Dictation. Writing on my phone. Writing by hand.
All of these methods are inferior, for me, than using a keyboard. But over the last month I’ve been forcing myself to use all three methods more frequently as a form of habit disruption.
(In fact, I’m writing this post on my 3x5 memo pad.)
Finding a groove and workflow is important, but disrupting it intentionally helps me because:
Different writing methods seem to change my phrasing. Writing by dictation results in something more conversational. Writing on my phone produces shorter sentences with less complex punctuation (because I can’t be bothered to find all the symbols in all the submenus). Writing by hand is more outliney and I tend to be more thoughtful about my word choices. And when I eventually have to type it all out (like I’m doing at this exact moment) the writing gets one automatic round of editing.
Reduction in distraction. My computers do too much, and I’m too “good” at “multitasking.” When I was on full novelist mode between 2009 and 2011, I used an old PowerBook G4 that had no battery life and was constantly overheating and couldn’t really use the internet that well. All I used it for was typing in the Text Editor, and it helped keep me focused. I can’t open a browser tab when I’m writing on a piece of paper, so it improves my concentration.
It’s easier to stealth write. I’ve talked about this before, but if you’re on a phone, people think you’re wasting time or being distracted with something. If you’re writing in a notebook, people think you’re doing something important. You can write during work meetings, social gatherings, whatever! I’m writing this post at a birthday party my daughter was invited to. Sure it may be “weird” and some people might even say it’s “rude” but at least it appears to be intellectual.
Even though these three ways of writing aren’t the fastest or produce my best work, I’ve actually gotten more writing done as a result of using them. So, intentional disruption can be a good thing!
Study Questions:
What is a way you can disrupt how you do things?
What possible changes might you see?
Minimum of three sentences each, due Friday.