I keep a wide assortment of paper products on hand beyond traditional bound notebooks. Because I generally think better on the page than on a screen, I maintain a large stash of what I think of as "brainstorming supplies": paper in convenient formats that I can pull out to get my thoughts down, which I can then shred, scan, or stick in a file or binder for later reference. The products I use for this purpose don't fall into a traditional category, so this final installment of the "Everyday Writers: Best Paper" series will seem like a catch-all - because it is. That said, the fact that I saved this particular article for last doesn't reflect its importance to my workflow. In many ways, the products listed here are among the most important that I use, particularly the Baron Fig Mastermind and Rhodia pads.
Baron Fig Mastermind. At times, the Baron Fig Mastermind desk pad has been the most heavily used product in my rotation. I generally keep one on my desk at home, and one on my desk at the office. This versatile piece of stationery serves multiple purposes: an open canvas for mind mapping; a landscape-style dot grid pad for general note taking; and even a different format for handwritten drafts of longer writing projects.
Rhodia A4/A5 Pad (Grid/Dot). For many - and possibly a majority of - fountain pen enthusiasts, Rhodia pads are the default workhorse paper. It's inexpensive for good paper, widely available, and handles nearly any fountain pen ink with minimal feathering or bleed-through. Unlike Baron Fig paper, it's coated and relatively non-absorbent, so the primary drawback will be dry time but even that is reasonable and honestly depends heavily on the ink you’re using.
Doane Paper Writing Pad. Doane Paper's signature "Grid+Lines" ruling makes another appearance on my "Best Paper for Everyday Writing" lists, and their single-sided large Writing Pad is probably the Doane Paper format I use the most. Since this particular pad is only made to write on one side anyway, I don't worry about bleed-through, though the grid ruling is so small that I mainly use pencils and ultra-fine gel pens (and sometimes extra-fine or needlepoint fountain pens) on this particular paper. Great for making lists, flowcharts, and analog mind-mapping.
Nock Co. Dot-Dash Index Cards. Though I don't use index cards extensively, I will break them out when I'm having trouble organizing thoughts for a longer-form article or legal brief, or otherwise have a project with lots of moving pieces that I want to track visually. Nock's Dot-Dash cards work well with nearly all writing instruments, including most fountain pens, and their colorful orange ruling is visible enough to use but not so loud that it obstructs your writing. The cards also come in large bifold "Gigante" and smaller "Petite" sizes.
Clairefontaine Looseleaf. It pains me to have to put this last on this list, because it's arguably my favorite paper ever, but given how difficult it is to get your hands on Clairefontaine looseleaf sheets these days, I debated whether to include it. Oh well. I hauled enough packs of this stuff back from France a few years ago to last me until Armageddon, so I'm going to continue to use it, and hope that at some point Exaclair starts to distribute this paper to U.S. retailers once again. Since I only use the French ruled version, I expect that I'll have to make a restock run across the Atlantic when we're allowed to travel again, though Wonder Pens has it listed on their site (though as “Out of Stock”) and I’m hopeful they’ll bring it back.
One product that we will likely never see in the U.S. are the French-ruled “Doubles”, or four sheet booklets of French-ruled paper used for notetaking in school. [EDIT: Turns out we now carry them!]
Takeaways and Final Thoughts
Given that this last installment is more of a "catch-all" list, there aren't any products on here that I would necessarily prioritize over others in my workflow in terms of importance - I use all of them in different scenarios for different purposes. That said, the ones I use most frequently, as measured by how often I have to restock, are the Baron Fig Mastermind and Rhodia pads. I order these by the dozen at the beginning of each year and typically have to place a restock order towards the end of the summer.
I hope you all have enjoyed the "Everyday Writers: Best Paper" series. Paper can be difficult to write about, since everyone has different needs and preferences and recommendations turn out to be highly subjective, but the best thing about today's market is the variety of products out there, which means that you will almost certainly be able to find something that works for you.
If you are interested in reading further, the rest of the “Everyday Writers: Best Paper” series includes Part I: Hardcover Notebooks; Part II: Slim Softcover Notebooks; Part III: Spiral Notebooks; and Part IV: Pocket Notebooks and Portable Paper.