Notebooks (and the ilk) - the paper kind

Basically, what the title says - what are you using, and what do you like using?

I want some of the Piccadilly journals/notebooks so badly but they don't ship to the UK which is really depressing!

I have a massively long blog post about what I like to use to write (http://fourwordsfourworlds.wordpress.com/2011/09/21/personal-preferences/, if anyone's interested) but this year... Whatever I have around I think. I have so many notebooks and pens and crap because I love the things. I really wanna try handwriting this year but I just don't think I'm going to get very far.

I love notebooks! This NaNo I'm using the Maruman note de file ones. The best way to describe them is as loose-leaf notebooks -- you can move the pages around, but it's bound more like a notebook than like a binder. Pic here. Pretty, aren't they?

Those are quite interesting.
I will have to pick up a couple of small notebooks when I am back home since I can't find a narrow lined a5 notebook anywhere here :/
I write too small for the regular ruled ones and logging around a full sized notebook might not be a good idea...

I picked up a few regular old college rule notebooks. I have a few moleskines too, but I think I will save them for something less messy (they're the star wars ones!)

For pens I'll be using my fountain pen at home and pilots away :)

This year I will be using a classic moldy skin notebook. I find the feel of the powdery mold against the putrefying skin very sensual, and the smell is to die for. I’ll just grab a quill, open a vein and let rrrip (God I love that sound).

I'm incredibly low-maintenance when it comes to my notebooks and pens. For pens I adore the Zebra F-301s; I actually buy refills for them on a regular basis. However, I am comfortable with any number of cheap pens (ballpoint; I can't stand pilots because they bleed so much!) like Bics or Papermates.

Any lined paper notebook will do--usually whatever I have on hand for classes! I always carry a pocket Moleskine (or similar-sized notebook) around with me in my purse for those spontaneous moments of inspiration. Apart from the Moleskine, however, my requirement for my notebooks is that they are spiral bound or otherwise perforated! I psychologically need the ability to rip it out, or else I don't feel free to write.

I would love to try one of those Maruman note de file notebooks... They definitely look interesting! I have no idea where to get them though, and no idea if I could get them in the UK at all.

I've recently discovered a love for fine point pens and A6 notebooks; though currently I'm actually doing my planning on some paper I took out of a cheap exercise book (pack of five for about £1 from Staples I think, had them so long I forget) using a Bic Cristal Gel Medium (love these pens, like a biro but not and a nice sized barrel. I hate thin barrels, makes my hand hurt.)

I love ball points if the blue is dark and writes well. My problem with them is that I write too hard which kills my hand (not literally of course... well, maybe...). Fine for most times but not intense Nano-ing! Pilots, gel pens, etc. make me/allow me to write 'normally' and longer.

I also carry a tiny notebook around everywhere for ideas (though I haven't had many lately :( ). If I'm 'travelling light' I at least have an iPhone and I record my ideas there so I don't forget (because I will!) and then transfer them to the notebook when I get home.

I actually prefer a 5x7 (or close to it) sized notebook but they're hard to find in college rule so I've resorted to just using regular old notebooks that I buy my kids for school (cheap at like 10 for $1 at Target during back to school time).

For pens I prefer the gel kind and I like blue. I write so much more when it's in blue. I have no idea why but when I run out of blue and I'm forced to write in black I stumble over my words. Also regular ball point pens take too much force to write with and my hand cramps up so it has to be gel. Unfortunately I'm out of gel pens right now and out of money, too. Hopefully I can pick up a pack before November.

I've been using plastic-covered Mead notebooks for a while now- the ones with the plastic cover on the front and fabric covering the spiral.

I don't use ballpoints anymore, at least more than I have to. I use old-style fountain pens and keep a variety of colored inks on hand. I buy Noodler's Ink from a local stationery story because they're pH neutral and you get a huge three-ounce bottle. Although some of my el-cheapo fountain pens are starting to break and stuff, so I might have to buy something more expensive soon... /sigh

I tend to use loose leaf notebook paper, college ruled, and whatever writing utensil happens to be around. My ideas flow better when I write as opposed to typing.

My favorites are Clairefontaine or Rhodia with Black n Reds as a close second. I write with fountain pens - my favorite being a Parker 51.

I'm actually really picky about what I use :P. I like wide ruled better than Mead college ruled notebooks. The paper is better and brighter. I also like composition notebooks (not the cheap ones that fall apart after five uses). That's what I'm using this year.

As for writing utensils, this is where it can get tricky.

If it's a regular, wooden pencil- Dixon Ticonderoga, #2
If it's a mechanical pencil- BIC mostly, unless I find something else that I really like.
If it's a pen- anything, unless I don't like it. Paper Mate and BIC are my favorite, but there are other ones that I can use/tolerate. I LOVE BIC's Soft Tool pen, the pen that's kind of all rubber on the outside. BUT, Paper Mate's Profile Elite is right now my favorite (along with the Paper Mate Elite). Unison and Signo are also pretty good. BIC's Atlantis is pretty nice too.

Well, there you have it. If a pen isn't one of those, or isn't a new one that I like, I won't use it. I'm picky about my writing utensils. Not so much the paper, but definitely whatever I hold in my hand :D.

For me, a campus A5 notebook from Typo. It's got marks for date and subject, which I find useful for NaNo, because it helps me keep track of scenes. Also, it's spiral bound, which is a must. I find it difficult to write in non-spiral bound notebooks.
As for pens, I'm keeping my trusty black BIC Pro+, and pencil-wise, it has to be mechanical.
As I usually only use notebooks for, well, notes, that should be fine for this year.

I'm partial to those fancy hardcover blank journals (no lines for me, thank you) that close with a magnetic flap—like these. I can see the appeal of spiralbound, but I got zapped too many times as a child by nasty cheap spiralbounds that had unraveling, sharp pointy wires.

As for pens, I'm a fountain pen gal, and I absolutely cannot write without an italic nib. I've been using fountain pens with italic nibs since the old Osmiroids back in the 1970s. These days, I especially like Lamy Safaris: they only cost about 30 bucks, and they're a class act.

I don't know why that link isn't working, the one for the magnetic-flap journals, but here's the URL:
http://tinyurl.com/433g4st

Words cannot express my love for the new generation of composition books. The covers are so pretty now! Polka dots, butterflies, flowers, nice stripes... And they're cheap, so I don't fear writing a ton of garbage in them. Pair them with Uniball Vision Micro pens and/or the Pilot FriXion and Uniball Fanthom erasable pens, and I'm in primitive heaven!

First time hand writer here. I'm going to be using the A4 Jotta pad from Pukka. I've tried writing other things on A5 pads before and it doesn't work for me, I prefer the full size sheets. As for my pens? They're just the usual Bic mediums in black.

@Fantasy-Is-Reality - don't Pukka Pads have the nicest paper? I have one of their Project Books that I use for letter writing and it's just so smooth :D

I have a small spiral-bound notebook with me wherever I go - it's proved very useful for those sudden ideas.