It's in the Supplies

I’ve been to four different stores all over town, two of them office supply stores, which should carry my item with all the miscellaneous products they carry. No one had what I wanted - needed - in order to keep writing.

“What are you talking about? There are plenty of notebooks all up and down this aisle.” The girls followed me from store to store.

“Yes, but I can’t use those. Let’s try Staples. They say it’s ‘Easy’ there, and I’m sure they don’t mean the clerks.” They weren’t there, either. So much for Easy.

“Does this mean your writing career is over?”

I wasn’t giving up that easy. On the way to the beach to get some words down on the paper I did have left, we pulled into Office Depot. Finally, it was there. My notebook.

I do have tons of paper and other notebooks back at the house. The girls have to keep moving them around in the garage to make room for their party dishes. Yet, those aren’t the notebooks I need. I mean, they’re great as far as paper goes. They have plenty of white space and blue lines to scribble notes upon. I’ve tried them for my stories before, but they’re too big and bulky; awkward. They just don’t feel right when I hold them. I need to write in these 9 x 6 1/2 spiral notebooks with the dividers for two or three subjects. They fit perfectly on my clipboard and I can work multiple projects at a time.

I also use four of these handy dandy notebooks at once. What can I say? I multitask when it comes to my writing. I was getting close to the end of two of my binders of creation and didn’t want to be caught with my paper down. As I said, thanks to Office Depot, I was able to avert a major tragedy and can now keep the words flowing on future drafts.

I know there are other notebooks out there of the same size. The girls keep pointing them out when I go on my crazed search for the one I want. However, after a little while the spiral bends and warps and the book is almost useless unless you wish to fight opening it every time. I need the ones with the cloth covering the curly wire holding all the paper together. Why? What’s the big deal? I’m weird in that area. Once the notebook becomes disfigured, I don’t want to use it anymore. That would be quite a bit of wasted paper, because I never get halfway through the book before the spirals start to malfunction. No, I need the notebook I have grown used to using.

It’s the same with pens. Once the clip that keeps the pen in place in my shirt pocket breaks, I don’t want to have the pen around anymore and it wastes away in my desk drawer. That’s a lot of ink that will never be scribbled into adventures. My writing supplies can’t be damaged because it’s a bigger distraction than the butterflies in our garden.

I’m also particular about the pens I use. I prefer the Precise V5 gel, black for my creating and red for my editing. I buy them in bulk and horde them as Thurston Howell hoarded his money. I just can’t write with any other pen. It would be like cheating on a lover. These help guide the magic. They are what I am comfortable with and when you’re writing you have to be comfortable. At least, I do.

A normal person doesn’t understand. An artist, whether of paints, music, or words, is already nodding their head relating to everything I’ve said so far. They get it. Sometimes the process of creating is in the supplies used. It’s all part of our routine that puts us in the mind frame to go where we have only thought about in the quiet recesses of our mind. It’s no different than a sports figure that has to have a certain pair of shoes or a businessman needing a certain type of portfolio. These things help set the mood for whatever we’re about to do and shift us easily into our fantasy world and out of reality.

Quirky? Perhaps. However, it works for me and now I can continue to see what’s going to happen between Faith and Selby. I also received a bonus with this notebook. It came with a ruler and Post-it Notes! I don’t have a clue what I will use the ruler for, but I can never have too many sticky notes. They’re the other must in my backpack of necessities.

How about you? Is there something you just have to have before you can be productive? If so, share it with me so I know I’m not alone. We quirky types have to stick together.

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