Every story has a beginning

Early in my childhood, I began writing short stories for my family, chronicling the adventures our pets had when we were away from home and recounting our vacations. These days, almost everything is digital, but I'm a big fan of pen and paper and write almost all my first drafts by hand.

When I was little, my father gave me a real goose feather fountain pen, and ever since, I've written all my stories on paper first. Over time, this has changed to a regular fountain pen and notebook, but I still keep the pen in a special place in my cupboard.

I'm a huge fan of Paperblanks notebooks. Not only because they look beautiful—with those detailed covers, gold edges, and often almost fairytale-like designs—but also because they're so enjoyable to use. The paper is smooth, sturdy, and of such good quality that my ink doesn't bleed through. This means no shadows on the next page and no smudges between my letters, something that often irritates me with other notebooks. With Paperblanks, I can just keep writing without having to think about it.

For short stories and random ideas, I like using the midi models. They're compact enough to always carry in my bag, yet large enough to write in comfortably. Perfect for when I suddenly have a flash of inspiration while traveling: on the train, in a café, or just while waiting somewhere. These notebooks are a kind of repository of little worlds for me: half-written short stories, dialogues, sentences that suddenly pop into my head, and ideas I don't yet know exactly where they'll go—but that I don't want to lose.

For my longer projects, like my regular books, I'm a huge fan of the larger Paperblanks models. They're closer to A4 in size, which gives me the space to really go all out. I can draw plot outlines, develop characters, draw arrows, scribble alternative storylines, and add notes later. It almost feels like I'm literally giving my story room to grow.

For me, Paperblanks notebooks are more than just paper with a pretty cover; they're the places where my stories first take shape. First with pen and paper, messy and sometimes a bit confusing—and only then do they move to my laptop.