I was in Cape Town this past week, and whilst browsing the Exclusive Books at the V&A Waterfront (awesome place, by the way), I cam across the limited edition Pac-Man Moleskine notebook range.
OK, so this range of Moleskines aren’t that new – they came out around the latter part of 2010 – but being South Africa, we’re always last to get everything. Anyway, I had been contemplating buying another notebook. My old Moleskine, a small lined journal, serves as an “extension to my brain”. I basically store all my random thoughts in it. Ideas for blog posts are there (most have already been written now…). I have some sketches of designs I plan on some day developing further in Google SketchUp. There’s a few short stories in there (“Target: A Short Story”, based on the short film I made last year, was first-drafted in this very notebook.) And there’s also copious amounts of notes on my novel, including various maps, diagrams and outlines.
Whilst I love that old faithful notebook, I’ve decided that to best serve my writing, I need a separate journal that can store my short stories, opinions and perhaps other creative writing. This leaves the small Moleskine to be specifically for my muses, untidy sketches and those copious notes for the elusive novel I’m trying to tame.
The Pac-Man edition is awesome. It’s retro-cool, ultra-stylish, and carries the unmistakable aura of the legendary notebook that is Moleskine. I have yet to start writing in it, but I’ve already got two short story ideas (one of which has been in the works, off-and-on, for well over a year now), that I plan on writing out longhand in the new notebook. I’ll also have the full planning done in that. And then, of course, the amazing Scrivener will be used to draft it in digital form, and if I deem it fit for public scrutiny, these new stories will make their way onto Life in Pixels.
You may wonder at my curious affinity for something as retro as a notebook, especially seeing as I’m a very techno guy (or so I’m led to believe…). Well, as I mentioned above, the legacy that Moleskine carries is in itself inspiration to write. Then there’s the wonderful freedom that writing longhand can bring, and I especially find that mapping out a story on paper is my best way of getting the tale started. Plus, Moleskine’s are super stylish. What more could I ask for?
I’ll keep you guys posted on how the novel is going. I’ve had a great new development in the narrative, but there’s still a long way to go. I’ll also be pausing work on it once I get back to school, seeing as this is my final year. In the meantime, as always, you can follow me on Twitter: @RahulDowlath.
Life in Pixels 