. Always have. I have a small collection of favorites.
Recently I found the Uni-ball micro that Roboman is boasting about. Great pen for a great price. I'd been using Bic sticks previously due to the ability to turn them into flying crafts when I get bored.
I use a Koh-i-noor Adapto that my granddad gave when I was small. I cherish the thing. And I stick with Koh-i-noor Rapidomatic for my other pencil needs.
I can't use normal pencils. Something about the way the wood feels gives me the shivers. I can't stand it.
http://img162.yfrog.com/img162/1888/9wi.jpg
I agree that it is a very apt metaphor, though. One only needs to look at, well, our literature, to see how often a pen (or a paintbrush!) is portrayed as a magical artifact (I can't wait for Epic Mickey) to see that there's something to it. While I was exaggerating slightly in the other thread (hence the analogy to touching someone else's athame, which I am told is verboten) I do take my craft, that of writing, seriously. And there is something miraculous about it, that act of creating something on the page.
Nobody in RUPagans right now is a Wiccan, or I'd ask for confirmation about the verboten thing. However, my friend B has 3 tarot decks; one anyone can touch, one that only those of us who can "keep their energy tamped down" can touch, and one that absolutely no one but her can handle. As I get to the stage in my personal evolution where I start doing energy work more often, I can forsee a stage where I would want to handcraft something that I would want purified and charmed and keyed absolutely to me and that I would never want anyone else handling.
And I can absolutely see how that could extend out to a pen. You're letting your creative energy run through it; why would you want someone else's hands on it, leaving a residue of not-you contaminating it? There's also a mindset thing; if you have your "this is my fiction" pen, then when you pick it up you think fiction, and you get into that mindset, and it's easier to work. And this is why I am strongly considering the dedicated fiction keyboard idea.
For the same reason I am also considering making Scrivener fiction only. Yes, it was really useful for aggregating notes from all over the Interwebz and being able to refer to them in the bottom document while typing in the top document, but I feel like if I dedicate Scrivener solely to writing fiction, then I can get myself in a mindset where I open Scrivener and I start writing because I have associated Scrivener=fiction. We will see.
Nobody in RUPagans right now is a Wiccan, or I'd ask for confirmation about the verboten thing. However, my friend B has 3 tarot decks; one anyone can touch, one that only those of us who can "keep their energy tamped down" can touch, and one that absolutely no one but her can handle. As I get to the stage in my personal evolution where I start doing energy work more often, I can forsee a stage where I would want to handcraft something that I would want purified and charmed and keyed absolutely to me and that I would never want anyone else handling.In as much as I pissed myself laughing that there is indeed an outfit called "RUPagans" (yes, Rutgers, I get it, but still), tarot decks are really not to be fucked with. I have three different decks myself, none of which can be just tossed out willy-nilly.
Do you know offhand which decks your friend has? It'd be interesting for me to know what the kids are playing with nowadays. ;)
I read it as "are you Pagans?," like a question. But the Rutgers thing makes more sense. :D
And tarot decks are awesome, even if you don't "believe" in them (I guess that makes me one of those "willy-nilly" people). I dig the symbolism, and the art. If Baptists had anything that awesome, maybe I would have stayed. :p
If Baptists had anything that awesome, maybe I would have stayed. :pSinging! Jahweh almighty can the Baptists ever belt it out. I remember a year when I was at JazzFest on acid and got absolutely stuck in the Baptist tent. If there is a god, it listens to the Baptists on its Walkman (god won't carry anything Apple...he still holds a grudge).
Singing! Jahweh almighty can the Baptists ever belt it out. I remember a year when I was at JazzFest on acid and got absolutely stuck in the Baptist tent.
Not my baptists. My baptists sounded pretty...dead. They were cold Minnesota baptists, not awesome friendly southern baptists. (See? How's that for "northern elitism"?)
And that's the best sentence ever.
Yeah, Southern Baptists. Black, robes, clapping, smiling, dancing....waving back and forth... "lift up your hands brother!" ... OK! .... "Jesus smiles upon you! RAISE your hands to Jesus!" .... OK! OK! I LOVE IT! .... "clap your hands together brother!" ... CLAPPING! I LOOOVE THIS!!!! WOO!!! .... "praise Jesus and you will be SAVED brother!" ... YEEEEAAAHHH YOU BLACK PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO PRAAAAZZZEEE JEEZZUUSSSS!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
***record scratch***
Well fuck.
Yes, yes, I'm leaving. :o
I have no idea what happened there, but I love the idea of just putting ***record scratch*** in the middle of a post. :D
And not all southern baptists are black. Bob Jones probably won't let a black person on campus. But then again, I don't know if they're good singers...
All I know is that my parent's church was the deadest group of "living" people you will ever see. I kid you not. It was like, whoa.
I have no idea what happened there, but I love the idea of just putting ***record scratch*** in the middle of a post. :DI'm making a new years resolution that all my posts in 2010 will read like bad movie trailers.
That was practice.
I read it as "are you Pagans?," like a question. But the Rutgers thing makes more sense. :D
And tarot decks are awesome, even if you don't "believe" in them (I guess that makes me one of those "willy-nilly" people). I dig the symbolism, and the art. If Baptists had anything that awesome, maybe I would have stayed. :p
At the very least, they're really effective taps into the subconscious, giving the reader a wide panoply of imagery and associations to play with, letting them become a creative outlet for expressing patterns that otherwise would remain unexpressed.
OTOH, I have a friend whose grandfather was an accomplished tarot practitioner. When he died, he willed his tarot deck to her, but... her aunt snagged it instead, saying she'd always wanted it. Unfortunately, she found that it was missing a card... but she was never able to pin down which one. Every time she counted it out though, it was one card short. Eventually she gave the deck to my friend, since it wasn't usable. And every card was there. oooooEEEEEEEooooo....
It's kind of like totemism - it's an amazingly rich set of archetypes for psychological expression and shorthand, regardless of whatever cultural mysticism it's wrapped up in. It *can* be an effective tool, regardless of your belief system.
At the very least, they're really effective taps into the subconscious, giving the reader a wide panoply of imagery and associations to play with, letting them become a creative outlet for expressing patterns that otherwise would remain unexpressed.
OTOH, I have a friend whose grandfather was an accomplished tarot practitioner. When he died, he willed his tarot deck to her, but... her aunt snagged it instead, saying she'd always wanted it. Unfortunately, she found that it was missing a card... but she was never able to pin down which one. Every time she counted it out though, it was one card short. Eventually she gave the deck to my friend, since it wasn't usable. And every card was there. oooooEEEEEEEooooo....
It's kind of like totemism - it's an amazingly rich set of archetypes for psychological expression and shorthand, regardless of whatever cultural mysticism it's wrapped up in. It *can* be an effective tool, regardless of your belief system.
Oh totally. I've featured tarot cards in my writing before, for exactly the reasons you describe. Though (getting this thread back on topic), I've never actually used them to write. :D
Stephen King has, though. Well, not tarot cards, but a deck of cards. He used them to decide the order of the stories in his most recent (I think) collection, and he says it actually worked out rather well (creating a rather nice balance between serious and light-hearted pieces).
Has anyone played with OmmWriter (http://www.ommwriter.com/) yet? Chucker showed it to me a couple weeks back; I love the default snowy landscape, and I find 2 of the musical selections very effective. Sometimes I need the complexity of Scrivener, especially when I'm doing fanfic (where I often have to reference dialogue from in the original texts) or when I'm doing heavy-duty outlining or backstory work, where I might need to reference other things. But when I just want to sit down and write a scene, OmmWriter is amazing. Amaaazing. Go try it now!
Dutch Pear
2009-12-14, 03:04
Has anyone played with OmmWriter (http://www.ommwriter.com/) yet?
I am liking it as well. Even though it is quite new-agy with the meditation bells and soothing landscape and such, it does work wonders for me. Being a huge procrastinator who is easily distracted, I find that it really helps keeping me focussed when writing. Mind you, I'm in a room with three other people and right outside the door is the department copier...
Has anyone played with OmmWriter (http://www.ommwriter.com/) yet?
That looks waaaay too much like OmniWriter. For a second, I was all excited. :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
I'll still try it out though. I looooooooooove the website.
pscates2.0
2009-12-14, 13:09
My mind is indeed a wild monkey, so I should give it a shot.
It's nice! Gave it a shot. Not sure that it's enough above and beyond Scrivener's full-screen mode with some calming music on iTunes though, for me to make the jump.
I'd like to get hold of these...
http://redragtoabull.com/acatalog/The_real_pencils.jpg
I just filled an entire bluebook during 2.5 hours of an exam. =|
with a Zebra F-301. Thing writes like magic.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21T9e3osFVL._SS500_.jpg
I'd like to get hold of these...
http://redragtoabull.com/acatalog/The_real_pencils.jpg
I can't write with traditional pencils anymore. Writing with them causes a very unpleasant spine-tingling sensation for me, like fingernails on a chalkboard. If I must write with a pencil, I have to use a mechanical one (although I never have to write with a pencil and always write in pen on the rare occasion that I write anything by hand). Regular pencils can only work if they're somewhat dull or have soft lead, although dull pencils are horrible writing implements.
I have bought a small pack of 207's, per Robo's recommendation. They're smooth and help prevent check fraud too! I'll give them an extended workout taking notes this year.
SpecMode
2010-07-25, 20:24
I'm a fan of the "poor man's Mont Blanc" - a Pilot G2 retrofitted with a Mont Blanc fine point rollerball refill. Writes beautifully, and cost a mere fraction of a genuine Mont Blanc.
I'm a fan of the "poor man's Mont Blanc" - a Pilot G2 retrofitted with a Mont Blanc fine point rollerball refill. Writes beautifully, and cost a mere fraction of a genuine Mont Blanc.
Oooooo good idea. I can do this with ease...
I bought a Pilot Knight fountain pen a few weeks ago, really enjoying it:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21HdX12xrxL._SS400_.jpg
But if I’m on the computer, LaTeX. Nothing compares once you understand it.
I'm a fan of the "poor man's Mont Blanc" - a Pilot G2 retrofitted with a Mont Blanc fine point rollerball refill. Writes beautifully, and cost a mere fraction of a genuine Mont Blanc.
The MB Pilot G2 mod makes for a great writing pen...my only problem is the refills don't last long--IME, typically only around a month or less with the amount of writing I do daily. A while ago, this prompted a switch to the Pilot Hi-Tec-C, which I love.
Roughly 4 years ago, my first experience making the Pilot G2 with the Mont Blanc cartridge still stands as one of my slightly embarassing, absentminded life errors. None of the local stationery chains had the Mont Blanc refills stocked, so I decided to just go to a Mont Blanc shop. At the time, the street it was on had all this scaffoling up, which obscured the building addresses and signage. Anyway, I walk into the store I think is MB and am quickly greeted by this very pretty, svelte woman with a thick German accent asking whether she could help me with anything. I respond with something like "Yeah, do you have any of the blue, fine point refills for the rollerball pens?" Her face becomes quizzical, she slightly tilts her head, and asks "Sorry, what was that?". It's at this point I bother to take my eyes from her and look around the store...to see several mannequins outfitted in lacy bras, underwear, garters, teddies, stockings, etc and realize I am in the wrong store. Sheepishly, I tell her I thought this was Mont Blanc store and have accidentally went into the wrong shop. :o She smiles humorously and graciously tells me "Oh, that's next door but if you need help finding lingerie" and gestures vaguely with her hand at the rest of the store. Needless to say I left feeling like a jackass, though also relieved the saleswoman was kind about it--I'm guessing it wasn't the first time someone had done that.
I'm seriously tempted by this little beaut... can't wait to try it out.
http://blog.sharpie.com/2010/08/introducing-the-new-sharpie-liquid-pencil/
If it has something approaching my usual 0.5mm mechanical pencil tip, faaaaaabulous...
These (http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/526512/BIC-Round-Stic-Grip-Mechanical-Pencils/). Yeah, they're cheap and disposable, but I love them. If I got fifty of them for Christmas, it would be a good Christmas.
As for digital stuff, I wish I had a single-app solution, but the fact is, I find different tools more suited to different tasks.
Notepad, for all things simple and spontaneous. Taking notes, outlining, and just dumping content onto the page. I have a hotkey to open a new notepad window, so the time between having a thought and writing it down can be expressed in milliseconds.
Notepad++ for coding and organizing complicated projects. (Sometimes I have to shuffle content between 40-50 text logs, so the tabs, dual-pane and clone views are enormously helpful.)
Google Docs for serious presentable projects. Happily, it's been able to replace the traditional desktop word processor for most of my work, but for things with complicated formatting, I still occasionally need...
OpenOffice, usually for exporting to a PDF. I'm actually planning a pretty big project which will result in a book-length publishing-quality PDF, so if anyone can recommend an OO alternative that doesn't cost money, I'd be most intrigued.
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