Revisiting Pen & Paper

A couple of days ago, fellow WOWer Del made a compelling case for writing with pen and paper, usually dismissed for email, text messaging and other Information Age tools. She reveled in the satisfaction she gets from seeing her thoughts and ideas on paper, how it connects her to the past.

I, too, get a kick out of seeing my writing on paper. In fact, I keep a notepad with me at all times. Sure, my PDA has a Notepad function, but the small screen can't hold all of those nuggets that might come my way while I'm out and about.

I recently started on my tenth journal. It's yellow with white daisies carved into the cover, textually and visually pleasing. While my thoughts do find their way to the lined pages, writing ideas rarely join them. For me, journalling clears my mind to focus on writing tasks, and those tasks (and the previously mentioned nuggets) are transferred to computer for further work.

I write letters too. Sometimes an email won't do and I turn to paper to jot down a note or pen a letter to a pal. I browse bookstores for blank journals and stationery sets, looking for those that eventually go home with me.


So, Del, you're not alone. Somehow, I think that pen and paper will hang in there a while longer.