I’m an addict
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t have a pile of notebooks on my desk. As a child I would buy notebooks so pretty that I didn’t want to write in them until I had something really “special” to write - ok I still do that now sometimes!
I have a travellers notebook in my handbag for thoughts and notes while I’m out and about. Whole shelves on my bookcases are filled with old journals and notebooks. I can’t seem to part with them.
You see they are filled with treasure that I will need to discover again one day, written magic.
When I revisit my old notebooks and find all manner of ideas and thoughts, often that I have no memory of every writing, but that I can use now or adapt. Guidance from my past self.
Attempts to modernise
Recently my daughter turned 21. She has just graduated in Creative Writing, and as a gift we updated her iPad. She uses hers all the time, and hers was getting outdated.
In a fit of enthusiasm I decided that I would try to drag myself into the 21st Century. I bought her old iPad, in order to experiment with using it for notes and research - like she does. I know that environmentally the amount of paper I go through isn’t ideal, and I also realise that as I research my new book, the sheer volume of notes is getting unmanageable. It is almost impossible to work anywhere but home.
Before our recent holiday, with help from my daughter and husband, all my notes were scanned onto the iPad. I took a deep breath and only took one notebook with me.
We had made plans to take the opportunity to do some writing together while we were away. We knew that our quiet days around the cottage in Scotland would be perfect for focusing on our current projects. During these writing sessions together, I used the iPad for making notes and tried to get more accustomed to it as a tool.
I hated it.
I didn’t want to. I really wanted to make it work, but it felt wrong, the pen didn’t feel right on the screen, I kept touching the screen and the lines would slide across the screen. All I could think about was how much I wanted to copy up all my notes into a notebook as soon as I got home.
What should I do?
I know that I need to give it more time, and I am still persevering, but I just can’t imagine how I will ever be able to make the change. I have spent almost 50 years savouring every word written on paper. From that new exercise book feeling at school, to the new journal I bought last week. I can’t imagine ever getting that same feeling from a screen - even with an Apple Pencil.
Am I just a dinosaur? Do I need to keep trying?
Don’t get me wrong, I know I will use the iPad for research, and I do enjoy the screen size for reading articles here on Substack. But will I ever be able to make the transition from paper to screen? Do I even want to?
If you have made this transition I would love to hear your advice and suggestions, but for now I will stick to my notebooks and enjoy writing every word.
Hello, I’m Kate, a writing coach, author and mum based in the midlands. My subscribers receive weekly tips, wellbeing reminders and general life ramblings from a menopausal writer. Members get all that, plus access to exclusive members only posts and special seasonal content and juicy personal insights.
I’d love you to join me in my little ink stained corner of Substack…
You can never have too many notebooks! The physical act of writing stimulates thoughts so don't give up the pen and paper. Computers do have their place but the power of the page in a physical book uncovers the answers and insights for us.📘📙📗📒📚📝✍️
I am also a notebook addict; I keep buying more when I already have piles of them in. They are just so irresistible....
As for writing, I have been known, on rare occasion, to write short pieces on my phone (very painful), or on a laptop if I am worried I won't make it to my notebook before the idea vanishes. But my favourite way is to write in my notebook, then read it into transcription software so I can do edits more easily and less messily on a laptop. I love writing with my hands so much, I have tried dictating my thoughts to voice notes too, but hated it.