Lined Paper Screen

[Sullivan Maurer]

Inice compromise I have discovered is my Freewrite Traveler, a glorified folding word processor that doesn't allow surfing the web and makes it very difficult to scroll back through what I've written. I love it for early drafts, as it allows me to type, but not edit. I revise on the computer, with the tinkering you mention, but this has been huge for getting words down quickly.

As for fancy notebooks, I have gotten myself to use them, but this is largely because I despise lined paper and most cheap options seem to have lines. I am with you on the A5 size, which I also prefer, but I am all about blank, dotted, or occasionally a grid pattern as long as it is light- Stalogy makes one with lovely paper that is easy to write on. I prefer fountain pens, so I need paper that won't bleed. We deserve good quality tools as writers! I started #fancynotebookchallenge on IG, which I barely hang out on anymore, but got a bunch of people breaking out the good notebooks and enjoying them.

Learning to write on the Notes app on my phone was a game-changer for me. Helped me to break out of the 'must have perfect conditions/moment/equipment' feedback loop. I agree about reading/editing on paper too. I've just printed my book in its entirety to proofread rather than doing it on screen. Feels wasteful, but also...necessary?

Thanks for being understanding and kind at the weekend when I had to postpone the In Writing Creative Hour. My laptop keyboard stopped working, which was briefly horrifying \u2013 but it\u2019s recovered now, so let\u2019s reschedule.

I\u2019ll send out a Google Meet link to paid subscribers early on Sunday, and I\u2019ll meet you online at 10am, when we\u2019ll chat a bit and then spend 50 minutes writing silently together. (For a bit more detail about what\u2019s involved, you can read the newsletter I wrote about it last time \u2013 here.)

Become a paid subscriber for \u00A34 a month or \u00A340 a year. That will allow you to join in with nice community stuff like this; access audio versions of the newsletter (here\u2019s this week\u2019s) and other occasional audio content; and support In Writing to keep existing in its various forms. Thank you.

It was Lucien at the Apple store on the Champs Elys\u00E9es who saved my life on Sunday, which is what I told him (he looked nonplussed, but I imagine they hear it a lot). He\u2019d really ramped up the suspense and excitement beforehand, by warning me several times that it might take seven to nine days to fix my laptop.

I know everyone relies on their computer, but at the moment I am particularly dependent on mine, to a) do my job as a journalist; b) produce these newsletters, and c) write the creative work that I\u2019m supposed to be handing in next month for my MA. The thought of seven to nine days laptop-less made me break out in a cold sweat (and I was already deep into a hot sweat, because it\u2019s August and as usual, I was running late).

Anyway, maybe he saw the fear in my eyes. He fixed my keyboard on the spot, and here we are. That brush with laptop death, however, has made me think about typing versus writing by hand. If I didn\u2019t have a computer, I\u2019m sure I\u2019d still be a writer \u2013 I\u2019m just not quite sure how I\u2019d do it.

I know that many writers draft by hand \u2013 that, indeed, some of you who read the newsletter do. In response to one of my posts a few weeks back, the author Jion Sheibani commented, \u2018I love writing in notebooks so I can see the crossings out/destruction part and it\u2019s not just all about computer word count.\u2019 Jion is also an illustrator, and it sounds as though there\u2019s something in the visual experience of writing by hand \u2013 the thought process right there in front of your eyes, not erased forever with a backspace key \u2013 that feels more productive and creative to her. Do you feel the same?

For me, paper rarely comes into play (apart from when I\u2019m reading/editing, by the way. That\u2019s a whole different thing, for another newsletter). I need a screen to organise my thoughts, and I\u2019m continually moving things around and tweaking them as I go. Even notes are made on my phone. If I send you a thank-you card, or a handwritten letter after a bereavement, I\u2019ve probably drafted it in an email first, to make sure I get it right.

There are, though, a few scenarios where I get out a pen. I\u2019ve always been an on-off journal-keeper, and sometimes for a few months, in the spirit of Julia Cameron\u2019s morning pages (from the brilliant The Artist\u2019s Way), I get into the habit of writing every day. It\u2019s rambling thought and it doesn\u2019t have to be well-structured, so I don\u2019t need a screen \u2013 but I also think a screen would make me too self-conscious. Paper has the informality I need to be comfortable writing the unreadable. (Maybe this is one of the reasons why some people find it helpful to write first drafts of fiction by hand \u2013 because it feels less official and so less pressured? I\u2019d love to hear what you think.)

I always write my questions in a notebook if I\u2019m interviewing someone, even though I probably worked them out on a screen first, and then copied them onto paper when I had the order right. If I\u2019m glancing down, I don\u2019t want my interviewee to wonder if I\u2019m checking my email or reading a text, so that\u2019s the reason for that one.

Finally, I turn to paper in desperation when I reach the limits of what I can do on the computer. This one is more about getting stuck and then trying to find a way out of it with pen and paper \u2013 I\u2019m scrawling bullet points and drawing arrows. I think it\u2019s about trying to get out of the details and see the big picture, but it\u2019s difficult to articulate why I find this easier to do off-screen.

There's research that suggests that we might be better at learning and forming memories when we make notes by hand instead of typing them \u2013 that\u2019s useful to know if you\u2019re in class or interviewing someone, but less important for other forms of writing. A cursory Google suggests that people have strong feelings about pen and paper being superior, but I suspect it\u2019s like any other aspect of creativity: whatever works for you is the correct method.

How would I have got through the next seven to nine days if Lucien had taken my laptop away? I\u2019d like to say I\u2019d have discovered the joys of drafting newspaper articles in my notebook, but if I\u2019m honest \u2013 I\u2019d have done it on my phone.

I don\u2019t want a beautiful leather-bound book handmade by local artisans, if it\u2019s going to be a hassle to wedge it open while I\u2019m writing in it. I\u2019d rather have a boring, unbeautiful ring-bound one (which you can probably still find somewhere for under \u00A31), with lined pages, which I can rip out without leaving a mess \u2013 and I don\u2019t want it any bigger than A5, because it needs to be easy to carry around. Most importantly, it has to be able to sit open, flat, without any effort on my part. Do you agree with me, or am I a stationery killjoy?

However, from experience as a native speaker, I have found "blank paper" to be ambiguous: in practice, some people use it to mean completely blank and others use it to mean not yet written on.

For that reason, I would suggest using plain paper for a completely empty sheet and perhaps blank lined paper or unused lined paper to indicate that you want paper that has lines but hasn't been used. (Or you could just say lined paper - people will probably assume you want a clean sheet of it.)

I have something so much better, at least in my humble opinion. I use a sheet of lined paper that I tuck under my blank page to create perfectly straight lines that are there. But not. Using a guide sheet does not require any prep time. Just slide the sheet behind your current page and start writing.

Print out your favorite line width spacing on a laser or ink jet printer. One copy of the guide sheet can be kept in each of your favorite notebooks and should last for a long time. If you print the guide sheets on heavier weight paper or card stock it can double as a blotter sheet, pen primer or to protect the next sheet from pesky bleed through.

I had a request for A4 & A5 versions with darker lines so that the guides would be visible through heavier weight paper or would be easier to see. I created the A5-BOLD and A4-BOLD to start with all the same lined, graph and dot grid as our found in the new All-in-one PDF, just with a heavier black line to improve viewing. Please give me feedback and let me know if you find them useful.

Leigh Reyes of My Life As A Verb has created her own A5-sized Journal Guide templates which feature some various custom page layouts . She offers four different formats to download and hopes to make plastic versions in the future.

Very much appreciated. Do you by chance have an 11 x 8-1/2 / 75 6mm (landscape aspect rather than portrait) template lurking anywhere? Most of my art is longer on the wide edge, so of course my notebooks are, too.

I have a very old version of Photoshop an a very old iMac (pre Sutite) and I could probably figure out a way to do that. But if you have a minute I think a single sheet with the 4 different line widths of Field Note size would be very useful.

Is it possible to offer these (or at least the US letter size with 10mm lines) in bold, so it shows up even more. My elementary students could really use this, but the thin lines are hard for them to see. Thanks!

A good option for a blank notebook with a spiral binding or twin ring binding might be a student-quality or field art sketchbook. The paper in a sketch or field notebook is usually about 65 lb (96 gsm). Look for books specifically listed for drawing, dry materials, ink, or field sketchbooks at a local art supply or craft shop. Good luck!

I have decided to buy 11 X 17 paper from Staples and improvise. I am making a large clipboard with clipping part salvaged from an old clipboard. I am going to cut a board out of Masonite (two pieces laminated back to back for rigidity). I am going to paint the face of the new clipboard brite white, rule the lines on with magic marker, mount the clip with rivets and start writing.

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