I've been thinking about why I like paper for some things and the computer for others lately. It's a weird coincidence then that dougj over at a million monkeys posted "Paper? Ain't that extinct?".

I've always noticed that I like to write my journal in notebooks but write stories on the computer. Well, not the whole story. After I'm done with the draft, I print it to do the revisions.

I've always thought about why this was so. Why would I print for revisions? The computer was made for revisions. Copy and paste and easy editing and all. But I kept coming back to the fact that I just like doing revisions on paper. Yes, I have to type them all in again. Yes, any big block changes I'll just have to do again on the computer. Then, why?

After reading dougj's post, I know why.

Pure and simple, I think the keyword is intimacy.

... pick up a nice little leather-bound journal, grab a smoothly-writing pen, and all of a sudden, things become sensual. There is no hunk of metal, plastic and wires acting as an intermediary, nor is there any intimation of data being temporary. What you write on paper is immediately there, forever, and the flow of thought and creativity knows no middle-man: the connection is personal, free-flowing, spontaneous, and free of modern-day digital “interpretation". You write, sketch, doodle, draw lines and circles, add stars, and otherwise feel the flow of ink laid smooth upon the grain of the paper. It’s a throw-back to another time, and we might just as well be our great-grandparents writing by nib pen and inkwell alongside the dim glow of a candle. For once, we can abandon our reliance on modern technology, and experience a connection with our innermost spirit, letting it roam free upon a page. All of this, and much more, heightens our sense of intimacy with the paper before us.

Bingo. I feel a connection when writing on paper. My first drafts are usually concerned with getting down the mechanics of a story; the plot, the key points, scene breakdown. Very structured. In the second draft, I need to see the whole story and how it fits together, it's flow and how it's story line can be more organic. I can't do that on the computer. The computer's not organic.

Sometimes I'll write some bit of dialog on the computer that sounds good but not quite right and I can't seem to fix it. The minute it's on paper, the right words just come to me and everything seems to flow easier. I've often wondered why I can't some up with that while on the computer, and now I think I know.

I also don't like writing a personal journal on the computer. I've tried and always stopped before. I then got into the habit of getting up earlier in the morning and writing Morning Pages, basically a four page free flow journal to mediatate and clear my mind. I bought some cheap notebooks for Borders and cheap gel pens, and I love it. I've written everyday now for a month and plan to do it for the rest of my life. Could I have done this on the computer? Not a chance. I can now say that it's because the computer isn't intimate enough. Paper is just nicer. I really don't know how else to put it.

It's one of the reasons I don't like blogging. But the distribution channel is just way more convenient.

Related posts:

1. AlphaSmart 3000 So I bought an AlphaSmart 3000 off of eBay. But...
2. How To: Use Crappy Tea Bags for Quality Tea Here's a lifehack I came up with recently. As I've...
3. How to Sleep at Night During the Current Recession First, get a Time Machine. Go back about ten years...

This entry was posted on Monday, February 7th, 2005 at 12:33 pm by Joe and is filed under General, Technical, Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.