My Notebook Collection

Sometimes I miss writing things by hand. Reading A Better Pencil's chapters on handwriting and writing on clay tablets has made me nostalgic for how I used to run my writing life.

This was my favorite notebook in high school.

At my apartment, I have an entire shelf of notebooks full of the stories I would write in middle and high school. I usually got done with assignements early in class, so I had plenty of free time during the school day to fiddle around with my ideas.

When college started, I didn't have any time during class to work on my writing and I wrote on the computer when I was in my dorm. It was faster and easier on my hands with the additional benefit of not taking up as much precious room as multiple notebooks.

I didn't believe in right hand margins back then.

But now that I have some space once again, I've found that I really like having those notebooks. They give me a bigger sense of accomplishment than the works stored on my computer. When I'm having a rough day or just need a bit of a boost, I can look at my bookshelf and feel validated by the volume of work readily apparent.

But why is that? Why does my physical paper feel any more real than my virtual paper? There's no real difference. They're both just spaces filled with words.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts. Do you feel like you've done more when  you handwrite something versus type something? Why do you think people view handwriting and typing differently in the first place?

So many notebooks! And a Kindle.