Blurred Line

Yesterday, Flood was musing about the archaic practice of actual putting pen to paper when writing, among other things. Now, as some of you know, I'm one of the few who still bother to do so (and, ironically, I grew up with a computer at my disposal - make of that what you will). I realize that, although I've mentioned it a few times in comment threads here and elsewhere, I don't believe I've ever actually written a post about why I write that way. So, prepare to be enthralled...

1. I do it is because it's easy. My notebook is portable. My computer is not. Even if I had a laptop, it's still less of a pain to lug a notebook around, and you don't have to worry about batteries or anything like that.

2. I do it because it blocks out distraction. My computer has a lot of bells and whistles. You know, stuff like the internet and games. Really fun stuff. My notebook has paper. Pages upon pages upon pages of blank paper, sneering at me. I'm easily distracted, so the choice for me is clear.

3. I do it because I stare at a computer all day at work.

4. I do it because it's a great way to edit. When I write something on paper, typing it up at some point becomes a necessity. The actual typing of my story has become my first edit. And, unlike when I re-read a story to edit, it's pretty difficult for me to skip over a word or two. Basically, I catch a lot more errors when I'm typing than when I'm reading.

For the voyeuristic - a peek inside (don't pretend it doesn't give you a little thrill).


Profile Editor. Writer. 9-5er. Lord of the Dance. Blurredline.com Apodis Publishing Fusion Fragment cterrill(at)blurredline.com Buy Goodbye, Darwin Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters.ca Barnes&Noble.com Read it free in PDF Format Buy Blurred Line Amazon.com Amazon.ca Chapters.ca Barnes&Noble.com Read it free in PDF Format The Short Stuff "Learning Magic From Mint" - published May 2007 in Atomjack "Between Eternities" - published October 2005 at Speculative.ca "Smoke and Mirrors" - published June 2005 in Byzarium Submissions Log Total Subs: 25 Acceptances: 3 Rejections: 17 Withdrawals: 3 Subs Out: 2 Quality Blogs Scalzi's Whatever Dave's Blogography Bookslut The Struggling Writer SF Signal the0phrastus Paperback Writer Scribe's Writing Desk Nathan Bransford Lyons Literary LLC The World in the Satin Bag Book In The Oven The Word Perhaps We Learned Something... Words, etc. Archives March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 Et Cetera Cavan @ Last.fm Cavan @ LibraryThing Feeds Atom Feed RSS Feed	Wednesday, July 05, 2006 - Pen to Paper Yesterday, Flood was musing about the archaic practice of actual putting pen to paper when writing, among other things. Now, as some of you know, I'm one of the few who still bother to do so (and, ironically, I grew up with a computer at my disposal - make of that what you will). I realize that, although I've mentioned it a few times in comment threads here and elsewhere, I don't believe I've ever actually written a post about why I write that way. So, prepare to be enthralled... 1. I do it is because it's easy. My notebook is portable. My computer is not. Even if I had a laptop, it's still less of a pain to lug a notebook around, and you don't have to worry about batteries or anything like that. 2. I do it because it blocks out distraction. My computer has a lot of bells and whistles. You know, stuff like the internet and games. Really fun stuff. My notebook has paper. Pages upon pages upon pages of blank paper, sneering at me. I'm easily distracted, so the choice for me is clear. 3. I do it because I stare at a computer all day at work. 4. I do it because it's a great way to edit. When I write something on paper, typing it up at some point becomes a necessity. The actual typing of my story has become my first edit. And, unlike when I re-read a story to edit, it's pretty difficult for me to skip over a word or two. Basically, I catch a lot more errors when I'm typing than when I'm reading. For the voyeuristic - a peek inside (don't pretend it doesn't give you a little thrill). Cavan blogged at 4:38 PM \| 4 comments	Progress Zilch! 0/0 Listening A.J. Croce - "Maybe I'm Amazed" My Music Reading Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerney My Library Watching Black Book: B Sweet and Lowdown: C Breakfast on Pluto: B Wishlist Bridge of Sighs - Richard Russo Rachael Yamagata - Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart