If you want to write, Virginia Woolf held that you need money and a room of one’s own.
Yesterday I added to that:
one laptop
- one usb keyboard
- one usb mouse
But after day of writing on keyboard with a tiny laptop, I wanted to take out my pen and write. In some ways it was the most productive moment, even though the real writing was over and I picked up the pen and notebook to write some nonsense. The experience was completely different, the words flowed like they hadn’t done all day, and at last I really began to enjoy myself.
But was it the fact that I was writing for fun, and not working on something concrete or is there something special about pen and paper? And I’m talking pen here, as in ink pen, I don’t think ball point pens count, though a decent fibre tip would make a good substitute. The main thing is to let the words flow as fast as your thoughts.
Some people say they can spot books written by hand and those constructed on a computer. But are the words different when you write long-handed?
I’m not sure I can tell, but I do know this: pen and paper are the ultimate distraction-free writing kit.
There are no desktop icons to tempt me, when I’m looking at the page there is nothing to pull my attention away unless I leave an open book on the desk beside me. On the computer there are so many distractions, facts checking becomes internet surfing, from there it’s only a short step checking email …
Writing in a book, I didn’t feel the need to open any of the magazines that were lying in the chair next to me - they didn’t tempt me at all. With everything else in the room out of focus and blurred, I didn’t want to be anywhere else but in contact with the paper, writing through my pen. I don’t think I ever get that emotional response to a keyboard.
For me, pen and paper is the best way of concentrating. Perhaps that mean that the words flow better - who knows?
