There are so many ways to get into writing. It’s easy to get yourself immersed in this hobby just from the start. Here is a list of things to help you get started on writing. Especially if you have a laptop! Supplies are the number one thing to have as a writer.
Here’s a list of supplies that will help you get started and/or help you be more organized with your writing!
Laptop
Laptops are key when it comes to writing. I’ve used a laptop and an iPad to write before. I got the laptop I use now as a graduation gift and I’ve used it for not only college but also writing. I have a Macbook Air, but you don’t have to use an Apple-branded laptop. Any laptop will work until you get one that feels comfortable for you.
Notebooks
Notebooks are also a great supply to have when it comes to writing. You can use notebooks for just about anything! I have used them for character profiles, character building, brainstorming, etc. They can also be used for outlining your work(s) in progress (WIP). I’ve used notebooks for outlining different parts in my series The Hidden Chronicles!
Binders
Binders are on the list because they can be used as series binders/series bibles. I use a zipper binder and I have mine organized by book. I have each outline with the specific divider for that book. I also have character profiles for each character.
Planners
Planners are on the list because they can help you figure out which days to write. It’ll help if you have one that has monthly, weekly, daily spreads, and/or hourly spreads to help figure out when to write and how long you want to write for.
Happy Planners
Happy Planners can be used as a planner or a series bible/series planner if you don’t want to use a binder for a series you want to write. The more experienced writers have at keeping their WIPs organized the more they know what to use and what not to use for them in particular. A lot of Authortubers I watch, Sarra Cannon, also known as Heart Breathing, uses Happy Planners to keep her WIPs organized and it’s less weight to carry around as well.
Writing Utensils
Writing utensils are key if you’re physically writing by hand or if you’re using a planner to organize your WIPs like stand-alone WIPs or series WIPs. You can have pencils, pens, highlighters, etc. as writing utensils.
The writing utensils I have are zebra mild liners (highlighters), mechanical pencils of all kinds (at this point one of all the paper mate mechanical pencils and bic mechanical pencils), extra led, extra erasers (the ones for the mechanical pencils and the small pink block ones), and colorful pens (paper mate felt tip pens, papermate click pens and bic ballpoint pens). You don’t have to have what I have. I have all of the supplies listed because it helps me be more organized with my characters, what their signature colors are, etc.
Pencil Case
I have a buttload of pencil cases! I have probably five pencil cases. I use one of them for school, two of them for my zebra mild liners (one for the brush tip and point tip and the other for the broad tip and point tip), another for my pens, pencils, erasers, and led. I have an empty pencil case that I have just in case one of my smaller pencil cases break or falls apart.
Books of your Favorite Genre
If you are writing in a certain genre, such as fantasy, romance, or historical fiction/fantasy, you’re more than likely going to have books in those genres. This means that they might be your favorite genre(s) to write in or read in. For me, my favorite genre is historical fiction/historical fantasy. The books in your favorite genre will help you write your book because they not only fall under the genre you’re writing in and that it’s your favorite genre, you might find out you write similar to another author in that genre.
Writing Based Books
Writing-based books also help you know how to write a book. Save the Cat books that are centered around writing books, like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, will help you a lot on writing and plotting a book. There are a lot of other writing-based books that will help you. For example, Romancing the Beat will help you write romance books.
