Sometimes, when you’re finding it hard to work on a story or a blog post, it’s worth switching off the computer and picking up a pen instead.
In this digital age, most of us type rather than write our fiction, our essays and articles. Not just because it’s easier, less labour intensive, but because we need to be able to share our work online, or submit it somewhere via email.
But I often find the physical act of writing unblocks something in my mind in a way that typing never can.
On a computer screen, the blank page can be a battlefield; the blinking cursor taunting you for your inability to find the right words. But a blank sheet of paper is a beautiful thing, like an unbroken stretch of snow. You long to press the tip of your pen against the paper, letting your neatest handwriting flow across the page.
Writing at a computer feels like work; it strips away the magic of curling up somewhere with a notebook, whether on your sofa or by the window of a coffee shop, as you gaze through the glass at the people idling by outside.
I find it hard to write by hand for long; I’m so used to the computer keyboard that my wrist aches after just a few lines. But there’s something satisfying about it, about the sense of muscle memory, recalling the diary you kept as a child or the endless essays you wrote at school.
Looking back through your old journals or notebooks full of poetry can be a rich experience, full of memory and sentiment. Reading through Word documents doesn’t invoke the same sense of nostalgia.
So next time you’re frustrated by writer’s block, put the laptop away and settle down with a notebook instead. You might be inspired.
Jade @ Bits & Bobs says
That’s great advice!
I thoroughly enjoy writing by hand and often do, however sometimes I avoid a notebook in favour of my laptop because I know how intense it is having to write the words back up – kind of lazy, huh?
We rely on technology a lot nowadays and so it is good to go back to more traditional ways.
🙂
Amy Lord says
It’s crazy how fast the technology has changed in just a few years, when I think about writing all my essays at school by hand (I’m so old!). The problem I have whenever I write my hand, is when I type it up I find I’ve never written as much as I thought I had!
Anna says
I prefer writing longhand rather than typing away, even with my to-do lists. 🙂 I agree that there is something satisfying about writing. It’s almost like the feel of the pen moving across the paper brings in the good stuff and it’s an experience wholly different from typing.
Amy Lord says
Definitely! And I’m terrible for lists, it’s so satisfying putting a big red tick next to every task as you finish it 🙂
Kerri says
I was thinking about this the other day and I was trying to make an effort to jot down some blog ideas in my note book, but I just couldn’t get into it. I actually find it much easier to jot ideas down at my laptop. I have had a note book for blog ideas for ages and I just can’t get into it, I just can’t think to write. So I use evernote normally for all my ideas.
I did recently buy a day per page diary to jot down every day things, which I’m excited to start doing. I think this will work because it is already organised. The thing about the note book is that it’s not organised and I always change my mind on the order I want things wrote down. Plus my handwriting is a bit terrible and I make a lot of spelling mistakes.
But switching off the computer to think about my ideas is always a good thing and then I turn it back on to jot them down 😉
~ K
bluehairinbelgium.blogspot.be
Amy Lord says
I have the same problem, Kerri – I have a blog ideas notebook, but I don’t use it much, it’s too much effort to carry it around and keep it up to date. It’s much easier to use an online solution or an app on my phone. But it’s nice to use a notebook sometimes, it feels more special and authentic, if that doesn’t sound silly!
Sara Strauss says
When I’m having trouble thinking of what to write next I usually write with pen and paper too! When I write on a computer, I feel like it all has to be perfect and I spend too much time editing, but when I write on paper I just write!
~Sara
Amy Lord says
It feels less like ‘work’ when you write in a notebook, like you’re getting in touch with something simpler and writing for the enjoyment of it.