The Right Tools for the Job by Dorothy Courtis

When I was a teenager, I used to get into terrible trouble with my Mum because I wrote in bed. Using a fountain pen. As I'm sure you'll understand, permanent blue ink on bedsheets was not appreciated! (Even though when my pocket money ran out and the ink looked like doing likewise, I diluted it so much it went from dark blue to sky blue and then virtually invisible!)

I was reminded of this as I have recently rediscovered the joys of writing with a pen. On paper. Not in bed any longer but in a  comfortable chair by my French windows in the sitting room. 

I usually write straight onto the keyboard and watch the words pile up on the computer screen. But the new book is a bit more complex than the last one. It is a murder mystery with layers of intrigue - and I have discovered that the only way to get all the threads straight (and the clues and red herrings neatly inserted in the right places) before I actually write the chapters, is to sit down and think them out on paper. 

I think it's fun to have more than one place where you can write, and more than one method of writing. I've tried cafes and libraries but they don't work for me. I get distracted by the other people in the cafe (and eat too much cake) and of course I can't sit in a library and not at the very least browse the shelves!

Training myself to sit down at my desk and get that precious hour's work done in the morning has enabled me to get the last seven books written, but this one is demanding something different. Of course I tried the sitting and staring at the blank screen for a while before I decided there was no point. What I needed was my notebook.

I'm fussy about notebooks. I like narrow-ruled, good-quality, white paper of a decent size. And I'm fussy about pens. They need to write smoothly so you're not slowed down or irritated by slow ink, a scratchy nib, or hiccups and blotches. (I also like coloured pens, just for a bit of variety: Pilot G-Tec-C4 come in lots of colours - though why a multi-pack always includes yellow, I do not understand! Who wants to write with yellow ink???)

Just as summer is giving way to autumn and we're fetching out our warmer clothes here in the northern hemisphere, so we have phases in our lives - spiritual and creative. And so too, we can clothe and resource our present season to facilitate our work. 

I wonder what you need at this season of your writing life? A new notebook? A pen with different-coloured ink? A big mug of hot chocolate?

Dorothy Courtis writes as Dorothy Stewart. Her latest project is a murder mystery, the third in her Somerset Mystery Series.