Writing Dependence

There are too many things in life on which I can't depend. The honesty of Republicans, the ability of Democrats to win, WiFi signal, weather, a well managed school, the stock market, and on and on. When it comes to writing, something on which I almost completely depend, I make sure very little stands in the way. I choose my tools carefully.

I learned that typing the doc.new into a browser brings up a blank Google Doc. That's pretty useful. I wish there was some single keyboard command to get rid of all the toolbars and put the browserin full-screen like a minimalist word processor but no dice so far.

For minimalism, I use Writer: The Internet Typewriter, a blank interface with no distracting means of formatting. It is the best editor I know and I've tried dozens. Dropbox Paper is beautiful, but still no match for Writer, a solitary writer's dream.

Were I in the mood to spend and wait until June, I'd order the Freewrite Traveler, a nifty device only for writing. Pretty cool but pretty expensive and close enough to the experience I already have on my manual typewriters.

Here's the thing: when it comes to dependability, there's no beating a good pen and some paper. I use a fountain pen and used copy paper on which I print lines. These things just work. There are nearly always pen and paper on hand. Paper is resilient. There's no question whether it will be in a readable format for the next software revision, no worries about saving documents, and it can be used sideways, upside down, or any which way.

There are too few things on which I can depend. My laptop is probably dying and no longer receives updates. My pen is older than the laptop goes on and on so long as I refill it with ink every other day. And I have enough paper to last me, as Red says in Shawshank Redemption until rapture.

Rapture, that's kind of how it feels to write with a fountain pen on lined paper. I depend on that, on the words I write, and the salvation of writing.