My four desktop books

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I wrote in my last post that I keep four reference books on my writing desk: a dictionary, a usage dictionary, a thesaurus, and a copy production book.

Sure, you can use Google to answer questions while you write. But opening the internet invites too much distraction for me. I already procrastinate way too much of my writing (don’t ask about my Screen Time stats!), so I’d rather open a book than the internet. Then when I do procrastinate, at least I’m reading about writing instead of scrolling an algorithm.

Friday Favorites 12

Fri, 08 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Happy Friday,

Cue the music, brew that pot. I’m having one of those weeks where I flip between creative procrastination and quick bouts of writing, which is my least favorite part of the process.

Here are 10 interesting things worth sharing this week:

This sketch gets exactly at why daily writing goals haven’t worked for me, because they prioritize quantity over quality. I’ve had better look making a goal to sit and write. Some writer said they can sit and write or sit and do nothing — but they aren’t allowed to sit and do something else. Good writing advice!
Braxton Haugen did a great job making writing look fun and exciting on his TikTok Tapes series back in 2021 (just scroll to the bottom of his profile and start there). I loved his Neistat-Sachs-inspired studio, the jazz, the typewriters, the Bob Dylan — the series is as good as I’d remembered.
Robert Caro having almost 1,000 pages of his fifth and final LBJ book is the best news I’ve had this week. His entire interview with C-SPAN was fascinating, especially how he can’t write until he knows the last line of the book.
“Remember what it was to be me: that is always the point.” I’m not able to consistently keep a journal but admire those who do, so I enjoyed Joan Didion’s essay on keeping a notebook to remember a past version of yourself and how you felt, not merely writing down events, thoughts, and observations.
I like reading quotes from creatives and artists, so @nitch on Instagram and @PoeticOutlaws on Substack are great — and both have a similar black-and-white aesthetic?
Ever wonder why composition notebooks have that iconic black and white speckled design? Well, this two-minute research party TikTok gets into how the design evolved and what it has to do with the lapwing bird.
Every spring the Kentucky Derby catches me by surprise and I celebrate by rereading Hunter S. Thompson’s essay about how the real event is the decadence and depravity of the elites that attend. This year, I listened to its word-by-word radio drama read by Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption) doing a passable impression of HST and Bill Frissell (Finding Forrester) composing — and an “All Things Considered” interview with illustrator Ralph Steadman.
I like Merriam-Webster’s “Word of the Day” newsletter to make my definitions more exact. They often hit that sweet spot of sharing words you can’t succinctly define but have heard and can use in daily conversation. Too many vocabulary resources share interesting and niche words you’ll rarely use.
I find electric typewriters to be a great middle-ground between the speed of computer typing and dexterous clunk of manual typewriters. Electric typewriters — again, hit that sweet spot — of speed where I can get my thoughts on the page at a reasonable speed, but not fast enough for lower-quality stream of conscious. So this video on the iconic IBM Selectric Typewriter has me curious about getting one with many diifferent typefaces.
Speaking of typefaces: I love old writing reference books from before the digital age. My mother-in-law shared her “Words Into Type” book when I started freelancing in 2019, and it’s fascinating to read how physical publishing used to work. Bonus: Mary Norris, the New Yorker’s Comma Queen, recommends it (I keep four reference books on my writing desk, and I’m delighted to learn they include her three recommendations).

See you on down the dusty trail,

Marynorris on Isak's Blog

My four desktop books

Friday Favorites 12