When Paper Works Better Than a Word Processor
If you’re having trouble writing, take a good look at your word processor. Give it a mean look (like really mean), then step away from it.
Instead, pick up a paper and a pencil and discover the magic of writing like I did. MS Word got the boot by me about a week ago. It was being mean – the blinking cursor was laughing at me.
At the verge of giving up, I noticed the blank page at the back of a printed sheet on my desk. It didn’t look right. A paper just shouldn’t be blank, y’know?!
I picked it up and started doodling while I brooded over my word processor’s meanness. Soon I started writing. This time, I wasn’t chasing after my ideas with a paper and pen, I was capturing them! I kept writing all week.
Here are a few things I discovered during my journey to fill sheets of paper with my writing.
Writing by hand composes your thoughts
As you hand write the points, your brain gets the time to compose your thoughts into a coherent sentence. The chances of the perfect sentence forming grows tenfold because you’re able to form, reject and reform different sentences as you write.
A word processor doesn’t give us the time to do that. We type too fast and the longer we keep our finger poised over the keyboard thinking how to compose the next sentence, the more we feel like we’re stuck. Until we do get stuck!
Connect, highlight, refer, repeat.
When writing on paper arrows become my best friends. They tell which point they want to get connected to and which way they want to go from there.
Similarly, highlighters turn into my favourite people. After I’m done writing, I highlight the points I want to make a subheading out of, underline the things I want to elaborate in that subheading and use arrows for further extentions.
Then I pin it up on the wall in front of me and refer to it as I type in the word processor. Much easier than clicking between browser windows and losing my writing tempo.
Doodle!
Ah yes, the love of my life. Doodling is a habit everyone has. Unfortunately, you just can’t doodle in a word processor. You know how everyone says to write well you have to write everyday? I say to write well, heck to just write, you have to doodle along the way!
Your hand shouldn’t stop. Even if you’re just doodling your name. A moving hand means a moving thought process.
No Distractions
There is no email, gtalk, twitter or facebook – there is no internet, period. It’s just you, your pen and a piece of paper.
Something that would take ages to write between twitter and email (which you check everytime you got a little stuck) gets drafted in half an hour on paper. There’s no finicking over spellings and formatting, instead you’ll find yourself writing in short hand.[note]So the summary of this post is that hand drawn arrows are my best friends, highlighters my favourite people and doodling is the love of my life.
Oh and that your brain responds better to your hand writing.[/note]
Has your writing been completely digitalized? How often do you use paper to write on and what difference do you feel between the two?
[Photo Credit: Prodigal unlimited13]
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About Samar
Samar is a freelance writer, blogger and social media enthusiast.
She's the voice behind this blog, the writer behind each post and the one responsible for all the awesomeness (and goof-ups) around here.
If you want to outsource your blogging, get web copy written or have the social media end of things handled then she's your girl!
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June 3, 2009
at 11:07 am
Doodling is scientifically proven to be a jump start for the creative process.
So to all those teachers that told me off for doodling – stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Hah!
There's nothing quite like the feeling of putting pen to paper especially if you write with a fountain pen.
Oh and get rid of MS Office. Openoffice all the way!
<abbr>Marc – WelshScribe’s last blog post..How to Destroy Your Chance of Getting a Link to Your Website</abbr>
June 3, 2009
at 9:12 pm
I used to doodle my name. Had a teacher tell me that it was a sign of self absorption.
Not that it stopped me from it!
I don't know why I uninstalled open office :s Was using Lotus for a while because of its tabbed option but then the application felt too heavy.
Will check out open office again. Thanks!
June 5, 2009
at 3:22 pm
I have tried to write with real paper. I just can't do it. I need to be able to cut and paste and move things around and delete the whole thing and start over. What I really want to try for generating ideas is a giant whiteboard. That would be the ideal way to organizing my thoughts.
June 6, 2009
at 11:09 pm
Hi Cindy! I can't delete any word I've written until it's time edit and restructure. I've tried mind maps. But the whole computer things gets to me. I've begun to prefer paper because it gives me time away from my laptop.
I've started using paper to structure my article along with jotting down ideas.
I love your whiteboard idea! I'll have to add to my list of things to get when I set up my first office.
June 14, 2009
at 12:13 am
Hey there! Great post….I wrote one alone these lines not too long ago…come by and check it out.
Danielle Buffardi´s last blog ..My Favorite Places to Write
June 22, 2009
at 7:33 am
I'm glad I'm not alone! This spring I tried writing a novell entirely in the computer and lost pace after two episodes. Grant it, I write my blogposts directly into the posteditor, but that's a daily report not a text for a greater context. I realised my mistake when I changed projects for a nonfiction book, so when I work on the novell again I'll definately do the drafts on paper.
June 22, 2009
at 9:11 am
@Danielle – Thanks
@ Rosengeranium – Good luck with the novel! We need time and a lot of discarded drafts to figure out which medium works best for us
June 23, 2009
at 1:07 pm
Thank you so much for this article! I love to write by hand primarily because you can do it anywhere and be distraction-free!
June 23, 2009
at 5:56 pm
Good solid reasons to give pen and paper a try. Especially anyone who's stuck at the moment or ever gets stuck. I've never written that way, but always on the computer. I wonder if the way our individual brains work makes one option better for some people. Thanks fir a great post.
Have retweeted it and will add it on facebook.
June 25, 2009
at 2:07 pm
Brilliant post Samar. You are absolutely right in that ideas and thought process work even better with a pen & paper. I experienced that a few years back, when I was writing my MBA Thesis. However, as the time passed by since and in efforts to keep up with the tec bandwagon, I kind of have the feeling that I'm getting distant to Pen & Paper writing. Having said that, most recently I started using a Note Book (Paper) + Pen to jot down meeting notes and other stuff, particularly at work.
Sumudu
June 27, 2009
at 8:59 am
@ Erica – For the longest time I thought the keyboard was the world's best invention
Thankfully, I've seen the light 
@ Cynthia – Thank you Cynthia. Appreciate it! Start keeping a paper and pen in ur tote. The next time you're stuck in traffic or waiting your turn at the dentist, pull it out and just doodle. Your brain works differently with a pencil in your hand
@ Sumudu – Thanks! The reason it took me so long to use paper and pencil again is probably because I thought that my speed of writing by hand couldn't match the speed of my thoughts. A keyboard can do that.
What I didn't realize was that sometimes it's better to think slowly and compose your thoughts as you write by hand. You start to see patterns and connections that you wouldn't otherwise have.
July 5, 2009
at 7:32 pm
I arrived at your article after searching for "word processor like paper" because of my need to easily draw sketches into a script. Although there are script and storyboard templates available, there is nothing like adding small sketches within a story with the ease of paper. There must be a program that gives you a working space with the option of placing neat text within graphic tablet sketches and images along with the ability to manipulate all. Give me VIRTUAL PAPER… that prints to real paper or pdf.