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I loved this article. My fiancée recently remarked that she'd been doing more writing on paper because it made her more productive. She theorized that she take

I loved this article. My fiancée recently remarked that she'd been doing more writing on paper because it made her more productive. She theorized that she takes an editor's mindset in the face of WYSIWYG renditions of her spelling mistakes. The same goes for her design work. The industry tools make it too easy to recognize "wrong" as it's happening. That sounds like a singing endorsement of these tools, but our experience working with lower-tech tools has informed a different conclusion. You're not being "helped" to see "wrong" in what you do, you're being cut off. Your generative, creative mode is being inhibited.

Doxin 1y ago
I've definitely found I'm way faster sketching with pencil than I am digitally. When doing digital sketches ctrl-z is right there. doing it with pencil means getting an eraser involved and it'll never quite get everything. I find myself redrawing the same like like 12 times when doing digital, but only once with a pencil. So there's definitely something about "worse" tools being better sometimes, just because sometimes the wrong things get made easy.
- nicbou 1y ago
  I also found that the mere UX of a notebook makes me rework my sketches again and again, because I constantly flip through them. This made me learn faster than with unlimited layers and an undo button.
  - Doxin 1y ago
    For me having a proper sketchbook only makes it harder to practice. I want every page to be nice. I've found using a block of paper works a lot better. If I really dislike a sketch I can just throw that sheet out, instead of feeling like I've ruined my sketchbook. I rarely actually do throw out a sheet, but having the option seems to make it sting less if I do a bad sketch. I guess the fact that I've purposefully aimed for a style where I don't rework things influences that. If left to my own devices I will rework a single detail basically forever. Instead I'm forcing myself to use confident sweeping lines. I keep eraser use to a minimum. I ink with a dip pen directly overtop the sketch. With the dip pen especially any touch to the paper is permanent. I color with alcohol markers, again so I don't get stuck trying to get things perfect. No take-backsies seems to be what works for me. Otherwise I just get stuck polishing turds all day.
    - nicbou 1y ago
      Ha! I have the same problem. Paper is cheap but there is a pressure to make the whole notebook a piece of art. In my case, I find revisions useful as a sort of deliberate practice. I eventually find the right way to do something, after many attempts. Polishing turds is a great way to see where I make mistakes and how to fix them.
dbtc 1y ago
I didn't make this, but I think it's great: https://www.squibler.io/dangerous-writing-prompt-app https://www.squibler.io/dangerous-writing-prompt-app

Doxin 1y ago

I've definitely found I'm way faster sketching with pencil than I am digitally. When doing digital sketches ctrl-z is right there. doing it with pencil means getting an eraser involved and it'll never quite get everything. I find myself redrawing the same like like 12 times when doing digital, but only once with a pencil. So there's definitely something about "worse" tools being better sometimes, just because sometimes the wrong things get made easy.

nicbou 1y ago
I also found that the mere UX of a notebook makes me rework my sketches again and again, because I constantly flip through them. This made me learn faster than with unlimited layers and an undo button.
- Doxin 1y ago
  For me having a proper sketchbook only makes it harder to practice. I want every page to be nice. I've found using a block of paper works a lot better. If I really dislike a sketch I can just throw that sheet out, instead of feeling like I've ruined my sketchbook. I rarely actually do throw out a sheet, but having the option seems to make it sting less if I do a bad sketch. I guess the fact that I've purposefully aimed for a style where I don't rework things influences that. If left to my own devices I will rework a single detail basically forever. Instead I'm forcing myself to use confident sweeping lines. I keep eraser use to a minimum. I ink with a dip pen directly overtop the sketch. With the dip pen especially any touch to the paper is permanent. I color with alcohol markers, again so I don't get stuck trying to get things perfect. No take-backsies seems to be what works for me. Otherwise I just get stuck polishing turds all day.
  - nicbou 1y ago
    Ha! I have the same problem. Paper is cheap but there is a pressure to make the whole notebook a piece of art. In my case, I find revisions useful as a sort of deliberate practice. I eventually find the right way to do something, after many attempts. Polishing turds is a great way to see where I make mistakes and how to fix them.

dbtc 1y ago

I didn't make this, but I think it's great: https://www.squibler.io/dangerous-writing-prompt-app https://www.squibler.io/dangerous-writing-prompt-app