Blogging on Paper
A simple opportunity for writers, marketers, and bloggers to use their computers less
I’m writing this to you now with a Pilot G-2 0.38 in my hand. I’m holding it delicately and watching the words appear before me as the pen glides across this legal pad. I just woke up and had an apple-kale-lemon smoothie with peanut butter on cinnamon Ezekiel toast. The sun is shining. The evergreens are still green. The birds are singing. Everything is good.
Before I reached for this pen and pad to write to you, I opened my laptop. I’m grateful for my laptop — I will use it later today to get this to you — but I overuse it. I have been overusing it since I got into digital marketing in 2012. Probably in college, too. Rarely did it cross my mind that writing on paper could produce something as good — or better — than what I would write on the machine.
I do remember getting an electric typewriter in college though. I was reading novels from Bukowski at the time and he always wrote about the sound of keys pounding on a typewriter. I liked the idea of that sound. I also liked the idea of using my screen less, even back then when “screen time” was not a big issue.
I suppose the title of this could also be called Blogging with Typewriters. But typewriters are not as portable as pen and paper. I can’t take it to the coffee shop. They also require similar hand movements as the laptop keyboard. It’s good to switch things up.
In a way, blogging on paper is redundant, but it can also be more efficient. I wrote the four paragraphs above in 10 minutes. Based on previous behavior, if I started writing this blog post in a Google Doc or blank page on Substack, I would have been editing as I wrote, trying to get the perfect hookline and opening paragraph. It’s too easy to delete and second guess… to doubt.
Here, everything is fluid. There is no pressure. I’m disconnected from the machine that’s a portal to everything. I’m just here, writing this to you. There are no buttons surrounding the page, no blinking cursor. That will come soon enough. There will be emails to write, tasks to update, and notes to take.
“But Rob,” I can hear you thinking: “You’re writing for pleasure, for a personal blog. I have to write blogs for my company — based on research, based on documents, based on things within the screen.” Fine, I say. Print them out. Or don’t. What matters is: Do you want a break from the screen? If yes, try blogging on paper. This is what I’m going to try for my next client assignment. I’ll let you know how it goes.
P.S. — This has me excited about the opportunity to experiment with apps that turn writing on paper into words on the screen. If you know of any good ones, please share.
3/12/23 Update — I posted the question "Have you ever written an entire blog post with pen and paper?" as a poll on reddit and about 25% of bloggers said they have written the content for at least one blog post on paper. One commenter said: “When I get into the 'flow' writing state I'm always amazed when I'm finished as to the connections that my brain has made. There's a a naturalness and fluency to it that I just don't get when I'm writing in fits and starts with multiple tabs open.”