Writing Utensils

By Kelly Bridgewater

 As a writer, I love to have tons of writing supplies on hand.

I love the smell and feeling of owning a new notebook or journal.

I love writing with my favorite pens.

I’m a little OCD, so I have to have a planner and have my entire life planned and mapped out.

I love to take notes on everything I read.

I love to write to-do lists. It is the highlight of my Sunday evenings when I can sit down and prepare for the upcoming week.

Today, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite things:

 Planner:

For years, I have taken a 50 cent Composition notebook and crafted my own planner because no planners in the store were crafted the way that I wanted it to be. But then Susan May Warren and my Book Therapy came out with a My Story Matters Planner in 2018, I believe, and I have been wanting one, but the money was never there at the right time. This year, I bought one!!! I have been using it all year, and I love it.

 

Journals:

I love a thick journal with tiny lines, so I can write tons of ideas or jot lists, prayer lists, and anything else I deem necessary to keep track of. I usually buy a couple every year. I have a huge stack of them that are not used.

I even try to find some so that I can craft my stories in them. I believe I hand write better when I put pen to paper. My ideas and the story actually flow better than typing my story in. Not that I don’t do that too, but something about writing the story in a notebook really gets me.

 

Pens:

I adore Pilot G-2 Gel Pens. I love the different colors. I love the blue ones, which I use with most of my writing. I adore the purple one. I enjoy the read one when I have to edit. Trust me. Must be the teacher in me. I’m always on the search for a discounted price on these pens because they are pretty expensive for my tight fixed budget.

 

Laptop:

I love also writing on a computer. I can type over 70 words a minute, so I can type a document pretty fast. Sometimes that helps when writing a fast scene because as fast as I throw the characters into a dilemma, I need those words to spill pretty quickly on the pages. Writing with my hand does not keep up with my imagination when I am writing those scenes. Plus, I love the portability of taking a laptop outside or to a park to take advantage of the cooler weather or the beautiful fall leaves. I have even went outside to compose when it was snowing once. I took my chair, warm beverage, and sat outside while the snow was falling on my head. I crafted a sweet scene in the middle of a snowstorm that way. All about the hands-on experience for the readers.

 

What about you? What are some of your must-have writing supplies?