Technology has been a huge part of my life and my writing since high school. I have a shelf of notebooks in my office filled with poems and essays from the earliest point in my writing career, but I’ve gone almost entirely digital now. For a while, the two overlapped, but now, I’m writing primarily in Evernote, though the devises sometimes vary.
I miss my notebooks. I bought some new ones just yesterday. I have about forty unused, like-new notebooks just begging for some ink. I think it’s time I go back, at least in part.
You see, part of my wants a typewriter, though NoisyTyper helps. Another part wants a turntable and some Miles Davis vinyls. Clearly, I’m looking for something different. Something “undigital.” Something analog.
There’s a lot to be said for the writing things by hand, and Rachel Blom has already said a good deal about it. For me, however, it goes beyond the mental and mnemonic advantages. It’s about the heart.