Last Friday night*, my excitement was ruined by one fatal mistake; I’ve left my laptop charger at the office, which meant that I would have to figure out how to write without it.
Yesterday, I typed my blog article on the my wife’s iPad, and I had just enough battery on my laptop to submit it to medium. Typing on iPad isn’t something I’m used to.
Although I enjoy my Scrivener in a great amount, yesterday I had to write longhand. Whenever I have some kind of block and do change means of writing but I’ve never written longhand in public before and I may admit that I enjoyed it in a great manner.
Sitting at Starbucks with my notebook and three different colored pens, one in my hand and two sitting aside waiting for correction, gave me impression of how it had been done in the old days when there was no computers and typewriters weren’t practical for carrying around.
With both, my phone and my notebook, on airplane mode, I had zero distractions, and no desire to go online because the connection was several steps away.
The other thing which gave me some kind of renaissance experience was watching the words appear on the greasy paper, noticing the shine on the yet undried ink.
No matter how convenient and practical our digital devices are, putting your hands on something physical can relief you and help you to change the perspective. Namely, I’ve done more work on my novel during three ours ofscribbling in my notebook than during the entire week at my Scrivener.
Therefore I decided to buy 3×5 index cards and finish my outline on them instead of the digital cards in Scrivener. Perhaps the honeymoon effect caused by the change of means will end soon, but I will give it a try anyway.
*My Friday nights fall on Monday because my days off are on Tuesday and Wednesday.