Exacompta Record Cards - “You say “Record”, I say “Index”

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

With the recent wind-down of Nock.co (sniff sniff), I know that folks have been scrambling to find another source for index cards (as well as other pen storage options). And while there may be other pen storage options out there, there aren’t many fountain-pen friendly index cards. It just so happens that a friend of mine wanted to join my Cult Pens order recently and wanted to get index cards by Exacompta because they aren’t easy to find here. I told him my “fee” for piggybacking on my order would be a few index cards from the two packs he ordered and here we are.

Exacompta is one of the brands owned by the parent company, Exacompta Clairefontaine, which also owns G. Lalo, J. Herbin, Rhodia and Clairefontaine and others. While many US online vendors carry the other brands, not as many carry Exacompta-branded products or they aren’t very cost-effective, which was why my friend wanted me to order index cards from Cult Pens. For example, a pack of 100 - 3x5” (or 75x125 mm) white, blank index cards costs $23.20 from Amazon US, while JetPens had a much better price of $9.75 but it’s hard to beat CultPens-record-cards-pack-of-100), which sells them for $3.36.

Exacompta does make these index cards or what they call “record cards” in other sizes including 4x6 (100x150mm), A4, A5, and other similarly sized cards with holes punched out. This review only covers the white 3x5” lined and squared/graph cards and the assorted colors of 4x6” squared/graph cards (which I don’t have packaging pictures for). I will also be using the term “index cards” instead of “record cards”, as that’s the term I’ve heard the most; ditto for “graph” instead of “squared”..

Each pack of index cards comes shrink wrapped in a protective sleeve of thicker cardstock. There is a cutout to indicate whether they are blank, lined or squared/graph. I appreciate the multiple translations for the product name and type so there’s no mistaking which one you’re getting. On the back, there is a table of product numbers for the other index card products/colors.

White 3x5” (75x125mm) Exacompta Record/Index cards in lined and graph.

I liked the cutouts on the top and bottom of the packs so you know how many cards are left.

The cards are made from Clairefontaine 205g paper and are printed on both sides. The lined cards have a set of blue and pink lines near the top, then a 8.5 mm gap, followed by lines that have 6mm spacing. The graph has 5mm grid lines on both sides. It is difficult to describe the tactile sensation of index cards, other than they feel like an index card should and is neither too thick nor too thin.

I don’t know why there is a gap between the top two lines and the rest of the card because that’s not typically seen with other index cards.

Yup, that’s graph index cards alright.

4x6” (100x150mm) index cards - there are 25 cards each in blue, yellow, green, and pink.

I decided to go through my currently inked pens and write on the colorful 4x6” cards first. As you can see, the cards performed really well with a variety of pens and inks (yes, I really do have 48 pens inked up right now).

The different colored cards worked equally well with the different pens and inks.

There was some bleeding from Pelikan 4001 Pink.

Handled shimmer just fine as well as a wet 1.1 stub.

More shimmer! But also nice shading from the other inks too.

The Scribo Notturno Viola is the absolute wettest ink from the wettest pen of the bunch.

This is literally as much ghosting or bleedthrough as I could get and this was from the wettest writing sample. No point showing you the backs of the other cards because there was nothing to see.

Now that I could see how the colored cards performed against the wettest inks as well as some shimmer and problematic inks, I picked a few to write on the white 3x5” cards. I deliberately printed slowly on the colored cards and the white lined card but did a fast print on the white graph card. I couldn’t resist flexing one of the pens with some cursive just for fun.

The pens/inks behaved just as well on the white cards as the colored cards, even the flexified Leonardo didn’t cause any issues.

Looks good up close.

Faster writing and still no problems.

Look at the pooling of the Leonardo Smereldo Stone ink. The Scribo ink was similarly wet and neither ink caused any issues.

I’m not known for my non-FPs so here are the few I have at hand - hopefully you get the idea that these will pretty much work with any writing instrument.

Again, there are no pictures of the back of the white cards because there were no issues here, not with the Scribo wet ink and broad nib combo or with the non-FP. And shimmer inks weren’t a problem with the cards either.

One of the few drawbacks of these cards is that they don’t necessarily show off the ink colors as well as other papers like Tomoe River or Cosmo Air Light, especially inks like chromashader/multishading inks. I didn’t have any super sheening inks in my pens this time but I don’t think they’ll shine to the same degree as with other papers either. You do get some shading though not very much.

In short, these work really well with fountain pens and while you may encounter some ink or pen combination that results in some feathering, you’re unlikely to have much trouble with these index cards. The difficulty will come in finding them at a reasonable price. If index cards are your thing and your favorite online vendors stock Rhodia and Clairefontaine, ask them to stock index cards too. Until the Bossman decides to keep making Nock cards, these are a great alternative for the index card users out there.

(Disclaimer: I did not purchase any of these index cards. The white cards were given to me by my friend who joined my Cult Pens order and the color cards were given to me by another friend earlier this year. I was not compensated by anyone or any company for inclusion of their products or links in this article.)

The Five Best Tools for Outlining Your Next Novel

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

Not every writer outlines, but many do--especially if there's a deadline involved. Outlining is very much a discovery process and employs just as much creativity as the writing itself. Sometimes the brainstorms involved can be messy. So what's the best way to keep those ideas roped into a useable order? Some proper stationery tools can help. Everyone's process is a bit different, so ymmv.

A good notebook. For my outlining, I usually use a slim book that becomes my planning, research, outlining, and editing guide for the whole project. That's a tall order, so it must be durable. It needs to last for years! My current one has been in use for two years and five months. Grid rule is ideal, if not essential. It allows you to easily level your indents for different sub headers. I prefer fountain pen friendly books, even though not every page will have fountain pen ink. My favorites so far have been the Graphilo and the Midori MD. Both have just enough pages for their purpose, while still being easily portable. I can slip the notebook in behind the back cover of the journal I'm writing the book in and carry them as a set.

A set of color-coding pens. It's very handy, when outlining, to be able to color code your notes. Whether it's by setting, character, timeline--all of these in conjunction... You may need only a few colors or a LOT of them, depending on the scope of your project. I would suggest a basic set of black, blue, red, and green at the very minimum. You can find those colors within many brands. But if you're penning an epic legend that spans generations of warring houses, you're probably going to need a set with more variety. I prefer gel pens, as it's easier to find large and varied sets with that ink type. My favorite ones to use are the Pilot Maica because of their bright colors, excellent flow, and fine tips that allow me to add notes to margins easily without cluttering the pages too much. Pilot Juice, Uni-Ball Signo, and Zebra Sarasa Clip are also excellent choices. You could use an array of fountain pens all inked with different colors of ink, also, but I found that the difference in line width between pens added some confusion to my notes. For example, pens that wrote more boldly seemed to be emphasized in the text when that information didn't necessarily need to be emphasized. Consistency of line width can be an important factor in keeping outlines tidy. Which brings me to my next point.

A bold pen for headers. When you're scanning your outline for important information, it can be very handy to have important key words and headers written boldly, so they're easy to find at a glance. Character names, places, themes, or scene headers might be good candidates for this. I use either a thick-tipped fineliner in black, like the Sakura Pigma Micron, or a fountain pen with a stub nib to add a bold emphasis to those notes. Either works, but try to stick to the same tool and color throughout, for ease of scanning.

Notecards. Writers love to follow outlines, but characters rarely do. Sometimes seeing the structure of your book on paper isn't enough. Sometimes whole scenes need to move or the plot structure needs to be adjusted. To do that, I recommend making a brief additional outline on notecards (sticky notes work, too) and spreading them out where you can rearrange and shuffle them as needed. Any scrap of paper will work, but my favorite tool for the job are the Nock DotDash note cards. They're fountain pen friendly and have a grid pattern on them, so they work great for mini scene outlines.

Highlighters. Even with color coding and bolding, you're likely going to need another level of emphasis. Maybe to highlight (literally) plot twists or foreshadowing, themes or critical character development. Highlighters are the classic best tool for the job. I don't care much for the typical marker-style chisel-tip highlighters. They do work, but too often I dislike the way they bleed through paper or smear ink. Neon colored pencils are good, but aren't as quick, since it takes some scribbling to cover an area, instead of one swoop. My favorite tool for the job are the Staedtler Textsurfer Gel highlighters, which are basically super-soft gel crayons. You can highlight in a smooth swoop, and the soft wax doesn't bleed through paper or smear ink. One downside, though, as the wax makes it impossible to write over that area again at all.

And of course, the non-stationery ingredient to this list is flexibility. Outlines are the best example of the "guidelines not rules" adage. You're in charge of your story and you can change your mind anytime. Make your story work for you. And if your outline isn't fitting, change the outline! I have three outlines for my current novel, where the story trajectory changed and I needed to re-route things. Maybe add some scissors and scotch tape to this list, too. And a glass of wine.

Tell me your favorite tools for planning your writing projects! Everyone's method is a little different, and I find them all fascinating.

(JetPens provided these products at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Frictionless Tools - Capture Cards and Planning Pad

The Frictionless Tools offered by Aaron Mahnke of Frictionless (also another co-host on the glorious 5by5 network) are in the same vein as other planning products, such as the Emergent Task Planner. Even though they're similar, the Frictionless Pad is much more open-ended and versatile, which is a huge benefit when you need some thinking space or aren't sure what kind of meeting you're about to walk into. Aaron also sells a smaller version of the pad and Capture Cards, which are gorgeous index cards. We'll get to those later.

First, let's take a detailed look at the Planning Pad. Truly, you can make this pad do anything you want. Most of the time, I use the left gray column to serve as a timeline for the day. I list out the hours and start planning my tasks and events. But the beauty of the blank template is that I could also purpose this as a long task list, a grocery list, or a margin for notes and comments in relation to the writing in the large white block to the right. The possibilities are endless.

The top of the sheet has boxes for a date and subject (and again, anything else you want), which is helpful for providing context later or when it's time to file it away.

Finally, there's a large gray box at the bottom of the sheet that extends from left to right. Again, this could be used for anything you need. Who am I to tell you what to do with it?

I think Aaron says it best on the product page:

I designed them for myself because I wanted a small amount of structure, and a whole lot of freedom.

A beautiful and useful balance of structure and freedom.

The pad contains 50 8.5x11" sheets that easily tear away. The site doesn't detail the paper used in the pad, but it's good stock. Since there are colors on the sheets (gray and red), you can expect inks to behave a little differently depending on the area you're writing on. I found that the white areas are more absorbent and create a thicker line, but the shaded areas are less absorbent. All things considered, the paper does incredibly well with all types of pens. I tried all types and was pretty happy with the results.

For my personal preferences, I'd stay away from fountain pens larger than a fine nib. If it was a contest, gel inks would win on this pad. If I had to guess, I'd say Aaron is partial to micro-tip gel pens, which perform fantastically. My Sailor High Ace Neo is my favorite fountain pen for this paper.

The paper is a little grippy, which is good. If you have a fountain pen that likes to dig, this might be problematic. Just write lightly. Overall, this is great paper that is a pleasure to use.

Now, on to the Capture Cards.

These are my favorite index cards. The stock is heavy, but extremely smooth. All of my pens feel smoother and frictionless when writing on these cards. They have a similar layout, but even less structure. There are a couple of boxes on the top of the card (gray and red or gray and green), and a small gray box at the bottom. The white mid-section is full of a light grid. The back of the card also has the grid and a couple of small boxes on the top and bottom portion of the card. So simple and so effective.

When I write on these, they make me smile. When I hand these to people with notes on them, it makes them smile and ask about them. Luckily, there's some small branding on both the cards and the pad for people who want to know more.

If grid paper and awesome index cards are in your interest zone, give the Frictionless Tools a try. I've been very pleased (especially by the Capture Cards) and plan on buying more when I run out. Although, I'd probably go for the smaller Planning Pad next time to see if that size suits me better.

(You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution, Twitter, and App.net.)