Tag: analogue

Seven Notebooks

I use seven different notebooks on an (almost) daily basis. It seems like a lot, and maybe it is, but I have tried using fewer and it doesn’t work as well for me. I have also tried using digital methods, and while it is convenient to have all of my notebooks with me at all times, I don’t enjoy it as much. And, while the digital method might only require one device, it still splits things across multiple applications, so I don’t think I am much better off that way.

These are my notebooks and what I currently use them for:

Starting from the top

  1. My pocket notebook, I carry this everywhere for making quick notes
  2. My log book, at the end of every day I write down the things that I have done
  3. I am part of a climate action group and this is where I keep my notes from meetings
  4. My journal
  5. My reading list, this is where I write down the books that I have read
  6. My writing book, this is where I write my first drafts
  7. My task manager, loosely based on the Bullet Journal system

Clearly I don’t carry all of these around with me all the time but they are each indispensable in their own ways.

 

Analogue Methods

I have been considering returning to blogging for a long time. There are a lot of things that I like about the process. The only questions I had was the form it would take. For a while I thought it would be launching a new blog because I had something specific that I wanted to write about. That blog was going to be called Analogue Methods and I got as far as looking up the domain name, but no further.

Since I started writing here again a couple of weeks ago the idea of running two blogs has been on my mind and, to be honest, I don’t want to do that. Even with a new abundance of time. So I am going to start putting the content that would have gone on that other website here.

What is analogue methods

There are a LOT of website out there that focus on digital tools and how to use them. There are also a lot of website about stationery. Analogue Methods fits somewhere in between those two things.

I use a lot of notebooks and pens, most of my life is organised with analogue tools. In my opinion they are the superior option in almost every instance. Most of the time they are less efficient, but that is why I think they are valuable. They give the user time to think and to contemplate and I don’t want everything in my life to be optimised for efficiency. I want most of my life to be optimised for enjoyment.

Analogue Methods is my attempt to write about how I do that. The systems I have and the tools I use.

I will probably write about notebooks and pens and other tools, but that isn’t the point. I am not writing with expensive pens and I don’t think that you need to. What I want to write about most is the reasons why this stuff works and how you can try it out for yourself. I do a lot of experimenting and it seems like something that could be useful to a lot of people.

Look out for upcoming posts. I don’t have a schedule or anything but they are coming and I have created a new category so that you can see all of them in one list.

How I’m Writing Now

A lot has changed since I was blogging last year and frankly I have gone back and forth between different methods of writing for the last year or so now, but I am now reasonably settled in the way I write.

Past

When I first started writing and publishing I did everything on a computer. I used an app on my phone and computer to store notes for ideas and all of my planning was also done on a computer. Likewise I wrote all of my first drafts on a computer and could, on a good day, rattle off 5,000 words, although my average was about 3,000. I also edited on a computer. Doing things this way meant I could publish a short novel a month, and I was building up a backlog of stories that would allow me to take time off without missing any of my planned release dates. I was also “stacking” stories, so I always had one story in planning, one in first draft and one in editing/publishing. I was very “productive”.

Present

My stories don’t touch a computer until there is a complete first draft. I do all of my note taking, planning and first draft writing in a variety of notebooks. I write my first drafts with a fountain pen. I am a lot slower this way. On a good day I probably get 1,000 words written. I am focusing on one story at a time. In a stories published sense I am not very productive.

Why the change

I first tried this out over a year ago and over the next few months I went back and forth because I am a magpie and continually attracted to shiny new apps and tools. But as I said at the start, I think the change is going to stick this time. As to why I did this, well there are a couple of reasons:

  1. I enjoy the process more. It’s more fun to write in a notebook
  2. I think it produces a better story. I know there is a lot of debate on this subject, but honestly, I think slowing down a bit means I can write better

Future

I need to do better at the first to second draft part of the process. Currently I have a number of stories that are a complete first draft and I need to get better at typing them up and editing them. And publishing as well. I have one story that is complete and ready to go, but I just haven’t gotten around to putting it on the various sales platforms.