Sometimes you need to change things up a bit. Other times you just want to change things up a bit. Sometimes you just can’t do something the way you normally would, but want to get it done regardless, so you need some extra or alternative tools.
A lot of places recommend that those of us carry around a little notebook to make jots into at any hour of the day or night. Sometimes I resist that image, as it feels a little too pretentious for my tastes – I always conjure up someone who looks vaguely like Steve Jobs and Anton LaVey’s merged clone, staring intently at a random flower or animal and composing a sonnet on the fly – but other times I acknowledge that it is handy to have access to something to scribble in sometimes.
And then there’s the best times, where you find there is something that is just innately satisfying about making a mark on a piece of plain white paper. If that paper is thick and absorbent, and the pen you make the mark with is heavy and thick-tipped with a slight tendency to bleed, it’s even better.
Yes, there may be something wrong with me, but the tactile sensation is intensely pleasurable and seeing that empty space go away, filled with the marks you’ve made – as opposed to endlessly scrolling and adding more, as a computer screen does – gives a distinct sense of accomplishment.
But maybe that’s just me. What about the rest of you? Do you have a writer’s notebook or other bit of paper to scribble in? What made you do it? Do you think it’s pretentious, useful, different, or mood-altering? Let us know down below!
Insomniac Nightmares 
0 Responses to “Doing it by hand”