Monday, June 23, 2014

My Notebook Obsession

I'm not sure if it's a writer thing or just a Tammy thing. But I've got a thing for notebooks. Blank ones. I have a shelf full of them in different shapes, sizes, and bindings. And yet I still covet more.

Maybe it's that I'm still searching for the perfect one. I'm torn, you see, between the "lie flat" variety and the "fold back on itself" types. I suppose that depends on the overall size, since I sometimes want to sit with a notebook on my lap and scribble, but I'm just as often roaming a pit lane or a racing garage hurriedly making notes.

I haven't yet found the perfect notebook to suit all occasions (or the discipline), so I haven't yet managed to take and keep all notes for one mystery novel in one notebook. I keep hoping ... as if doing so would indicate some sign of writing maturity. Probably it won't.

So I know I have preferences about shape and style—and the number of available pages—in a notebook. And I have lots of them that don't suit. I really should get rid of the ones that won't work for me. Right?

That's my problem. I can't.

Just as it is with books I don't like or won't read again, I find it equally hard to get rid of notebooks I'm not likely to use. (The same is true for tote bags ... but that's another blog post!)

The conversations with myself go something like this (pick any one):

  • "Look at all those blank pages! They're still useful, so I shouldn't get rid of them."
  • "But it's such a great cover/premise/saying ... I shouldn't get rid of those."
  • "That one's a historical artifact from that one job ..." (you get the idea).
Never mind that those blank pages aren't plentiful enough, are ruled widely to make writing awkward (or childlike), or that manipulating the book itself is awkward. The potential for utility, even if I'm pretty sure I'll never realize it, makes it very hard for me to throw something out. Of course, that's a bigger issue than just notebooks, and it's embedded in my DNA (also another blog post).

So here's my question: is it just me with the notebooks? Do you all have something similar that you collect because you'll use them someday?

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