Hi friends,
So happy to be back with you this week. I thought it would fun to give you a sneak peek at three of my favorite writing instruments: notebooks, pens, and literally instruments a.k.a music.
One of the things I find most inspiring in life and in writing is the beauty of soul-stirring music. I love listening to music while I write. I have to listen to instrumental music during my first couple drafts or I literally start writing out the lyrics on my notepad. Yep. I write my first drafts longhand. It’s taken a while to find the right fit in a notebook and pen. I used Levenger notebooks for the longest time and still think they are wonderful, but I’ve gone really old-school this time around and am using a yellow, legal pad. I read one time that Janet Evanovich writes her story out from beginning to end on a legal pad, which I found pretty cool that a New York Time’s bestselling author’s process is very similar to mine. Or, rather, my process is similar to Janet’s. She’s been writing far longer than me.
Next, was figuring out my favorite pen. It took a long time, but I’ve settled on Frixion erasable pens. They come in a variety of colors so when I get bored of staring at blue ink, I switch it up, going with purple or green. It’s fun using different color ink for different character’s points-of-view.
Once I move into my third draft, I switch to primarily (though not fully) working on my laptop. I use the time between the first and third drafts to compile a story soundtrack that really represents the scenes, the action, and the hearts of the character’s in music. You can check out my stories’ playlists on my website. Just click on the book’s cover and you’ll find lots of extras, including their soundtrack.
For some reason, I can listen to lyrical music when I’m on my third draft or during full revisions, so I use that time to write to my soundtracks. It really helps me to get into my character’s thoughts and actions. Hope you enjoy the soundtracks!
Question for you:
If you’re an author, do you listen to music while you write, or do you need silence? If you’re a reader, what are your favorite reading ‘instruments?’ Bookmark, reading light, do you highlight or tab pages…etc. What do you like to have with you when you start a new book?
Look forward to hearing your answers.
Have a blessed day!
Dani
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I love listening to music while I write, too, Dani. It’s SO inspiring. My favorite music for writing is movie soundtracks (NO lyrics for the same reason you said!) Because movie soundtracks were meant to be background music, they are perfect to set the mood for a scene I’m writing. Some of my favorite composers and film scores:
John Williams (Schindler’s List, Jurassic Park, The Book Thief, and scores of others)
James Horner (Searching for Bobby Fischer, Legends of the Fall, Braveheart)
Dave Grusin (On Golden Pond, Bonfire of the Vanities, The Firm, Hope Floats)
James Newton Howard (Dying Young, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Hunger Games)
John Barry (Out of Africa, Somewhere in Time, Dances with Wolves)
Stephen Warbeck (Charlotte Gray, Shakespeare in Love)
Hans Zimmer (The Last Samurai, Gladiator, Pearl Harbor, Spanglish, Inception)
Michael Kamen (Band of Brothers, Open Range, Mr. Holland’s Opus)
Oooh. Thanks so much for sharing your list. Will have to check them out! Thanks so much for stopping by, Deb. Hope you’re doing great!
I admit that one of my favorite parts of reading on my Kindle is the ability to highlight without “harming” my precious book. 😉 I have a bookish cover on my Kindle that also makes it feel like I’m holding an actual book. If I’m reading a paper book I select the bookmark that best represents both what I’m reading and what mood I’m in. I’m fond of magnetic bookmarks as they don’t fall out of the book. My favorite reading spot is my couch and that means I’m usually curled up in a fleece blanket (even in the summer, thanks to A/C). My new favorite reading blanket says “Just One More Chapter” on it. So, at what point do you transfer the words from paper to the laptop? Do you do that all at once?
Love that blanket saying. How fun. I’m the same way. I curl up with a blanket no matter the weather–fireplaces and A/C are my friends. 😀
That’s so cool you have a bookish cover. I’ll have to look into that.
I usually shift when I feel like I’ve completed a section, then I’ll type it in before I forget what I’ve written (my handwriting is atrocious because I have to write to fast to keep up with the story racing through my mind). It also allows me to see how much I’ve written and it also helps me when I get writer’s block. Then at the end of the first draft, I type anything left in, print it out and read through it. This book I’m doing it a bit different and trying to go all the way through without looking back at what I’ve already done. Hoping it will allow me to get the first draft down faster. Thanks so much for stopping and chatting with me today.
I am a reader but I write reviews. So I like to keep a notebook handy to write down the basics, eg. names, dates, places and quotes. Maybe even whole sentences of opinions so I don’t forget what I thought. My favorite pens are click pens in black from a dollar store, where I can get a ten pack for a dollar. They write very smoothly. And of course, I have a collection of bookmarks that I try to match to my books as much as possible.
Oh, that’s awesome. Do you enjoy reviewing? Are you ever able to read a book without reviewing it in your mind? Just curious. I know since I’ve been writing, it’s much harder for me to just get in the story without seeing the different elements the author has used.
10 pens for $1. I need to go to my local Dollar store.
I am basically a reader. I can read best in silence. I do read with the TV on and read in the commercials.I prefer to read in silence. I can read listening to music but if I get to a song I really love I sing along. Can’t help it, I’m a professional musician. I’ve been a band director and music teacher as well as playing for churches and singing in choirs. I’m a frustrated writer and prefer to write in silence also. same problem again. So even though I like music a lot I can’t work with it going. I guess I relate it to when I had to listen and learn about it in school. Drop the needle and identify is still ingrained. Analyzation of the music is also ingrained.
I love that you sing along. I do the same, but I’m horribly tone-deaf. My five-year-old grandson told me to stop signing the other day because, and I quote ‘it’s obnoxiously annoying.’ LOL. From the mouth of babes.
Children can be brutishly truthful. Sometimes you just want to run and hide. I don’t have kids but I taught for 5 years. Don’t want to do that again!lol As I’ve gotten older I have less and less tolerance for kids. I have a cat and that’s enough. Right?
I keep a blank piece of paper inside the book when I start it, so I can write down characters names and their occupations or how they relate to one another. Also, I note pages where I really like a quote or situation that I want to remember. Once I finish the book, I type up a recap on a spreadsheet for all the books I read. That way, I can go back read a summary and enjoy the things that stood out to me about the book. This is especially helpful when I’m reading a series since there’s usually a year between books and I forget what happened in the previous ones and need a refresher before starting the next.
Wow. You are a very committed reader. That’s so awesome! I bet with that kind of notation you must write super reviews.
I used to read paperbacks and use book lights and bookmarks or yarn-whatever was handy but now I read on my Kindle or Nook. I carry it with me everywhere and even read while I eat if eating alone at lunch. I prefer silence because the television can distract me. Music is okay too. I also do book reviews and should make notes like Paula says she does but don’t so this means that I have to go back and look up certain things that I want included in the review because I like to be accurate. I notice occasionally that someone will have the wrong name in a review and I don’t want to do that. I do enjoy your books, by the way!
Thanks so much! So glad you’re enjoying my books. So awesome you take the time to write reviews. We authors so appreciate it! <3
I loved reading about your three favorite instruments while writing. I have to say, you picked my favorites. I cannot write unless I have music in my ears. I have a Spotify playlist for different moods. My first draft I tend to listen to late-night jazz. No lyrics, just some awesome Miles Davis in the background. Not the busy crazy stuff, but the slower “late night jazz” stuff. I suppose that’s how they differentiate from the kind that can give me a headache after about 15 min. 🙂
I’ve never used a legal pad for my stories, but I like the idea (and the fact that JE does it is a plus). The right pen is a huge thing with me. I honestly have never used an erasable pen. That would save me all the scratch outs. The favorite part of your entire posting for me, is that you put together a playlist for each of your stories. That is a fantastic idea. Why didn’t I think of it??
I’m a long-time writer, but a newbie in the actual publishing arena. I have one published short story (looking back it’s a bit embarrassing), but I’m still proud and remember well how it made me feel. I look forward to reading your books and learning how to maneuver around in this writing journey. Keep up the good posts!
Hi Pamela,
So fun to hear you’re a writer too. I wish you the very best in your journey. I love the idea of “late night jazz.” I’ll have to add that to my Spotify playlists. Isn’t Spotify the best?
Thank you so much for sharing the instruments of your writing! I am a reader and reviewer. I couldn’t help but laugh as you wrote about needing specific notebooks, pens, etc. My friends all know I have always had to have specific types of notebooks and my favorite was a notepad of notebook paper that had super small perforations and could be torn out & look like a single sheet of paper. It fit perfectly in my simple brown leather portfolio. I write really small (like my Daddy) so I ALWAYS use a Fine Point Pen. I started using Cross pens in college & then moved up to an even nicer pen when my husband surprised me for our anniversary. I like the wider body pens because of arthritis in my hands. I love the idea of the playlist to go along with your books! It gives such a deeper insight to the characters as well as the story. I would have to listen during breaks or before/after I read. I would get caught up doing a sing along and forget what I was reading! I could listen to instrumental music as was mentioned above but I would probably still hum! Thanks again for sharing about your technique!
Hi Lisa,
You are so welcome. I’m thrilled you enjoyed the post 🙂
My mom always used Cross pens. I still have her favorite gold one. I’m a pen collector of sorts as I like to use different ones for different things. A writer friend and I are always sharing notes as to which pens we enjoy. I’d love to know what kind of pen you do use now. I like wider body ones too.
I have written in a notebook as you have and also on a laptop. Sometimes I listen to music and other times I need the quiet. I, too, love the Levenger notebooks and their pens. I’ll switch between a fountain pen and ballpoint whichever seems to move across the paper best, depending on how fast I’m writing it all down. Reading involves a few square of dark chocolate, hot tea and a comfortable place to sit with a blanket over my lap. Thanks for sharing your preferences.
When reading, the only thing I need is a book, a bookmark (and I am not particular about what that might be), and my blanket. Regardless of the time of year, I really love having my blanket when I read. It’s just something comforting about it.