Stationery Love

Although I completed QWC’s Year of the Novel course in 2005 with the very motivating and generous Kris Olsson, I decided to do it again this year online with Kim Wilkins for three reasons:
1. Writing courses inspire me (so much to learn; meeting other writers and sharing; homework).
2. I’m keen to learn about the techniques Kim uses when writing a novel.
3. I’m curious to experience a year-long course of this nature by online means.  

New Notebook = Love

It’s not all virtual. To my great joy, one of the first suggestions Kim made was that we should have a notebook for this novel. A real notebook, not an e-version. It’s not to be used for all the little notes and reminders that pop up day-to-day, or even for other writing ideas that come along; it’s just for the novel that will be written this year. While Kim did say it didn’t need to be super special or pretty or inherently imbued with the gravitas one believes the task of writing a novel should have, the stationery-lover in me took this as an ideal excuse to go looking for something nice.  

Now, I’m pretty useless when it comes to keeping a diary and I don’t know that I can prevent myself from writing unrelated notes in the notebook I’ve bought. I have doubts about whether a notebook will work for me. I have big, scrappy handwriting. I make mistakes just writing an address on an envelope. I hate having a lovely new notebook then immediately ruining it by writing untidy, misspelt garbage in it. However, I am enrolled in YoNline to learn; I will try all things suggested to me.  

When I saw this notebook in a bookstore, I knew it was the one for WiP#3, the novel I will write this year (once I’ve finished the revision of WiP#2). The cover is in keeping with my oriental-inspired world. The spine is bound only with string so the notebook opens completely flat; no fighting with it when you’ve got a pen in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. It feels nice to hold; a little exotic, a lot old-fashioned. It’s perfect.  

Right up to the moment I start writing in it. 🙂

Explore posts in the same categories: Writing, Year of the Novel Online (YoNline)

Tags: love, notebook, office supplies, qwc, stationery, writerly stuff, YoNline

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