Dismantle My Bed

While I cannot make your shopping list for you, there are a few things that you might want to make sure you have on hand before you begin writing your bestselling novel or your work of literary genius. In today’s market, it cannot be both. I’m sorry.

If you are doing all of your writing at the computer, make sure you have more than one place to save your writing. Saving directly to the hard drive of the computer has its advantages, but the computer could also crash and you could lose everything. It’s always good to keep a copy of whatever you are working on in more than one place. I generally keep a copy on the computer’s hard drive and on a jump drive that I carry with me everywhere. These are small, compact, hold a lot of information, and can be easily kept with you at all times. It really is the best option.

Also, if you are going to print out sections for purposes of rewriting, proofreading, or letting someone else read your work, keep plenty of paper and ink cartridges on hand.

If you are writing by hand first (I often do this when I am blocked at the computer), keep extra supply of whatever it is you choose to write on, be it blank white sheets, legal pads, or in a journal, as well as a large supply of your pen or pencil of choice. Personally, I find that it can be difficult to switch up pen type in the middle of something. This is definitely psychological, but it’s true, so there you go.

You’ll also want to remain stocked in all of the computer supplies above. If you are writing by hand, type everything up regularly, be it every few hours or at the end of a day. Remember, writing done on paper has considerably greater potential for mishaps like spills and getting lost. Either of these things will lead to several hard nights of drinking.