In the comments to my last entry, Pooks asked, “What is a Moleskine?”

The quick answer is, “It’s a notebook.”

The longer answer is, “It’s a notebook with great paper and a envelope on the back cover and an oilskin cover and a sewn binding and the whole thing is kept tightly shut with an elastic band that makes a satisfying snap as you close your notebook for the day after a session of fantastic writing and it’s an object of adoration for quite a few people out there who would rather pay an outrageous sum for a beautiful, useful object like this than a dollar-ninety-seven for a cheap spiral-bound notebook at the drugstore (not that there’s anything wrong with dollar-ninety-seven cheap spiral-bound notebooks if that’s what you like).”

You can pick the style of notebook that’s best for you. First of all, there’s the large (13x21cm) and the small (9x14cm). Then you can choose whether you want blank, squared, ruled, or sketchbook paper. There are also the Moleskine diaries — week at a glance, or a page-per-day. And there are the new Moleskines: the music book and the storyboard book. There’s also something Moleskine sells that is three thin books in one package — there’s no oilskin cover, no elastic band, what’s the point?

The Moleskine notebook lies flat on the table, waiting for you to write or sketch something brilliant in it. The acid-free paper is fantastic for writing on. Cheap paper is rough, an impediment to the ballpoint. But Moleskine paper is smooth and lets your hand fly across the page. It has that pocket in back, so you can keep receipts, movie tickets, love notes on cocktail napkins, photos of loved ones. And no matter how much you jam in that pocket, that elastic band around the notebook is going to keep the whole kit-and-kaboodle together — you won’t lose anything.

Each Moleskine comes with a page of what is undoubtedly overblown (or outright made up) propaganda from the manufacturer about the great authors who have used Moleskine notebooks. Who cares? The notebook itself is all the inducement you need to keep using them.

I first read about Moleskine fanaticism on Metafilter. There is a fan site, not to mention a variety of fan groups on sites like Orkut. There are pages with tips on how to get the most out of your Moleskine. You can find them at Barnes and Noble and Borders now, or you can buy them in bulk.

I myself now prefer the large blank page edition, although if I ever start carrying my big handbag again, I may have to pick up a small notebook to tuck in there for special occasions. I am considering buying one of the new storyboard books, just to see what it’s like. I think that would be something I’d use when fleshing out a screenplay though — what’s the important visual here?

I love my Moleskine. It’s not just another notebook. It’s an inspiration.

Yes, I have continued writing. I finally updated the NaNo count—I’m up to 34,200 currently (I don’t have my NaNoWriMoProMe password with me or I’d update the counter over there)—and have high hopes that despite the Turkey Day get-togethers and general enforced conviviality (which is the natural enemy of writing, I think) that I will continue on to win NaNo.

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I managed to write on the plane ride. Two pages in a Moleskine with relatively small handwriting equals approximately one manuscript page, for those of you trying to figure out the conversions. So you couldn’t write a whole novel in a Moleskine, but you could do a lot of it. I discovered that I like writing by hand—I haven’t written fiction by hand for so long.

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I used to fly places. Hey, in the first year of her life, Sophia was on something like 30 planes. But now: two kids, we live near family, yadda, yadda…not so much flying.

Which is why I am probably the last person to find out that Delta charges for food on planes now. And they’d still run out by the time the food cart got to the back of the plane. Which wasn’t bad, because I had packed food for the kids beforehand anyhow and I wasn’t hungry. But sheesh.

Bring your own! Especially if you have kids!

I spent the first part of today’s mega-writing session writing a summary of what had happened so far and then making a bullet list of what needs to happen. Transitions are currently non-existent (they’re talking to this new character because…?) but I continue apace.

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I didn’t make it clear the other night (well, I mentioned it in comments, but who reads those?) I didn’t actually make 4000 words the other night. I made 2000 for the day as a whole, most of which were down at Coffee Society (a few more at home, later). I still haven’t had one of those “bursts” that so many other NaNoWriMo participants talk about, where the fire gets lighted and suddenly the words are vomiting out of them, 4,000, 5,000, 10,000 at a time. (A few have reported 10000 word sessions. 10000 words is 40 pages. Even if it were 40 pages of crap, that’s forty pages. Your hands would be in traction. Well, mine would be, at any rate.

Still, wouldn’t mind trying it, just to see.

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I discovered Laurell K. Hamilton has a blog, which is mostly about what she has accomplished with her writing in that day (usually somewhere in the neighborhood of ten to twenty pages a day—that “conk” you hear is my head hitting the table), along with a few rants on various topics.

One of the (unintentionally, I assume) hilarious bits in her blog is when she complains about her characters running away from her outline for another sex scene. If you haven’t read any of Hamilton’s books—any of the later Anita Blake books, or any of the Merry Gentry series—go read some of the one-star reviews on Amazon. Many of her fans are evidently pretty sick of the endless sex scenes as well. One of the reasons I gave up trying to read her books was that if you took out the sex scenes, you wouldn’t be left with a story. I have nothing against sex in books—in fact, I’ve been known to seek it out on occasion—but it has to be a)hot and b)have a point. The last Hamilton book I picked up I sped-read. “Yes, yes, slot A, tab B, now tab A, slot B, now bring in a few more people into the bed, is there a plot anywhere here?”

The other thing I’m left wondering after reading her blog is: are all of those misspellings and editing errors in her books (which you’ll also notice from Amazon are legendary) simply from her original manuscript and left in because there’s no copyediting at the publishing houses? Or is it just a case of an author getting so prominent the publishers don’t dare change a word for fear of irritating the author into another house’s arms?

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Oh Good God. I’m trying to write at Starbucks today (can’t stay at home—the kids wouldn’t let me have a minute to myself), and the guy at the table behind me is sucking his teeth. I mean, he is making the loudest sucking noises, loud enough to interrupt the music I’m listening to through headphones. Ssst. Ssst. Sssssst. I’ve already turned around and glared at him once. He’s an old man, I guess it’s a tic he can’t control. Damn, it sure is annoying though, and he’s determined to read the entire fucking paper while making that horrible noise.

I’d move, except a)I was here first, dammit and b)this is the big table with the power outlet.

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Okay! He wins! I’m outta there. I have moved on to a local coffeehouse in town. Probably should have come here to begin with, given that I am so into supporting local businesses these days (and their coffee’s better), but I thought I’d take a walk on the wild side and visit Starbucks. Terrible idea! Much better class of person here. Also, a ridiculous quantity of the people here also have laptops and are typing away. I am one of a flock of weirdoes! (I wonder if any of these people are NaNoing.)