Will anything other than electronics be taken away from us? This is trivial, but I would like to take some paper to write letters and I wasn't sure if such things will be taken away...
They will take away your individuality and your independence. You will get it back later. They will not take away your will to succeed. Don't worry... it will be one of the great triumphs of your life.
I'd go ahead and bring it-worst case is that they take it away until the end of basic, but when I went through, addresses/stamps, etc were all on our packing list I think.
Doubly agree with fencersmother. The only thing you should consider bringing that may not be on the list is extra underwear (and sports bras for girls) and compression shorts. Everything else "extra" my DD brought was taken away or not used. You'll be carrying everything for MOST OF THE DAY, plus everything else you'll be given. It gets heavy lugging all of that stuff around in your left hand... while double-timing/jogging from one station to the next.
This was something we did for both of ours and it was a win. I recommend this little pocket kit from Adventure Medical; great $10 spend at REI or your favorite outfitter.