Lately, I've been seeing people gush about Moleskine notebooks. And fountain pens. And I can't help think that perhaps people love the image of being a writer than really writing anything at all.
I really like my laptop--not because of the model, because it's not the latest model--but because it is portable and I can instantly type stuff in wherever I take it with me. Weight-wise, a notebook in the pocket is far more convenient, but I don't put notebooks in my pocket.
But I feel that a laptop is for my more finalized versions of whatever I'm working on. I also like to write in notebooks--but I don't spend the extra money on fancy volumes that makes the ordinary person look like a tortured artist wannabe. There are several types of notebooks I use. One is the Mead Five-Star 5 subject notebook which I use with any black ball point pen (the ones from hotels are the best; the ink flow is always even) for long writing exercises. The Mead Five-Star is still my long-time favorite--I've been using them for close to a decade now.
Another one is the black and white marble composition notebook which I do prewrites and planning, jot down ideas, and sketch out diagrams and maps with various types of pens depending on my mood. The third is the heavy sketchbook with a black cover--the paper is thick and I use the black Uniball Vision Micro pen which I absolutely love because the ink flows so nicely and evenly. However, this also means I must guard my Uniball quite zealously because people like to steal them. The sketchbook is primarily used for detailed world building.
