Want that one!

I hate having those “I want it NOW” moments. I’ve had to buy some new notebooks so that I can do some writing, because I don’t really like sitting at the computer and typing. In fact, typing is my least favourite part of writing. I suppose it’s something to do with why I don’t like e-books. I really love books and reading, the texture of the paper under my fingers, the smell of the pages, and just the general feeling of substance in my hands. It’s almost like it’s an achievement when you get to the end of a book and you close the final page. You don’t get that with an e-book. No smell, no substance, no feeling of achievement. Just the whirring of the fan and the clicking of the arrow key as you scroll. And I hate scrolling.

The same goes for writing. When you write you can feel the paper under your hand, and then pen in your fingers. There is the satisfying scratching of the pen on the paper as it carves out the words you manipulate it to shape. There is the smell of the ink. All the intrinsic components that, without them, makes writing soulless. That is how writing on a computer makes me feel.

Okay, so you can spell check on the computer in a flash, and when you write you have to thumb through a dictionary. But thumbing through the dictionary can be a journey of discovery itself. You stumble across words that are magical and fantastical all at the same time. Then there is the word you want to use. The dictionary provides distraction as you search for your original word and this can spark other ideas just on the scanning of a word you were not originally interested in. Fantastic.

But now, back to the ‘I want it NOW’ thing. I was looking at notebooks online yesterday and found a site selling digital notebooks. Curiosity piqued, I looked further into this wonderful and alien conception. Well, I want one. The pads are simply pads of paper; though special, magic paper. The magical digital pen partners the magical paper pad. The pen films your handwriting as you scribble on the pad. With the special software the computer reads your handwriting and transfers it into a Word document. Abracadabra! No more losing the all-absorbing enchantment of writing.