I’m finally starting the process of buying new furniture for the house. In Feburary, I gave away most of my furniture to a single mother and her son so the house has been empty for awhile now. Can you say echo?
I’m most excited about furnishing my office. At first I had BIG plans to buy all new computer stuff. My five-year old laptop is holding on by masking tape and a prayer but it still works. I’ve been lusting after those new sleek ones — including my day job laptop — but then I cleaned out my office closet and behold:
Go back in time to circa 1994. This is the VERY first laptop that I bought. This thing has a 9-inch monitor plus it weighs about 10 lbs.
So now of course, my five-year old laptop is looking pretty spiffy — masking tape and all.
But guess what? I’ve found that laptops are very DISTRACTING. During this last revision round with my current novel, I’ve found something that works really well and it never gets obsolete with the next hardware upgrade or release.
Yes, pen and paper are now my friends. Don’t get me wrong, still loves the laptop but I find that when I’m revising or writing a new scene or just free writing, the paper and pen never let me down.
This statement is coming from a self-professed software geek. I never thought I would go back to pen and paper. This has shown me when you find yourself getting stuck or distracted with your writing — change a variable. You’ll be surprised what may happen.
Wow, that old laptop is amazing! I don’t think I even knew what a laptop was until the late 90s. If it still works, I think you should absolutely start going around to coffee shops and using it. You can start a new retro craze! :-)
I think this is so true. And sometimes I rewrite a paragraph with pen and paper. Something about writing slower than I can type, allows my brain to catch up and even have time to think about what should come next. The brain amazes me.
Anna: You know I think the battery is shot. But I may just let it charge and see what happens. That screen is SO tiny. When I first bought it, I was so proud of it. I was the envy of everyone. Ha.
Laura: Isn’t it amazing the way the brain works? I think you’re right, with pen and paper you do have to go a little slower and that may help with the writing process.
Love that old laptop! Didn’t know they’d made them that long ago!
I don’t write with paper and pen (other than middle of the night ideas). I lose everything written on paper :)
I usually type, but sometimes I have the urge to write things in longhand. I have so many attractive notebooks and pens that lure me away from the keyboard.
Jemi: I think between grading papers and everything, that it could easily get lost! I keep a pen and paper on my nightstand. I get a lot of ideas in the middle of the night for some reason.
Medeia: I used to have a really good collection of journals. I don’t know why I stopped writing in them. Right now, I’m just using loose leaf paper, but for my next novel project I’ve already started writing in a notebook — but maybe I should buy a pretty journal instead.
Karen,
This story is hilarious! I think you need to take it out to your local wifi spot and see what type of reaction you get. :-)
As for the pen and paper, nothing seems to beat seeing things in black (or your favorite ink color) and white. No matter how fancy things get in life the basics seem to remain a staple.
Thanks for sharing!
Sherry: LOL, you know I really should do that just to see what people think. It would probably be hilarious!