writing vs. typing

I hate writing on paper.

I used to love it, and the truth is that I have at least 50 notebooks completely filled with writing, cover to cover. But the thing is, when I write I just can’t write fast enough to get out all of my thoughts at once. I will be writing a sentence and by the time I come to the end of it I will have forgotten the wording (which I find to be very important) of the thought that I was thinking literally seconds ago. It could be an ADD thing, it could be a poor memory thing, or it could be my mind forever changed by having a computer (Somewhere I read that our attention spans are now shorter causing more kids to not be able to finish a novel the way that we used to when we were kids because it’s easy to just wikipedia an article, look up a short story on the internet, etc. That makes me sad).

I don’t know what it is, but I do know this - typing is the only thing that will let me get out my thoughts fast enough. If I’m thinking of a clever sentence or some idea for a photo, most likely I am by a computer. If I’m not, then I’m definitely not by a pen and paper at the same time. I do carry around several notebooks with me everywhere - just in case an idea does come up that I need to get down. But I guarantee by the time I pull out the paper and pen and start writing, there are key elements I’ve forgotten about what I may have wanted to say.

Of course, all of the above leads to another problem I have - with the ability to type things as they come to mind since I’m on a computer all the time, comes my amazing ability to elaborate on a concept too much. WAY too much.  While above all I could’ve said was ‘writing on paper takes too much time’ that sentence sounds like I’m a fucking retard and I’m impatient. Sometimes it’s good to elaborate.

And really, it can take too much time, but only because I have a horrible memory. Or my brain is programmed to depend too much on the speed of typing on a computer.

But I will be the first to admit - there is something highly satisfying about writing. The feel of a pen against paper is great and after you’ve gone off into this little writing world and you come out of it and see ten pages of whatever, it’s a great feeling.

But it’s just not fast enough. :/

Does anyone else have this problem?

6 months ago  /  16 notes  /  Comments