What Do We Write?

We have talked about what we write on and what we write with but none of that matters as much as what we actually write. Our fancy notebooks are only as good as what we put in them. What do you write in your Moleskines?

A common response I've seen and felt upon acquiring a Moleskine is one of fear. What can I write that will do justice to this little book? What words do I have that are worth archiving in a notebook that may last two hundred years? Where do I even begin? These notebooks only cost $10, just a few dollars more than a cheap notebook we would be happy to use for grocery lists, but we still fear writing a wrong word or a clunky sentence. That blank page is horrifying to us when we realize we may have nothing to say. Some of us eventually find those words, or at least accept that if we do not write SOMETHING the notebook will be useless, so we begin. But what do we write?

After jumping over the wall and writing my first line in my notebook (I actually cut it out with scissors when I was done but at least I started) I came up with multiple writing projects all using these little notebooks. Like many, I have a journal. This morning I wrote of the "still in school and failing economics" dream I've had since graduating eight years ago. Two days ago I wrote a eulogy for a candle I was fond of that finally burned out. I use a Moleskine plain notebook as my pocket journal. This one has fictional stories, movie reviews, weblog entries, and favorite quotes ("There is a small distance between a pat on the back and a kick in the pants" - George S. Patton). I also use a Moleskine address book and day planner, my Palm Pilot replacements.

A larger project I have, one that has already taken up three Moleskine sketch books, is an adventure journal for the massive online game Everquest. Laugh and sneer if you must, it isn't exactly Bruce Chatwin's work, but after the game is gone, I will walk away with the tales of adventure that I've experienced over the last four years.

The journals are in first-person, some written as an autobiography and some as a daily journal, with sketches and drawings of strange sigils, runes, weapons, and beasts that I find on the way. I enjoy writing of these adventures and enjoy playing the game more after putting my mind into that of my character. The classical feel of the Moleskine gives it a physical authenticity. This book could exist in a fantasy world. Would Bilbo carry around a Moleskine? A computer game journal is probably childish and stupid, but after three hundred pages my handwriting has improved and my writing style has gotten more natural.

So for the other "Mollies" out there (a term I am already beginning to loathe), how do you justify your Moleskine's existence? What do you write?

By Mike Shea
View larger image at the Gallery

Comments

[Armand]

My notebook is mostly filled with ideas and travel sketches. One, appropriately enough, holds the original concept and plans for this blog.
...
I must say, that's a very good photo, Mike. Thanks for a great post.

[Mike]

the link shows the pocket sized daily planner for 2004 as sold out. Any idea where to get one? I may even ditch my Palm.

[cody]

i first used mine as a requirement for an art class, but i've grown to use it to document everything:
- something funny just happened
- something that i need to do tomorrow
- a random sketch
- some graffiti sketches (no more because i was arrested- moleskine went to jail with me)
- any good quotes i come across

[Alan Kilpatrick]

Love Moleskines - just started using them for my sermon notes. I've missed so many good opportunities for sermon content due to not having somewhere to keep the notes. Didn't get on with PDA's, even though I was a computer programmer and therefore used to technology. I just find more creativity evolves when you put pen to paper

[Justin]

Mike,
I'm with you on the 'Mollies' thing - I always think of the Molly Maguires (google for molly maguire if you don't know the story).

My moleskine is a personal journal, as I find the act of writing helps me to better remember things. I also use it for ideas, draft blog entries and other writings. I have used a selection of different notebooks in the past, but the somehow the moleskine is different and precious. As others here have said, you feel the need to take your time and give more consideration to what you are writing in it.

[Armand]

on "Mollies" - it's early, we can still do away with that tag. Any suggestions? Kindly email and keep comments to current topic. Thanks!

[boxx]

In my ruled notebook i keep everything from to do lists, numbers, snippets of conversations, and all manner of notes. I tend to put a lot of stuff in hear that later makes it into iCal, address book, check book register, cell phone, etc cet. I enjoy using my digital calendars and what not, but prefer to first jot these things down by hand.

I bought a sketchbook recently due to the quality of the paper more than anything. I originally intended for it to be just that. But most of the sketches end up being full and considered drawings. The object inspires me to be a little more thoughtful in my mark making.

[Mike]

Here's a smaller and more practical question. If you keep a lot of them, how do you label your Moleskines? I've stuck little bookmarks with names on the flaps to keep track of mine but I'd like to find a better way.

[kiri]

I use my small weekly planner to keep appts., travel dates, vacation time, etc. I jot down quick notes in this as well, and have an extensive color coded dot system that I use on the front yearly calendar. I used the large daily planner last year, but found it to be too big. I use the large sketchbooks as travel journals, diaries, place for polaroids, notes, and other ephermera - collage sketchbooks really. I also use the pocket blank notebooks for doing quick sketchs and studies using different mediums like prismacolor pencils, as well as daily diaries, note taking devices, ephemera storage etc. I label my notebooks by altering the cover in some fashion - paint it, scratch it, put stickers on it (as above), etc. in that way my sketchbooks become something more than just a journal.

[Michael]

I am loving looking round Moleskinerie :-)

I use my Moleskines in two ways. Upsidedown at the back I write down quotes and references from things I'm reading or notice. In the front I write lists of things to do, ideas and notes for longer writing. Sometimes I'll write longer pieces in there too. I don't seem to sketch much in mine - but I'd like to do more. I've been inspired by Danny Gregory's site.

[Nicola]

I have two sizes of Moleskine notebooks.

The larger one (with squared paper, my favourite) I have started using for my creative projects. I've begun a collage (not sure exactly how well that will work out in a Moleskine, but we'll see), and a mindmap of ideas for things I'd like to do in 2004.

The smaller one I'm carrying with me at all times and writing notes in it at cafe tables. The theme at the moment is transformation and I'm writing notes to myself about this topic.

It is easy to get "precious" about new notebooks, especially ones imbued with such history; however, if anyone reads our notebooks in years to come, I'm sure they'll be equally fascinated by our "mistakes" as with the stuff we think we did right.

[Niklas Dahlin]

Hey, they are nice notebooks, but there's no reason to get "the fear". :) Just _write_ , all the time!
Apart from the obvious stuff (journal, quotes, ideas): drawings of weird design ideas that appear during dull meetings, pasted pictures of cats, wife etc, pen-tests. Memory lists in the back.

[Norman]

Am starting to use Moleskine just recently but I've always kept notebooks. My new Moleskine won't be any different. I'd still use it back to front for random notes, memory lists, action calendar, task lists and project tracking. In the front, I've written/sketched a daily log of thoughts on daily images and conversations that inspire me, thoughts I've picked up along my recent readings or observations I had to write down.

The 'precious new' moment lasted a day. I would be writing more on it since am deeply terrified it would be another useless artifact I possess.

[cody]

i used to hesitate about the initial marks in a moleskine. not so much anymore. lately,i've found myself finishing the last few pages of one without anything exciting, but when i buy a new moleskine good stuff starts coming out of my pen again.

[Mike Rohde]

As for alternate names to "Mollies" how about Moleskiners? Moleskineratti? Moleskitizens? ;-)

[Shawn Low]

I am somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of an elitist mentality adopted by users of a black book with a rubber band attached. I mean, it’s a notebook for God’s sake! Paper!

So I played silent observer.

The recent thread on ‘Why We Write,’ demands a response. Here’s why:

I’m a photographer. Not a great one but a decent one. And often times, people are focused so much on gear gear gear (Ohh! I’ve got an all singing, all dancing Canon EOS1Ds along with a USM 17–35 F2.8 L lens! I’m eyeing the Leica MP and the 35 F2 Aspherical Summicron!). So much so that the heart of the art, the IMAGE, is often ignored.

The same goes with this love for Moleskines. We caress and drool and rave. We talk about what pencil should be used with it. We talk about the feeling it elicits in us. But we don’t talk about the WORDS we put in it.

My Moleskine, a small pocket diary with a lined page for each day, serves as a reminder for promises I make to myself, to God, to people. It has bits and pieces of daily life. Half baked ideas of short stories, poems, feature films that may never be completed. Snippets of conversation. Sketches for a photo exhibition. Grocery list. To do lists with tiny little squares that I tick off when the task is complete.

On the other hand, my boss here at a publishing company, uses his to jot down letters to Authors/Printers/et al, ideas for his publishing class, draft copy for blurbs on books, etc. He previously bought a palmtop with an attached keyboard and never took to it. The Moleskine is a sign of his resistance to the digital age. Whilst the HP collects dust, the black book soldiers on.

The Moleskine has become a companion in my daily grind.

It’s a catalogue of my life.

...
Read more about Shawn

[Mike]

It's not a rubber band, its an elastic fastener!! Just kidding =)

I agree with you completely. I had the advantage of loving Moleskines before I heard more people talk about them so it was already too late for me.

I've had discussions with a friend of mine about the lack of value in writing about writing or writing about what you write with or on. It is like having a blog that talks about blogging or a phone conversation about how great your new phone is. Nothing is really being said, nothing is really getting done.

That was the purpose of this article. Lets talk about what we actually write. We all love our notebooks. We recognize that somehow these notebooks are better than the others. There's no website honoring the wonders of legal pad. But if you aren't using that Moleskine, it's junk.

[Fredrik]

I got myself a notebook right before Christmas and expected that I'd use it to get some writing done while on the move. Didn't happen.

What has happened is that I've started sketching a lot, just drawing things from life the way I see it. The dashboard of my car, an empty subway car, the bar at my favourite pub and so on. Don't know why but it gives me warm feeling...

[Lohr]

There in my latest notebook (squared pages, this one) I have book titles, thoughts on topics I need to explore, odds and ends of thoughts that occur to me during the day, comments on essays and articles I'm reading... A whole range of things, really. I'm sketch-challenged (which explains why I gave up Architecture at university and went into History and, later, Law), but my notebooks are full of lists and ideas...though I utterly admire all those who can sketch and draw...

[enriqueflores]

I´m a big fan of sketchbooks and I use them both daily as planners and in my travels. Why do we write? or, in my case, why do we draw?

Why do we live?

There is quite a few reasons at http://enriqueflores.spymac.net/sketchbooks.html

[Stephen]

My Moleskine - a small lined one - and what I write in it - is mine only, not work's or anyone's. What's in it is nobody else's business and it won't make sense to anyone else. Not yet, anyway. (First drafts are mine, you guys'll get the final...)

I've always kept a notebook about me, ever since it was pointed out to me as a teenager as a useful habit. Not a diary - that's separate - but a book for keeping things you want to remember - accounts, sayings, info, questions, ideas, instructions, all kinds of things.

For example, when I was a runner on feature films, I used to buy a proper hip-pocket notebook (Alwych during the late 'eighties) at the start of each film, and inside the front cover was the coffeemaking instructions for all the principals - main cast, director, cameraman, first assistant etc. And then whatever I needed to do went in there, with a line through it when it was done. Absolutely invaluable - saved my backside hundreds of times.

I've used all sorts of notebooks, usually whatever I could grab when I needed it. I avoid the cheap plastic sleeve-type ones - they fall apart. A notebook must last for ftuture reference. Now, they are Moleskines - volants for the hip-pocket, and the standard pocket-size for my more permanent stuff.

They have to be able to go into a pocket easily - and in Australia, that's not a jacket pocket, it's usually a shirt or the hip pocket on jeans - and they must therefore be strong.

And as for what you write - be sincere, since writing is meant to be read eventually, whether you know it when you write it, or not!

Write on!

[Jesus Fernandez]

Hi,

I wanted to buy a Moleskine one month ago, after i´ve read "Patagonia Express" of Luis Sepulveda. I couldn´t find the normal pocket ruled notebook here, in Germany, so i bought the daily diary for 2005. Double amount of pages for only 2.-€ more

I have already a daily diary for 2004 (Not Moleskine)and I wrote in my new little black book travel notes, thoughts, quotes, pencil drawings, ...all that come to my head.
Also, I use the blank space on top of the pages for titles, aditional notes, etc.
And, last but not least, i use the removable phonebook to make an alphabetical index of the notebook´s contents. That is a good reference system when You have more than 3 full-wrote "Moles"

I know that it's a little strange, but it works fine for me.

JeSuS

[Blackbird]

What is writen about writing applies to writing in general, not just writing in a Moleskine. Please, fellas, let's keep it real here.

I don't see what the big deal is, truly. In Australia, a pocket Moley goes for AUD$22-$25 and, having used them, the price is not justified. Yes, they're neat, shiny little numbers and yes, they function well. But, at the end of the day what you have is just another notebook and an expensive one at that.

Kudos to Modo&Modo who have run a very slick and - judging by the number of people sucked in by the hype surrounding the brand - an extremely successful marketing operation.

[Janet Tokerud]

Oh, Blackbird. Don't put a kabosh on this. Us humans assign meaning and value as we see fit. Making the Moleskine special in our shared comments and writing does make it even more special. It creates power in a certain way. Like a rabbits foot or a special bat or a favorite pen, these things give us pleasure and can be inspiring. It's a way of making your own magic. *And* Moleskines are great little notebooks. I really like this thread.

[milesh]

Blackbird's comment about Moleskine's being "just another notebook" is something that I think is true in spirit but not literally. I've had various flavors of pocket notebooks throughout my days in attempts for journaling, sketching, organizing, archiving, etc. Notebooks I used were purposely "just another notebook"s, basically any old notebook that I happened to have. Some were government issue record and memo books, some were $2 notepads I picked up in a Chinese store, some were in the office supply cabinet, some from the local sundry store, and occasionally a nicely covered notebook that looked pretty. One thing in common with all of these (outside of some sketchbooks) was that they never get fully filled, and in fact some barely rate partially filled. On a wierd binge for self-improvement, I purchased a Moleskine. And I marvel at something I never realized before; this is a quality product. A lot of little things that I thought I would never notice or care about were immediatly apparent, and surprisingly so for me since I didn't think the little black book was such a big deal appearance-wise. However, I did notice the following: A) the binding allows for it to lay open flat, or mostly so. Spirals annoyed my be eventually having bent springs, book-bound ones I had to hold open, even other sewn bound notebooks. B) the elastic band and envelope are just really convenient, and now I practically demand them in a pocket notebook. C) the paper is quality. I was surprised that manual writing was almost pleasurable with even a cheapy ball-point pen. D) the size is right, I can throw in index cards and stick it in my pocket. I do wish there was an identical moleskine with a slightly more flexible cover out though. Anyhow, I came to the conclusion that not all notebooks are created equal, it just so happened that the Moleskine was the first quality notebook I purchased. Perhaps others are like quality and convenience are available in which case it would be just another "quality" notebook. But I'm certain that these other books aren't any cheaper than Moleskines since I usually avoided them at the stores thinking that "it's just another notebook".

A side effect of the quality is that I feel more inclined to use my notebook, pick it up, think about what I want to put in it. In any task, tools DO matter, since good tools facilitate (or encourage) the task (or behavior) better than bad ones. As for the perceived snobbery, that's another matter entirely. The PR/advert campaign appealing to the snobbery probably applies I'll admit.

[Joy]

Milesh:

Very well said. Your experiences mirror mine almost exactly. And IMO, Moles really are different and better.

As for flexible covers, don't the Volants have them?

-Joy

[Melanie]

I feel a super big loyalty to my moleskine. I am just about to move out of a 5x8" moleskine into a 3x5" moleskine. A few weeks ago I bought a 5x8" 140lb watercolor book with a spiral binding, but have not taken to it. The moleskine is great to use with gouache, the paper is super flat and the yellow page is so much more inviting than a blank white page. The only oddity about this book is that they do not take an eraser very well.

[Melanie]

I guess I should also say that I don't exactly write in my Moleskine. I use it as an artists journal. I often take imagery out of it to recreate in my art. As for fear of the first page, I sometimes start with the second page, though this time I may stamp a self portrait of myself in the first.

[milesh]

Joy,

I took a look at the Volant notebooks at the store. The cover seems like a piece of vinyl. They are a little too flexible, I was hoping for something relatively stiffer but will bend in my back pocket when I sit without worry of shaping or creasing. They are also a third the width, have no elastic band and no pocket and so not something I could clamp loose papers in. Not that they're bad but just not quite what I was looking for. For now I'm happy with what I have, it's even made me rethink how I use it in conjunction with my even smaller pocket calendar.

Funny thing about my Moleskine, I spent an hour inaugurating it the first night at a cafe... the topic I wrote about being the very notebook I was writing in. Sorta like what I had posted previously. I really like the feel of the book too, especially when I open it. I didn't think I would take to the off-white paper but I will concede it adds to the flavor of the book.

At Bob Slates (in Harvard Sq) where I perused the other Moleskine varieties, were other brands of notebooks that also had flat open pages, quality paper, elastic strap, and pocket envelope, but with a clever and decorated full-wrap magnetic closing cover, though not quite as pocket friendly. They only came with ruled pages though (not plain) so here I have a Moleskine, and the more that I experience it, the more I think it was the better choice, complete with odd sense of romance and adventure. Oddly, I can't remember the company name of the other notebook. I guess the Moleskine marketing folk did a professional job. Hee hee.

cheers.

[the other mike]

Like Shawn, I too am a bit concerned about elitism, so like Shawn, I was the Silent Observer.

However, I feel the need to write about Moleskines. I had them before Modo & Modo got all glitzy with the marketing. Glad they did though, as I don't have to slog around Birmingham looking for them; loads in Waterstones.

I'm not what you'd call a "creative". I am a journeyman analyst, and use my books for software design and other "engineering" jobs. Most of the pictures that go in my sketch books are of the line-and-boxes type that are pictorial representations of objects that only exist in the virtual world (although I love all the photographs, sketches, pictures etc. that people post on this site, and wish I had half the talent).

The point is (at last) it's the build quality that makes these little books stand out. Whether you're an artist, photographer, programmer, writer or analyst it doesn't matter (at least to anyone else). We are all craftsmen and women. Sure, you can do the job with any tools, but good quality tools make a difference.

Yes, they're just tools, but oh, they're 'my' tools, and I feel comfortable with them. Besides, if they are the tools of your craft, you try to get the best you can afford. You have to pay through the nose to buy them, but you expect them to last. OK, so other notebooks are available for £2, but will they be in one piece in ten years? I think we know the answer to that one, and that's why I buy Moleskine. It's build quality.

Thanks for letting me rant, and keep up the good work on this site.

[Ueki]

I like the Lamy Safari in the picture! I have been using my set of pen and mech. pencil for over 10 years.

[E.V.B.]

I had the same problem with writing in my Moleskine. The worst thing was that I had aquired a very decent amount of them at a discount through a friend at a bookstore, so here I was with all of these great journals and not doing anything with them. I use my current one for three things: i write down BOGGLE puzzles in some of the pages to solve later...that's maybe only 7 puzzles, though...i keep definitions for words i don't know that i come accross as i read...and the main thing I'm using it for, which i've always wanted to use them for, was for jotting down story ideas, bits of dialogue, for stories, scripts, etc. I used the boggle and the definition searches as a way to get over the fear. It's a notebook, and there's a reason why i chose to use it. so now i actually have chosen to use it.

ernesto

[Paris]

I very much enjoyed this article on how we use our moleskines. Especially this part:

"“What can I write that will do justice to this little book? What words do I have that are worth archiving in a notebook that may last two hundred years? Where do I even begin? (…) but we still fear writing a wrong word or a clunky sentence. That blank page is horrifying to us when we realize we may have nothing to say. Some of us eventually find those words, or at least accept that if we do not write SOMETHING the notebook will be useless, so we begin. But what do we write?” "

I took the liberty of copying that part as a quote on my own blog and linked to this site.

I use mine for writing, both prose and poetry

Paris

[John]

People at work often ask me to assist with some project they are working on and need my help. When I am stopped and asked to help with this or that I pull out my moleskine and make a note of it right away in their presence. Everyone seems assured and confident I will be there when they need me because they've seen me write it down in my neat little notebook.

[Justin]

I'm diabetic and I use it to record blood sugar readings. Those data won't change the world, but it helps to have a notebook you can record things in five times a day without it falling apart.

[Paul]

I look upto the journal of what you did on the game, i dont play the game, but im sure that it would be an intresting read.

[Blake]

My skines' are in absolutely no order whatsoever, all of them are chock full of sketches, lyrics, poems, caricatures, et cetera. I find myself sometimes having to write over or around a drawing that I have done to document on the go what I have seen.

[Lorna]

I use mine as a plain old diary. I'm totally addicted to it, can't go a day without writing an entry in my pocket-sized ruled notebook. I also keep pocket-sized and large sketchbooks, and also cahiers of those sizes for sketching, travel-journaling and who-knows-what-else (I'm obsessed at buying note/sketchbooks. Just can't help it!).