navwin » Discussion » pipTalk Lounge » Question for Everyone
pipTalk Lounge
Post A Reply Post New Topic Question for Everyone Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
timothysangel1973
Deputy Moderator 5 Tours
Senior Member
since 2001-12-03
Posts 1725
Never close enough

0 posted 2005-05-03 10:58 PM


For Christmas I asked my husband to get me a new journal, just something to tote around with me so that as the thoughts come, I could jot them down.  Well, he has to go all out for everything and instead of just the plain ole' .99 cent journal he went to Barnes & Noble and bought me this Italian Fiorentina Journal, leather covers with this fancy deco make into it, and acid free pages with little crest decos on them.  Now... wheres the dilema you ask?  Well, the damn thing is so pretty I'm afraid to write in it.  He gave thirty bucks for it, and I don't want the entire thing to be filled with markouts and scribbles.  I feel as though it should contain something very worthwhile, something I should leave the kids lmao....

My question is this:

Do you write with a pencil, or a pen, or do you just put everything on your PC?

I love writing with pen, yet I dont wanna mess up and have to cover these beautiful pages with scribble lines.  I have tried the erasable pens, and they don't reall get rid of what was there, so then it looks like I have written something in code when I'm done.

I love pencil as well, but I'm afraid that the words will just seep into the paper after several years, and become all smudged and stuff.

So... what are the writing preferences around here?

And, whats a good solution to the highly expensive journal (that I fear writing in) problem that I am having?

Tima

© Copyright 2005 Tima Chavis Cooke - All Rights Reserved
Local Rebel
Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-21
Posts 5767
Southern Abstentia
1 posted 2005-05-03 11:09 PM


your children will, one day, treasure the scribbles and scratches out, as much as the words
Nightshade
Deputy Moderator 5 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Patricius
since 2001-08-31
Posts 13962
just out of reach
2 posted 2005-05-03 11:27 PM


Agreeing totally with Reb here. The journal sounds beautiful - it should be used and used well. I have had many journals over the years, each one picked out because it touched me either with it's colour, texture or design. To have your husband pick this out is a wonderful keepsake/treasure indeed. Honour his gift to you by writing from your heart as often as you can.
Alicat
Member Elite
since 1999-05-23
Posts 4094
Coastal Texas
3 posted 2005-05-03 11:40 PM


I tried the journal thing to jot down notes, and was an expensive one compared to my usual fare.  Filled it with scribbles, then had to find a way to put those pages in my big blue binder, short of transcription.  My suggestion: get a very inexpensive notebook.  Don't matter if it's 1-2-3-more subject, it's cheap.  For the $30 journal, jot down things about your life, memories, family, and sundry.  And trust me, scribbles and markthroughs will only enhance the costly journal's pages.  By the by, I only use pen and, more recently, computer.  Pencil does fade more than ink over time.
Ratleader
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026
Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass
4 posted 2005-05-03 11:49 PM


Here's what to do:

1) Use pencil. Pen implies perfection and polish, but a journal is supposed to be spontaneous.

2) Be dead honest, even if you have to write in code. A journal is supposed to be honest.

3) Keep it to yourself, until you're just bustin' to show it to a friend. A journal is supposed to be your own.

4) Before you start, turn to the second page, and write a word half-way down the page, near the inside margin. Scratch it out and then erase it. Now you're free from the mistake issue without really defacing your journal, because a journal is supposed to have little mistakes, without the one who is writing it getting the yips over them!

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
______________Ratleader______________

Alicat
Member Elite
since 1999-05-23
Posts 4094
Coastal Texas
5 posted 2005-05-03 11:56 PM


Small wonder I always used pen then.  Rarely the erasable type, and sometimes the enclosed bib tip type (not ball point) in dark purple and sky blue.  I did learn not to use any type of highlighter, since those do fade even worse than pencil over the span of years.
Ratleader
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026
Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass
6 posted 2005-05-04 12:11 PM


I draft almost all my poems in pencil too.... when I got tired of losing too many good ideas, I started carrying -- the kind that can fit your pocket, with the pages held together by a little corkscrew of wire....and I poked a pencil stub (I found the first one of those!) into the little wire thing....Now I'll chop a pencil in half if I need one, they're so handy.... stick that in a pocket, and you've always got pencil and paper ready....

My inspiration? This!
/pip/Forum64/HTML/000977.html

~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>   ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº>  ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº>    ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº>
______________Ratleader______________

timothysangel1973
Deputy Moderator 5 Tours
Senior Member
since 2001-12-03
Posts 1725
Never close enough
7 posted 2005-05-04 12:11 PM


Gosh... I just love you guys !!

Anyway, wanted to come back in and say that above it may have sounded like I didnt appreciate this beautiful gift from hubby... cause I most certainly do... I just didnt want to take away from it's beauty with all my mistakes lol

But now... I think that I will just let my hand and mind make this journal what it shall be... a keepsake, one for me, and one for my family after I am gone.

Thank You ALL so much

))))))BIG Hugs(((((((

littlewing
Member Rara Avis
since 2003-03-02
Posts 9655
New York
8 posted 2005-05-04 03:50 AM


Do you write with a pencil, or a pen, or do you just put everything on your PC?

all three and sometimes eyeliner from my purse . . . that is if the thoughts even make it to the paper in time . . .

use the journal, a keepsake it shall be . .  when have you ever seen a perfect journal entry from a well known author?


Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
9 posted 2005-05-04 06:49 AM


Tima, just wait until you ask for a fountain pen...

Lots of good tips here, guys...perhaps I should break out the more expensive, suede and leatherbound journals I've been gifted...instead of the notebooks I've been using.  I especially like some of Reb's reflections, but then, I always do.

Michelle_loves_Mike
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Senior Member
since 2003-12-20
Posts 1189
Pennsylvania
10 posted 2005-05-04 07:18 AM


Those erasers and scratch outs are the real treasure, will let your kiddies see that mom put real thought into her words.

As for me, I scratch notes on anything with a flat surface ( back of a bill, newspaper edge, etc).

Local Parasite
Deputy Moderator 10 Tours
Member Elite
since 2001-11-05
Posts 2527
Transylconia, Winnipeg
11 posted 2005-05-04 08:11 AM


I never have pencils on me.  They make me think of math (yuck!).

I tend to write and draft things in my head, and not record them fully until I've gotten home to a PC.  That's when the real fun begins, and I throw down all the cute couplets and quatrains that I've had stirring around my memory all day.  Every now and then if I think of a really good one I'll write it down on a scrap of paper available and put it in my pocket so I can make something of it once I'm home.

I think poets who use form like I do might sympathize with the need to write primarily on PC, just for the sake of filling in all the iambs and trochees with enough precision.

Greeneyes
Deputy Moderator 50 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-09-09
Posts 9903
In Your Poetic Mind
12 posted 2005-05-04 05:09 PM


you as well as your children will treasure it one day use at free will and often....I have many..... all with scribble and pen marks and even some stained with coffee, LOL but would not trade any of them!

I don’t mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile

Local Rebel
Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-21
Posts 5767
Southern Abstentia
13 posted 2005-05-04 06:01 PM


Just speaking from experience Karilea -- I have my father's little book he used for weddings and funerals (I'm not even going to joke about them being in the same notebook) -- and he typed out some standardized sermons and phrases, and then marked in it, scratched out things, re-wrote ideas -- what do you think I treasure about it?  

Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296
Purgatorial Incarceration
14 posted 2005-05-04 06:08 PM


i tried journaling... but am far too inconsistent for something like that.

if i did though, it'd be on the computer. i'm afraid the only ones able to read it if i wrote by hand, would be cryptologists.

Mysteria
Deputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 10 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328
British Columbia, Canada
15 posted 2005-05-04 08:29 PM


Just to give you my thoughts as I watched Elizabeth Santos, and Ruth (Hoot Owl) in action, I learned that a journal is a place for your muse to put its thoughts until you have time to collect them.     See what those two ladies produce?  I have several journals on the go at all times, each have a unique purpose, and I have left a note in the inside cover to explain what they represented for those who may pick them up in the future.  

Like towels or other things, kept for special I have to ask why?  Who is more special than yourself?  I love nice things trust me, and use them all.  It took me years to realize I was worth them, and now there is no stopping me.

I truly hope you will just enjoy that journal.  Sounds like it was given in love, and could be filled with love very easily.  Scribble away, and leave your mark to be read by those you love one day.  They will treasure the scratches and squiggles.

Kaoru
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Elite
since 2003-06-07
Posts 3892
where the wild flowers grow
16 posted 2005-05-07 01:57 AM


I've always written in pen...I somehow enjoy my scribbles and x's, they're flaws without any flaws...

...whatever that hand is comfy with..

and trust me, a pretty journal is so bland!

timothysangel1973
Deputy Moderator 5 Tours
Senior Member
since 2001-12-03
Posts 1725
Never close enough
17 posted 2005-05-07 02:03 AM


Well HOORAY for me, I have finally started using this most beautiful gift.  4 poems in it so far yipee... and more on the way I hope.  My muse has been a little off-beat the past few months.

I have however bought a nice spiral notebook with the plastic front and back covers for writing in as well.  Now my dilema is... hehe

I need a new bag to carry it all in.  Guess I will resort to a backpack everywhere I go since I have all this and all these kids, when we go to the grocery store it looks like we are moving for goodness sakes.

Thanks everyone for the input... it is much appreciated !!





One is not born a woman, one becomes one.
~Simone de Beauvoir~

Aenimal
Member Rara Avis
since 2002-11-18
Posts 7350
the ass-end of space
18 posted 2005-05-08 12:15 PM


only write on computer, except for the odd idea jotted down on a post it or napkin. to tell the truth i don't even have most of them backed up but only here at pip. so if the site goes down pfffft they do too. kind of a buddhist, impermanence thing going on
Post A Reply Post New Topic ⇧ top of page ⇧ Go to Previous / Newer Topic Back to Topic List Go to Next / Older Topic
All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format.
navwin » Discussion » pipTalk Lounge » Question for Everyone

Passions in Poetry | pipTalk Home Page | Main Poetry Forums | 100 Best Poems

How to Join | Member's Area / Help | Private Library | Search | Contact Us | Login
Discussion | Tech Talk | Archives | Sanctuary