A recent post by JT Ellison got me thinking about the value we writers, and others, place upon the tools we use. JT talked about her recent purchase of a Levenger Soul Skin notebook cover, but she also touched upon the value of tools:
I am a firm believer in writers having the best tools at their disposal. If you’re a gamer, you’re going to want the top of the line, right? That’s how we are with office products. They must be utilitarian and beautiful…
This got me thinking, because many people I’ve talked to — especially non-writers — disagree with this idea. “Why did you spend $100 on a notebook, $20 on a Moleskine, $65 on a fountain pen?” they ask. In their minds, these are extravagances, good money wasted for no good reason. “A Bic pen and a composition book would work just as well,” they insist.
And yet, this is what I’ve learned: It wouldn’t work just as well, at least for me.
In my experience, my muse is a fickle being, and seemingly an easily distracted one. It isn’t, of course, that I can’t write with a composition book and a Bic pen. It’s not that my muse demands to be pampered in this way. Several years working as a newspaper reporter taught me that I can’t afford to let petulance hold my craft hostage, not if I want to depend on writing for a career.
Rather, I’ve noticed that my writing has a different quality, a different character, when I use tools that feel comfortable. Nice paper, my favorite fountain pen – I can write without these tools, but my writing is clearer, my prose more fluid, my voice richer, when I use them. Just as Tiger Woods could play a decent round of golf with Wal-Mart clubs, I could write with lesser tools. But my writing is my profession, if not my sole source of income at this point. Why handicap myself with tools that don’t bring out my “A” game?
This is why I choose to spend the money to get the right tools, the tools that work for me. This is why I use Moleskine notebooks, why I have a favorite pen and a cupboard of reference books right where I can reach them. On the higher-tech side, it’s why I have an iPad and a MacBook and software for both that works with rather than against me.
Buying the right tools isn’t an extravagance. Not at all. I am a professional writer, and I choose the tools that enable me to be most effective at my craft. From where I sit, it’s money well spent.
Incidentally, I’ve ordered a Soul Skin for myself. I’ll let you know what I think when it arrives, but based upon JT’s review and my past experiences with Levenger, I expect to be very pleased indeed.
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