SOCIAL MEDIA

10 March 2017

My Writing Bag Essentials

For the most part my writing occurs outside of my house. Don't get me wrong, when the mood strikes you can find me writing almost anywhere, but my favourite places are either in the writing group at the library or in coffee shops. So, it only makes sense to have a dedicated, go-to bag that will hold all of my writing essentials.


This led me to the idea of sharing what's inside my writing bag. I'm sure that for the most part every writing bag has the same thing in it... pens, paper, notebook. But I've found that, with posts like these, I'm bound to discover something new that I just have to add to mine. Let's start with the bag, shall we? I just recently bought one specifically for my writing gear last week and I'm quite smitten with it.

I found this awesome Mulder & Scully bag on Society6. It's by the artist Nan Lawson, which if you haven't seen her work before, please check it out. She has a lot of cool pieces, including Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks. This bag is sturdy, made in the US and most importantly, holds all my stuff - even my laptop! Alright, enough about the bag, let's get down to what's inside it...



MY WRITING ESSENTIALS

Pens The two must-have pens that I keep in my bag are both in black ink. I find blue ink to be distracting, so black ink it is. I'm a sucker for Pentel's R.S.V.P fine pens and Pilot's G-2 07 pens. I'll switch between the two, depending on the notebook I'm writing in. I've been using these pens since my youth and I don't intend to ever stop! Sometimes I'll break the mold and throw in a red one for corrections.

Slim Notebooks I love the Chapter series notebooks from Cambridge. They're slim, floppy, and lightweight. What I like most about them is the fact that each page has a running list of months and dates at the top. This works for me because whenever I am free-writing I have a tendency to forget to add the date. Having this at the top makes me stop and circle, so the date is always there.

Loose Leaf Paper For those times when I don't feel like writing in my Chapters notebook, because it's dimensions are smaller than a sheet of paper.

Composition Notebooks These notebooks are for finished pieces only and I always have the most current one with me. I have been creatively writing in composition notebooks since high school. In fact, I'm on my fifth composition notebook so far. These are some of my most prized possessions too; even if I have most of my poetry and short stories printed out in a giant binder. There's something grounding about seeing my actual handwriting.

Laptop There are times where typing helps me finish a piece faster. For example, if I've started a piece of flash fiction and I can't seem to finish it - or I can't seem to write fast enough to get all of my thoughts out - I turn to my laptop. I can type a lot faster than I can write - I mean I can write fast, but it isn't always legible. Also, once I'm done with a piece, I make sure that there is a digital copy.

A Prompt Journal When my friend Megan came across "The Write Stuff - 500 Prompts To Jumpstart Your Writing" I knew I had to have it. It is essentially a book filled with prompts to encourage you to start writing. Which is great when writer's block has taken hold. Hell, it's even cool if you want to write about random things you wouldn't necessarily come up with on your own. It's also great for cultivating discipline if your goal is to write everyday.

iPhone & Headphones My phone serves three purposes: 1) connection to the outside world, 2) resources (think: thesaurus and dictionary) and 3) music. I find that whenever I listen to music I tend to write a lot better. Music has always been my go-to whenever I write. I find it very inspiring. I just let in melt into the background as I write. The darker the music, the better.

Coffitivity App As you might have guessed, I'm more productive when I'm surrounded by a lot of people. There's something about the noise that makes the words flow better. With that being said, Coffitivity "recreates the ambient sounds of a cafe to boost your creativity and help you work better." Best of all it's free. It's great when I don't feel like leaving my house, or listening to music while writing. The app is available on both iOS and Android and also via your browser!


I hope you've found this post fun and have maybe found some new things that you might want to add to your writing routine. Do you write? What are some of your writing essentials? Let me know in the comments below so we can discuss.

2 comments :

  1. I visited Nan's website and also love her work!! She has A LOT of product available. Oh my goodness. I love the cats! I also visited the Coffitivity site to see what that was about. I have to have noise ALL. THE. TIME. Something to block out so I can concentrate. Amazing what you can find out there!! Thanks for sharing your writing essentials with us, Danielle!

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    1. Isn't Nan super talented? I love it!! The cats are really adorable.

      Thanks for reading, Terri! <3

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