4 ms·
I have a two media philosophy. 1) Physical: I use a TWSBI ECO fountain pen and a Rhodia wirebound 6" x 8.25" notepad. A good fountain pen on good paper is the
by wenc 7y ago
I have a two media philosophy.
1) Physical: I use a TWSBI ECO fountain pen and a Rhodia wirebound 6" x 8.25" notepad. A good fountain pen on good paper is the most pleasurable means I've found for note-taking. Pleasure is important to me. The notepad has perforations on each page, so if I ever need to digitize something, I just tear the page off and snap a pic using Dropbox, which creates a nice PDF for me. The PDF looks beautiful. Beauty is also important to me.
2) Electronic: For digital notes, I just use Google Docs. I have a single continuous document full of thoughts, observations, etc., each thought separated by an em-dash (--) on a new-line. I've tried more complicated systems, but simplicity ultimately won out. Also I can access Google Docs on my desktop, work computer, phone and tablet. I've since learned that some of my favorite writers scribble their thoughts on Google Docs too.
Do the two systems converge? Sometimes. Sometimes I transcribe stuff from my Rhodia notepad to my Google Docs document, but often times I don't. In my philosophy, they don't have to converge.
Note-taking on Google Docs is about archiving information.
Note-taking on a notepad about training the mind. I remember things better when I write them. Being able to flip through pages helps builds spatial memory. I rarely go back to stuff I write on a notepad because I tend to remember them. If I really need to remember them long-term and make them searchable, I transfer them to Google Docs, and in the process, reinforce that memory.
Having a two media approach sounds inefficient from an information collection perspective because your info is dispersed and exists in two disjoint forms. But if your objective isn't just to store information in a repository but to supercharge your own thinking, this turns out to be a surprisingly effective approach, I've found.
- idoh 7y agoThat's cool on the TWSBI ECO, that's what I use as well. Some questions, if you don't mind: A - what ink do you use? I'm still looking for one that works really well. Main thing is I hate blead through the paper B - Do you use the Rhodia paper one sided or two sided? I'm looking for a paper that I can use two sided with no bleed through, but other than super thick sketch paper haven't found anything.
- wenc 7y agoI wanted a really black ink, so I settled with the Rohrer und Klingner Leipziger Schwarz (~$11). It's black with dark navy tones. I really like how it looks on paper. Inks I tried that weren't black enough: Herbin Perle Noire, Noodler's American Eel. Rhodia paper -- I use it two-sided with no bleed through (Rhodia Dotpad No 16, ~$6). Rhodia and Clairefontaine paper can generally be used both-sided with no issues. There's a Japanese brand, Profolio that I also like, and 2-sided is not an issue. The best paper I've ever written on is the Rhodia No 18 premium. It's $16 per pad (A4 sized) but the glide is smooth and the quality is amazing.
- The_DaveG 7y agoI'm a huge fan of A4 notebooks and fountain pens! I'm currently partial to the Leuchtturm 1917 master series, at least in part because of all the beautiful colors there are to choose.
- wenc 7y agoAlso Jetpens has a good survey of fountain pen paper. https://www.jetpens.com/blog/the-best-fountain-pen-paper/pt/730 https://www.jetpens.com/blog/the-best-fountain-pen-paper/pt/...
- eb0la 7y agoI'm also a heavy fountain pen user and I've found Parker ink (the same my father used), dries fast for fine-sized nibs. The black-blue looks really good on paper. Currently using a Waterman fountain pen, but also have a Lamy safari nearby. Still don't know which one I like best. For me the best part of using fountain pens is that I enjoy writing and taking notes more than with a regular pen. Also, my handwritting looks easier to read with the fountain pen. Just my 2c.