Keep Your Tools with You by Liz Flaherty

It's best to have your tools with you. If you don't, you're apt to find something you didn't expect and get discouraged. - Stephen King

I typed out a Christmas letter several weeks back, putting two of them on a page in landscape view, then cut the pages in half, using the trusty cutter I bought in 1999. In those days, I used card stock to create bookmarks, and cutting the two-inch by eight-inch strips with scissors just wasn't working out. I've also created business cards, post cards, invitations, and church bulletin inserts over the years.  

My paper cutter doesn't look too good these days. I've spilled candle wax and coffee on it, leaving it scarred in places. But it still cuts. It's still in the top five of my favorite office tools. (In case you didn't realize it, office tools and writers go together. We may not always need them, but we do so love to have them.)

I put the paper cutter back into its place behind the printer table and stood looking at its handle. And wondering. So I asked my friends.

Tell me, I said, what are your favorite office tools.

"Pencils!" declared Wrangler Nan Reinhardt, writer of the acclaimed River's Edge books from Tule Publishing. "I love a cluster of freshly sharpened pencils and brand new notebook with lined paper. So much possibility."

Laura Hunsaker, whose writing leans toward Scotland, said, "Post its. I need post its all the time, but I now buy cute and creative ones since I use them so much."

I do, too, Laurie. Not that I use that many--I just buy them because they're cute.

Prolific author Bonnie Edwards treasures her Polestar business agenda. "They have room for every kind of

note!"

"I’m very fond of my current favorite pen. I make a lot of notes by hand and I can’t do it without the right pen," said Kathleen Lawless, a best-selling Western romance author.

"Spiral notebooks!" said Kara O'Neal. "I have to have one. I love them so much, especially when they are brand new and filled with fresh paper!" Kara writes Western romances, too, and has some of the most beautiful covers!

Wrangler Kristina Knight has a set of three hourglass timers, "Well, I had a set of three, the smallest one (two minutes) broke a few months ago and I haven’t replaced it. But the 10 and 20 minutes timers get a workout when I’m sprinting."

"Pens, pens, pens—in different colors. And dot-grid notebooks. I don’t like lined paper, it’s too restrictive. I do most of my first drafts with pen and paper. I think better not on a computer, especially now that I work on one. Although, what does that say about my work." Wrangler Margie Senechal made sure I had to look something up. I'd never even heard of dot-grid notebooks. Now I'm wondering if I should have one. 

"I love my teacher's planner. The same kind I used in a previous life!" Suzanne Winslow, author of the Smoke and Fire series, joins the planner loyalists.

As does Kari Lemor. "My planner! I write everything down that I am attempting to do, goals, plans, etc... Then I check them off as I do them. Nothing more satisfying. Plus I don't forget anything that I'm supposed to do." 

Since Kari summers in New England and winters in St. Augustine, I would expect her to need reminders. I feel compelled to add that I use a planner, too, but I also have to admit that sometimes I misplace it, which makes it totally useless. 😄If I wintered anywhere besides home, you can bet my planner would be lying on the desk in the wrong house. 

Kentucky author Jan Scarbrough said, "I don’t know if this is what you’re looking for — but I love my computer desk with drawers where I keep track of my business expenses. I also love my desk chair that my father gave me years ago and that my cat has destroyed its back because she used it as a scratching post."

Oh, I get that. My desk is a teacher's desk that belonged to a retired college professor from Lyndon State College in Vermont.

Wrangler Jana Richards, writer of the Solace Lake series, loves calendars and day books. "There's nothing more satisfying than making a list in my day book and crossing off things as I accomplish them."

Now that we've shared, it's your turn. What are some of your favorite office tools? And what makes you treasure them?

Happy New Year from the Word Wranglers! We wish you joy, good health, and lots and lots of words in 2024.