Stop Hoarding Notebooks (Either Use Them, or Lose Them!)

There is one obsession that 99 percent of writers all share... we can never have enough notebooks. Whether it's the traditional moleskine (on sale at Amazon Warehouse, by the by), spiral notebooks, composition books, or just those yellow legal pads, they sing a siren's song that we cannot ignore. Even if we have literal boxes of fresh pages at home waiting to be filled, we just can't resist the desire for one more to add to the collection.

I'm here to tell you my friends, for our collective sanity, to stop. We are not dragons, and thus we are not allowed to have a hoard, even for such great treasures. If you've got notebooks that you're not using, then it's time to start brainstorming!

Seriously, though, buy online if you're going to get these. Barnes and Noble is ridiculous

A Notebook Goes A Lot Further Than You Think

I'll be the first to admit that I've had my own growing stash of notebooks for years. Hell, I still have salvaged day planners from back when I was in high school because they conveniently fit in a jacket pocket, which makes them ideal as an on-the-go idea repository. However, even when I was a legitimate journalist writing for my local paper, a good reporter's notebook could last for months of steady use. The same was true of my work pen.

I won't even get started on how many cups full of pens I have at my desk as I write this.

The numbers just didn't work out in my favor. Even if I only got a new notebook once or twice a year, it would take me a year or two to actually fill that notebook. So the supply rapidly outpaced the demand. Even giving away a few of my notebooks to friends and fellow writers wasn't enough to legitimately put a dent in my hoard.

I found a solution to the habit, though, and it's one of the most obvious solutions you've ever heard. In short, I picked up a fresh pad of paper, grabbed one of my several hundred pens, and started working on a new project. And then I kept working on it a little more every day. Then when it was finished, I started a new one.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

It's all about forming steady, regular habits.

I didn't use the pad to map out a new novel, or to hand-write a short story, though. That's not really my jam. What I did do, though, was map out the rough draft for A Baker's Dozen Pieces of Lore. I'd been writing supplements for Azukail Games for a while, and they took a lot more effort when I sat down at the keyboard and tried to come up with a dozen fresh names, descriptions, legends, etc. all at once. So instead of trying to do all the heavy lifting in a single go, I wrote out the basic list first over a week or so, then took that list and typed up a second draft. It made the whole process go a lot smoother, and I've since used it for gaming projects like 100 Random Taverns, 100 Random Mercenary Companies, and even 100 Get of Fenris Kinfolk for the Werewolf the Apocalypse fans out there.

It's taken me about a year so far, but simply dedicating one, regular project to be hand-written has done a lot to keep my burgeoning hoard under control. It's by no means reduced it down to the point that I need to go out and buy new notebooks just yet, but the corner of my room has floor space in it again. And as long as I keep working on gaming supplements like these (something neither I nor the companies I write for have an intention of stopping in the near future), then I should be able to stop the notebooks from engulfing me while I sit at my desk.

That's all it takes, really. If you love the feeling of a pen scrawling across paper, then all you need to do to keep your collection from getting too big is to sit down once a day (or even just a few times a week), and work on a dedicated project. Maybe you write a few poems, maybe you sketch out the skeleton of the next chapter in your novel, or maybe you jot down the names and backstories of ten or so characters you're going to include in your next Dungeons and Dragons game. Maybe you write the next script for a YouTube show, which is what I do for episodes of Dungeon Keeper Radio, for those who want something new and nerdy to go listen to.

The key is that you need to stay consistent with it. And, in the end, be honest with yourself. If you just like collecting notebooks, but you're never going to use them, make a friend of yours happy by giving them a work present.

There is no faster way to a writer's heart. You can take that to the bank.

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, or at My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

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5 Signs You're Actually A Writer

There is an obsession within the writing community about separating the real writers from the poseurs and pretenders. Sometimes it's easy to tell the difference. If you can walk into a bookstore, and pick your book off the shelf, then there's no doubt you're a writer. You have physical proof. However, if you haven't hit the big-time yet, you might be feeling some anxiety about whether or not you can lay claim to that title. That's why this week The Literary Mercenary is laying out the top 5 signs that you're probably a writer.

So let's get started, shall we?

#1: You Adopt Pens

Hello my darlings... where are your parents?

When you're walking along the street, and you find a discarded pen, what is your first reaction? Normal people will see them, and usually walk on by. Writers, on the other hand, will stop. They'll pick them up, and give them a field examination. They'll check the grip, pop the tip out to check how much ink is left, and typically write a word or two to feel how well the pen works. Then they'll tuck the pen into their pocket, and take it home with them.

This happens pretty much anywhere you are. Whether you're signing for your check in a restaurant, or staying in a hotel room, pens just find their way into your pockets. Even if you have hundreds of them at home, there's always room for one more. Because you never know just when you'll need it.

#2: You Have More Notebooks Than You Have Socks

Come here, sweety. I just had a new idea...

If you're a writer, you're one of the easiest people on the planet to buy gifts for. Because no matter what time of year it is, no matter the event, and no matter how rich or poor you are, nothing will make you happier than a new moleskine notebook. Full-sized or travel, cheap or expensive, notebooks represent fields of potential. And whether you get it as a stocking stuffer, as a free sample in the mail, or just as a throwaway present from a friend who found this old notebook and has no use for it, there's always a little spike in your happiness when you hold it in your hands.

#3: You See The Threads When You Read

This is the part where they kiss. Yep, saw that one coming.

It's true that the best writers have a voracious diet of fiction. They read as much as they can, and they absorb what they see. Much like Neo in the Matrix, they develop the power to see the code. This means they understand the building blocks of story reality, and they can recreate them in their own worlds. So if you find yourself watching TV in a pose reminiscent of The Thinker, or analyzing the story line of every book you pick up regardless of the audience it was intended for, you understand the basics of the writing craft.

#4: You Can Tell The Age of A Book By Its Smell

And sometimes you can even tell the genre.

There are two types of people who walk into bookstores. People who look at the books, and people who smell the books. Whether it's the scent of fresh print on a new bestseller, or the smell of vanilla dust that lingers around old libraries, you have an acute sense of where these books come from. That perfume always makes you smile, and you inhale books the same way a wine connoisseur would sniff his glass. The body is certainly good, but first you need to savor the aroma.

#5: You Actually Write Things

Mileage may vary.

 I said this way back in my post How Do You Know if You're A Real Writer?, and I think it holds just as true now as it did then. Everything else on this list is amusing, and you may even find that it's true for you. However, if you don't write things, then you're not a writer. And if you do write things, no matter what they are, then you are a writer.

It's easy to hem and haw, and to claim someone isn't a real writer. It's a lot harder to actually sit down, put your fingers on the keys, and finish a project. Whether it's a poem, a short story, or a novel, and whether it's good or bad, if you wrote it, then you are, by definition, a writer.

Speaking of which, don't you have work you should be doing instead of reading listicles on the Internet?

That's all for this week's Craft of Writing post. Hopefully you got a snicker or two out of it. If you want to keep up-to-date on all my work, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. And if you want to help me keep it going, then head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron. All it takes is $1 a month to buy my everlasting gratitude, and to get some sweet swag as thanks for your support.