3 ms·

> until then, I want to think about the words on the screen. The article is called "write it in Garamond" - the premise of the article is that the chosen font

by ikawe 5y ago

> until then, I want to think about the words on the screen. The article is called "write it in Garamond" - the premise of the article is that the chosen font directs the words to be written. > creative output of any kind depends upon a steady stream of tiny self-delusions — guardrails to keep yourself from veering into a pit of self-doubt and despair You're letting iA Writer choose this effect for you, which is also valid, but it doesn't "free" you from the effect (if you buy into the article).

cgriswald 5y ago
It is a mistake to paint all writers with the same brush. To the degree that 'guardrails' are needed, they're not needed by all writers for the reasons the author needs them. Likewise, not all writers are affected by choice of writing-font in the same way or to the same degree. The way in which the GP is affected is to be overwhelmed by choice and the degree to which this occurs is high. We have no reasons to believe which particular font iA Writer uses has any effect on GP at all. This is not the case for the article's author, who claims to be strongly affected by font choice. Even if it could be proven that all writers are subtly affected by choice of writing-font, using the same font for everything all the time might dampen this effect to the degree that such a font is a blank slate as far as the mind is concerned. This certainly seems to be the case for me. I find many fonts off-putting when writing (poetry, prose, or code) to the degree that they break my focus; but otherwise they don't really seem to influence me. However, I typically use only a handful of 'not ugly' fonts and don't really 'see' these fonts at all. The degree to which they might influence my writing is tiny, at best. No one could look at two pieces of my writing and guess which font I used or even if I used a different font between them. I think, likely, the way in which people write has a huge influence on how affected they are about any particular variable, including fonts. I write in a way that feels like I'm constructing a building; structure first, then decoration. Others make paintings. Still others, who knows. It is a strong claim to make that all these writers are thinking, feeling, and experiencing the same thing with regard to any particular variable.
kstrauser 5y ago
I’m not convinced. Before we had computer fonts, we generally wrote with pen/pencil or a typewriter. Again, it’s fun to think about, but I think there’s lots of value in not making the decision at all. I get what you’re saying that iA Writer actually made it for me, but after you use that kind of system for a while, the styling completely disappears. Your brain just accepts that “this is what words look like now” and moves past it.
- quartesixte 5y ago
  I did student journalism and had to submit all my articles in 11pt Garamond. Not because the editors couldn’t just convert before typesetting, but because they could at a glance know if your article would fit the assigned column space. This in turn would affect how the story was edited and written. Sentences reworded or sometimes entirely cut to fit the given space. Writing in Garamond to begin with made sure you didn’t go over that limit in the first place.

by ikawe 5y ago

cgriswald 5y ago

It is a mistake to paint all writers with the same brush. To the degree that 'guardrails' are needed, they're not needed by all writers for the reasons the author needs them. Likewise, not all writers are affected by choice of writing-font in the same way or to the same degree. The way in which the GP is affected is to be overwhelmed by choice and the degree to which this occurs is high. We have no reasons to believe which particular font iA Writer uses has any effect on GP at all. This is not the case for the article's author, who claims to be strongly affected by font choice. Even if it could be proven that all writers are subtly affected by choice of writing-font, using the same font for everything all the time might dampen this effect to the degree that such a font is a blank slate as far as the mind is concerned. This certainly seems to be the case for me. I find many fonts off-putting when writing (poetry, prose, or code) to the degree that they break my focus; but otherwise they don't really seem to influence me. However, I typically use only a handful of 'not ugly' fonts and don't really 'see' these fonts at all. The degree to which they might influence my writing is tiny, at best. No one could look at two pieces of my writing and guess which font I used or even if I used a different font between them. I think, likely, the way in which people write has a huge influence on how affected they are about any particular variable, including fonts. I write in a way that feels like I'm constructing a building; structure first, then decoration. Others make paintings. Still others, who knows. It is a strong claim to make that all these writers are thinking, feeling, and experiencing the same thing with regard to any particular variable.

kstrauser 5y ago

I’m not convinced. Before we had computer fonts, we generally wrote with pen/pencil or a typewriter. Again, it’s fun to think about, but I think there’s lots of value in not making the decision at all. I get what you’re saying that iA Writer actually made it for me, but after you use that kind of system for a while, the styling completely disappears. Your brain just accepts that “this is what words look like now” and moves past it.

quartesixte 5y ago
I did student journalism and had to submit all my articles in 11pt Garamond. Not because the editors couldn’t just convert before typesetting, but because they could at a glance know if your article would fit the assigned column space. This in turn would affect how the story was edited and written. Sentences reworded or sometimes entirely cut to fit the given space. Writing in Garamond to begin with made sure you didn’t go over that limit in the first place.