The Power of Analog Writing
In this modern age the computer have since long killed the typewriter, and handwriting only drags along in the form of scribbled notes and shopping lists. Analog writing is dead, digital is King, right?
Wrong!
I’ve since long been a notebook freak, as in paper notebook, not small laptop. At times I had a notebook for each project, which isn’t something I employ right now since it added clutter. I’ll be talking more about clutter later on, by the way.
A more focused use of notebooks is great. I utilize them like this:
- Always in my pocket, no idea is wasted this way.
- By my bedside, weird dreams can start off great fiction sometimes.
- On my desk, for quick notes that would get lost on my computer.
- For storyboards and storylines.
When not sitting by my computer, I tend to think a bit differently. That’s one of the reasons why I have a couch in my office (the other being that playing videogames without somewhere nice to sit, well, plain sucks). When I need to mull something over, I tend to leave my workspace and sit in the couch, let my mind wander a bit, and then tackle the problem at hand. That works especially well when I’m writing, fiction foremost, but also longer articles and blog posts.
Putting down plans, notes, ideas, and hunches in a notebook can be a great way to help organize your mind, as well as sharpen it. We tend to remember things jotted down by hand better than words hammered on a keyboard.
I actually take my analog writing a few steps further than this, but that’s for another day. Give the notebook a shot, and tell me how you use it!