Jake Seliger is a novelist, (see his novels here
Some of Jake’s very valuable reminders about the benefits of notebooks:
“A notebook is the written equivalent of a face-to-face meeting. It has no distractions, no pop-up icons, and no software upgrades. For a notebook, fewer features are better and fewer options are more. If you take a notebook out of your pocket to record an idea, you won’t see nude photos of your significant other. You’re going to see the page where you left off. Maybe you’ll see another idea that reminds you of the one you’re working on, and you’ll combine the two in a novel way. If you want to flip back to an earlier page, it’s easy.
The lack of editability is a feature, not a bug, and the notebook is an enigma of stopped time. Similar writing in a computer can function this way but doesn’t for me: the text is too open and too malleable. Which is wonderful in its own way, and that way opens many new possibilities. But those possibilities are different from the notebook’s. It’s become a cliche to argue that the technologies we use affect the thoughts we have and the way we express those thoughts, but despite being cliche the basic power of that observation remains. I have complete confidence that, unless I misplace them, I’ll still be able to read my notebooks in 20 years, regardless of changes in technology.”
Read more at: Why little black books instead of phones and computers « The Story’s Story
Thanks for the post! I’ll also note that some blog posts begin in the notebook too. The idea for Asking Anna hit while I was in a restaurant. Inspiration is fickle. Preparation for it matters.
“Inspiration is fickle. Preparation for it matters.”
Great quote. I’m writing that down in my notebook so that I can remember it.
Paper is ephemeral but remarkably durable. May company is entering its centennial. The archives are full of documents that are 100-150 years old. I have photographs and negatives that are more than 100 years old. I have 16mm film that is more than 60 years old. I have 35mm slides that are 70 years old.
I also have digital files that are less than a decade old that cannot be opened because the media has deteriorated or the software or hardware no longer exist.