Something I've Figured Out
I love writing on a computer. I type very quickly (about 70 wpm with 96% accuracy) and my mind moves almost too fast so it's a very good combination.But I have a problem.
Hi. My name is Lorraine.
(Y'all: Hi, Lorraine).
And I'm an addict.
I'm addicted to email. I check it constantly. I'm depressed when the only new email is from Spurlington J. Megasparks selling me pharmacy drugs at rock bottom prices and elated when there's message from a real person. I'm also constantly checking for the emails that alert me to new comments on the blog. And, because I'm compulsive that way, I usually stop to answer those emails or comments the second I receive them. Which takes a lot of time.
So what I've figured out is that when I'm done blogging and ready to work on the book I have to do it the old-fashioned way. I have to turn off the laptop (thus eliminating the distraction of the "you've got mail" ping), sit down with a notebook and a good pen (one of the heavy ones - not a Bic) and start writing.
Before the advent of the personal computer the middle finger of my right hand had a flat, hard callus, shaped and polished by the weight and pressure of holding a pen to write. WWJAD. What would Jane Austen do? That's my motto. Betcha Jane had a callus*.
*Usage note: The adjective callous, as in "her life on the streets had made her callous to the suffering of others" - meaning hard, indifferent - is not to be confused with the noun callus as in, "I get a callus on my finger when I write a lot. " I did not know that.
Labels: computer things, Jane Austen action figure, writing
cobbled together by Moi at 7:27 AM
34 Comments:
Ahhh... a fellow addict! Nice to know I'm not the only one.
And by the way, I think lots and lots of writers still do their 'serious' writing with a pen and paper. Personally, I really love the feel of the pen half-gliding, half-scratching across the page. I also find it useful - oddly - that my thoughts are compelled to slow down to the speed of my hand.
Yay! A support group! I suspect we aren't the only ones either, D, and now that we've admitted our problem perhaps others will find the courage to do so as well.
And that pen feeling of "half-gliding, half-scratching"? I was totally thinking of that feeling when I was writing this post.
I used to have a callus on my writing finger, as well. On my first two campaigns, before anyone was really computer savvy in the political world, I had to handwrite all of our call sheets - thousands of them. I used to get writing finger cramp, too.
I don't know what that has to do with anything, but there it is.
Welcome to EMAA! (E-Mail Addicts Anonymous)
Don't you feel so much better now? Being a fellow blogger/e-mail addict myself, I think the first thing we should do is set up a EMAA blog so we can all feed our addiction.
No? Not a good idea? ok
(by the way, my word verification for this comment is fucnz - nasty verificator!!!)
May I join the addict group? My coworkers laugh at me because I answer emails so quickly!.....I just can't stand knowing something is sitting there and I don't know what it is...so I stop what I am doing the second I hear the notification.
Welcome fellow addicts! Pull up a chair. There's coffee in the back.
I also did not know about callous/callus. Ironic?
I am nearly unable to write by hand anymore. My handwriting is horrible and I can type so much faster.
Nice to see the JA action figure again. A wonderfully staged photo! (hee...)
She's my hero. But she's lost her quill. I have to get her a new one.
And if you are left handed then you can add a nice ink schmear across the side too!
Sign of a true writer, that.
Lefties unite!
hey - i know you all aren't going to believe this - seriously - i'm obsessive compulsive...
(i'll let the laughter die down before continuing)
anyway, needless to say, i know what you mean... re: etc. i have thoughts like shuffling cards and sometimes it's very difficult to pic a thread up and start writing - especially when me head is stimulated by a bazillion other things - so, it is extremely therapeutic for me to get away from the puter and sit down with pen and paper and sketch out the skeleton of a story before coloring in the details in WORD.
I'm like JP - my handwriting has devolved into illegible scratches on a page - and this from one who claims calligraphy as a talent. I print now, unless it's for my eyes only. Unfortunately, I often can't read my own writing. And don't get me started on the email addiction. I'm beyond hope. Really.
i can hardly write anything without a computer :)
The lefty hand smudge! I thought that was just me. Cashiers have laughed at my upside-down check writing for years.
Ha! I just put all those years of Latin lessons to good use. Folks, it seems we suffer from "epistulariphilia" which is an obsession with continual and regular correspondence. Hence, we are "epistulariphiliacs". It really rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?
Welcome to Epistulariphiliacs Anonymous!
Lorraine, I just posted this five minutes ago and you haven't responded yet!
I get an ink smear on my right hand when I use a fountain pen or do calligraphy, so I would like to be able to still sit sometimes at the lefty table. You know, just because I like y'all.
Amy, see what Jon did? We're not obsessive compulsive...we are epistulariasomethings! Everything sounds better in Latin.
And I understand, Polona. That's what I've thought for quite a while but now I'm having to subscribe to an Amy-like method...work it out on paper and then edit on the computer. Because the other PC related distractions are a serious siren song. (Uh, oh. Alliteration. Someone I know doesn't like that).
Jon, dude. I think that's what you social workers call "enabling".
I am obessive compulsive myself. My wife saves me.
As far as writing goes. Well my handwriting always sucked and I have typed freestyle for a very long time, heck my teachers even insisted.
As far as email goes...well...My name is Grish and I`m addict, as well. I check it everytime I pass by a computer and I`ve een known to press the `send and receive button` several times in succession (in total denial that there is nothing new)
So...email the day and time of the meetings won`t you? oh wait...:P
I did not know that there was a different spelling for "callus." I learned something new.
Scarily enough, I knew exactly what "WWJAD" before you even spelled it out. Freaky-deeky.
I'm going to post this....
...in three parts, so when you see them on....
...your email, it looks like you got three whole emails.
A callous callus, Charles? On the brain? Explains a lot.
Grish, the saddest time of day is anytime of day when there is nothing new.
R7E, that's just scary.
Iwanski,
You are a very
funny
funny guy.
There. I just sent myself 5 emails. Bwahhahhahhaa.
My cursive is so illegible that I print everything except my signature,which can never be traced back to anything with opposable thumbs...but I do enjoy my calligraphy.I get maybe 3 e-mails a week,(not counting the 452 offers to enlarge my penis)..Damm..
Sling, I get those emails, too! Which is weird considering, you know...not so much the possession thereof.
You need more email buddies. Hint.
I recently read an interesting article about information addiction. It also said something about short attention spans, blah, blah, blah.
I did not know about callous/callus either!
I compulsively check all my email accounts. I do understand.
LA, Huh? I'm sorry, I was listening to NPR and checking CNN on line. Did you say something?
Pamalamama: See you at the meetings!
We are a pathetic bunch! And you know what's really funny? We're all "old farts", technologically speaking. I'll bet most people think that on The Child's peers, or high schoolers and college kids, are this addicted to email, blogging, and blog commenting, not old farts like us. We are Unique Epistulariphiliacs Anonymous! (I love that, Jon!)
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