In Praise of the Pen

Despite being an avid technophile,  I find that I am an equal devotee of the pen and paper. While I love the ability of computer-base word processing to manipulate text and image in everything from text documents to slide shows, websites, and blogs, I still often find myself drawn back to ink and paper when I'm stuck creatively. I like the regimented lines, the feel of creating letters and script, and the friction of the pen tip on a piece of paper. Cursive allows me to get my writing "on a roll" in a way that typing can never quite duplicate. Pressing a pen more firmly to paper to make a bolder line is always more visible striking than [ctrl + b], and the ability to change writing style and size in order to emphasize or diminish, as I write, is always more productive creatively.

 I could not do the work I do w/o word processing programs. The mere thought of hand writing or typing a dissertation is not just unappealing but likely would have kept me out of academia all together. The ability to instantly move, create, re-create, copy and paste, save, save additional verisons, find the version you close accidentally before saving, and make infinite copies and versions, way outweighs the pleasurable sensations of a pen and paper. And new programs such as Zotero and Endnote make references painless.  

But when I'm starting a project (syllabus, chapter, outline, notes), or when I'm stuck (like now), or even when I'm marking papers, nothing feels, or gets me working, better than the simple pen and paper. 

wide open spaces...