I find myself using the phrase “writing” quite a bit, but I’m never truly writing. My computer has taken over every function that my fingers used to perform. Whether it is composing an essay, taking notes from a lecture or simply brainstorming, I use my computer to type much more often than I pick up a pen or pencil
I have recently discovered the freedom of actually writing with a utensil and a sheet of paper. Instead of both wrists sitting on the laptop body like a prisoner getting his hands cuffed, I can sit back with a pen and not have to be confined to a keyboard. It’s immensely refreshing to look at the natural light on the paper versus the piercing LED light coming from my computer.
Writing on paper has allowed me to block out distractions and focus on the task at hand. While I (just barely) have enough discipline to stay off the Internet long enough to write a paragraph, all it takes is one notification to send my train of thought right off the cliff. As hard as I try, my computer always seems to throw pop ups at me at the most inconvenient times. A piece of paper will never distract you with a notification, status update, or malfunction notice. I strongly believe the quality of our writing is massively based on our external surroundings. There is no way someone sitting with their friends can write a paper as focused and clear as someone who has detached themselves from society long enough to gather their thoughts, while blocking out external (and useless) voices.
This next asset might just be specific to those who don’t live off their computer and use the laptop base as a plate. It is infinitely easier to add corrections and put annotations on a physical piece of paper. I am able to jot down quick notes over specific parts of my writing piece, rather than stopping and moving the cursor to the ideal spot, while Microsoft Word tells me that function isn’t available. My paper and pen have never given me an error message.
Paper is almost always accessible. It doesn’t require me to keep it charged or to properly save it in a certain format to be accessible at a later date. I am able to retrieve it at my convenience, instead of pulling a computer out of my bag just to draft a couple of abrupt notes. Any form of writing takes creativity. While computers are essential components in the creative process, I feel that they pose a threat to the infant ideas we hold in our minds. I found that writing this piece on hard paper before transferring it to my computer was much more efficient. I’m fairly connected to my electronic devices for significantly longer than I’d like to admit. Escaping the virtual world long enough to clearly access my mind has allowed me to reflect on my actual thoughts, rather than be a victim of constant distraction.
