If the government should ever declare pulp and pens illegal, consider me a junkie. I would pace alleyways nervously whispering, "You got a uni-ball? Alright, alright I'll even take a Bic crystal. Anything you've got. Quick man! Quick!" After receiving my prize I would pull open the package while fumbling for the notebook in the folds of my jacket. And then, too soon, the ink would run dry and I would be at it again.
It's not that I hate computers. If you know me well you're more than familiar with gazing at me over my laptop screen. Laptops are the best tool for getting the job done. But if an idea of mine is any good it's a good bet I have it on paper. More of my blog posts have started as the scribblings in the margins of notebooks than as pixels.
It is centering to write something down. Writing, especially my penmanship, has the tendency to fill a page quickly. Much more quickly than it can fill the void of a computer screen. There is also a bit of magic of seeing the words erupt from my hand. As though my brain is leaking ideas out onto the page.
Thankfully my job as a writer does not depend on a computer. It might annoy Art Directors* if I handed over headlines and body copy scribbled onto scraps, but it wouldn't mean I wasn't doing my job. It would, however, be inconceivable for someone in design to not use a computer. That doesn't mean you should loose connection with the tactile.
The problem is that as hard as it is for me to imagine NOT using pen and paper, it's hard for some people to imagine NOT using a computer. Technology is a great crutch that makes it really hard to identify whether an idea is good or not. Holding up a pencil rough and asking whether or not it works is a great test.
Pick up a sheet and try it. If you don't like it that's fine. The first hit is free.
*Alright, it would REALLY annoy them.
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