Can anyone here recommend me a notebook I can use to write books in? I like writing my books by hand first, but there is an issue with that over time the papers start to tear off from the rest of the book, become faded or turn yellow and right now I discovered in my current book that I'm missing pages. I really enjoy the convenience of writing by hand, but I just want my book to stay intact. What y'all got for me?
I don't do my writing on paper, but for garden planning and a variety of other notetaking, I used to use these. This exact size is no longer available, but I think Amazon has the larger sizes. Sturdy binding, high quality paper, lies flat, sewn rather than glued pages so they stay in place, etc., etc. But they're expensive. https://www.amazon.com/Vela-DuraCover-Technical-Reinforced-Heavyweight/dp/B01LXFNR4Z
Try a hardcover Moleskine. They're pretty standard and come in a variety of sizes. Or, a better but more expensive notebook is the Leuchtturm series of books. Or the Sigel Conceptum books. These are expensive, but they're hardcover, have ribbon bookmarks, elastic closures, high-quality paper, and they're great to write in. I carry a pocket hardcover Moleskine everywhere I go, and I write drafts of my stories in the larger size Sigel Conceptums or Leuchtturms. I love high-quality notebooks, and I try out many different manufacturers. I like the ones I listed above.
Oh, my god. I love those Sigel Conceptum books. Not only is there a little pen holder, but the pages are all numbered, with a table of contents, etc. And high quality paper. OMG. However, a) they don't ship to the UK, and b) I am too peripatetic a writer to make good use of a notebook like this. Damn. However, if you're the sort who is well organised and likes to write in longhand, this would be a dream come true and well worth the extra couple of dollars it costs to buy one. I use the Leitz brand of loose-leaf notebooks. They are large and have pockets inside to put note materials, etc. The mechanism for opening and shutting them is very sturdy and easy to use. I write on my computer, print everything off, and Leitz means I always have a paper copy of my work to hand, but I can also chop and change it without making a huge mess. To each his own, eh? The one thing I miss from the USA is the three-ring binder, though. The European ones are either two or four-ring. Two is the most common, and the pages do flop around a bit. I've got used to this, but I do prefer the three-ring. It's more stable.
I'm not sure what would be best for your particular methods, but I've been using Piccadilly's medium-sized notebooks for the first draft of my current story. Not only are they a nice, compact size that's not too big, not to small, but they also come in many bright colors and are WAY cheaper than Moleskin. I won't touch Moleskin due to how expensive they are! (Same with how I prefer Prismacolor markers over Copic.) They also have a ribbon bookmark, and a pocket in the back cover. I've been going through three of those medium-sized books so far, and each is a different color so I can differentiate which "volume" it is.
Thanks for the replies everyone. I have some options here. I usually use those cheap subject notebooks that you get from Wal-Mart and drug stores.
I started to write my first story concept on paper in a nice bound notebook. After a few pages I noticed that I had only finished one scene, and I kept second guessing myself and crossing out words or lines. Free hand writing can feel freeing and liberating. After much diliberation I discovered that I can type very fast wile maintaining the same writing voice as I would use for free hand. (Disabling auto correct and spell check is a must.) I can respect your choice to write free hand but I think the cons vastly outway any benefit of free hand. Do you plan to type the second or third draft? I can’t imagine writing out 50k words by hand but if that’s your jam, go for it.
Returning to note that if I did actually write fiction on paper, I'd use reporter's notebooks: https://www.amazon.com/Envirotec-Reporter-Spiral-Notebook-Pitman/dp/B00DJY1BY8/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=KPB56KCSMPC4DXNWTAZV Having a spine or spiral on the left always bothers me in a notebook; with a reporter's notebook it's on top. And the narrowness means that it doesn't try to slump when you write in it without having a table under you. (Presumably a large part of the point of "reporter's" notebook.) I've tried moleskines in the reporter's notebook format, but the old pages don't vanish in quite the same way, because of the fancy heavy cover. So I prefer cheap ones. Now I'm tempted to buy some, even though I don't write fiction on paper.
Since you're having an issue with fading, look for the words "archival" or "acid free" in whatever you choose. I found out the importance of this the hard way. I had some story notes written in a couple of black and white cover "composition" books, and after less than seven years of storage in a sealed plastic tub under my bed the ink and paper reacted to each other way that they're now completely unreadable. Neither the ink nor the paper was archival, unfortunately. I use Moleskine for things I want to last. Otherwise, I use college rule notebooks and an archival pen. Interestingly, while working as a reporter, I was never a fan of "reporter's notebooks". I find them too narrow and awkward. For that, I use a stiff-backed stenographer's notebook and ignore the vertical center line. They're not archival, although I've had less fading issues with them than college notebooks or black and white cover composition books.
Personally I've been using Whitelines notebooks for both school and fiction for the past few years. Probably not as durable as moleskin, but I've had no problems at all with tears or similar. The notebooks are of great quality and the white-lined papers are so much nicer and cleaner to write on compared to other notebooks. Not sure about the issue of fading for these notebooks, unfortunately, as I've only written in pencil which tends to fade fairly quickly anyway (due to smearing).
This is my third novel so I've written over 250,000 words by hand, but I feel the opposite with by hand I don't have to worry about taking a heavy ass laptop with me everywhere or being confined to the house with my computer where I am guaranteed to bullshit and not write anything and then if I do take my laptop I have to worry about finding an outlet and making sure no one runs into my cord unplugging it and shutting it off losing my work or taking my laptop with me every time I go to the bathroom to make sure it doesn't get stolen.
I think generally look for a hard cover notebook with thicker paper. Preferably those water resistant cover.
I have grown to like a brand named Vela Sciences. Not sure if they make lined page notebooks. I use the engineer ones with a grid layout, and they come in hard and soft cover. The Whitelines ones look nice, I will be trying one.
