Notebook Obsessive
My name is Christine Bell, and I am a notebook obsessive.
Tidying up my office today, I came across a pile of brand new notebooks. All filled with pristine white pages waiting on inspiration.
I can never resist a new notebook. I’d like to buy one everywhere I go, and fully intended to on my recent trip overseas. Only after buying the first two, I realised I’d never get my suitcase back into the country – not without mortgaging the house first. So time after time, I had to walk out leaving my heart’s desire abandoned on exotic stationery shop shelves.
Okay, I admit, the decision was influenced by this pile nagging in front of me. Made worse in realising, some of them aren’t so gorgeous anymore. It’s a collection of years. Many of their kin, filled with ideas, stories and my musings, line my bookcase. I have umpteen notebooks in progress, half-full of story ideas, scenes, character studies and lines of unwritten poems. Most of them of more practical design.
Still I have to ask how can I be so fickle as to have gone off the cute bear cover with the press stud closing, I once thought darling? Or the black fabric covered books with snowy white pages, so fancied at the time, I even bought two.
What to do now? How can I possibly buy any more notebooks in the future until these are used? Even if, some I don’t want to use.
Aha!
What did I love when I was young?
I adored the lined order and invoice books of my grandfather’s old grocery shop. Each book pre-numbered, with a sheet of tear out carbon for duplicating pages. Hour upon hour, my sisters and I spent drawing, playing school and shops in Papa’s office up the back of the yard. Spinning around on giant, overstuffed swivel chairs at huge desks. (Or maybe they weren’t really so big.) And in the corner, a cupboard stacked full of old pens, ink bottles, rulers, and indelible pencils setting the stage for my ongoing stationery obsession.
Now back to my idea. If I loved notebooks and pens and the like as a kid, other kids must too. And I have nieces and nephews who like to write and draw.
I think they might like some new notebooks. It would be the good aunty sort-of thing to do.
Funny thing. I can’t resist a new pen either. I wonder if they’d like some pens too. I did see some lovely new ones in Melbourne Central last week. I think that shop even sells notebooks too.
Or, maybe I should find an N.O. meeting? (Anyone else need to come along too?)
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Categories: Musing on writerly topics
Lorraine
Note books! I confess too- but necessity dictated that I get mine from the supermarket when they have those cheap exercises at the start of the year- so have heaps of these- and my older notebooks take up a long shelf and if I’m stuck for inspiration- I use these- especially delved into my notebooks for more poems in my latest collection- sad part is that I don’t use my note books as obsessively as I used to…but pens- I love ink pens- you know old fashioned ink pens- fountain pens- need to get my stash out and write again..
christinemareebell
Hi Lorraine. I’m the same re less writing in notebooks. I wonder if we’ve just gotten used to writing directly onto the computer, or spend more time on it than when we were running around after and to “kid” events. I also must say that my shelf is full of spiral bound supermarket notebooks. Your post got me wondering if the reason so many of the fancy, pretty ones haven’t been used is because I tend to revert to the wire spiral type, especially by my bed, because I can flip the pages over and just work on one surface rather than trying to hold back the opposite cover. Love the sound of fountain pens. I received a gorgeous quill and bottle of ink for Xmas and love playing – not conducive to lots of flowing writing though. But… could be great for short works, like poems. I’ll let you know.