My Writing Technologies

My invented writing technology.

When I was younger my choices of writing technologies was very simple. The teachers usually insisted on pencils because they were easy to erase the frequent mistakes in almost all subjects, notably math and English. Around the time of middle school or junior high my taste switched over to pens for the greater readability and better feel in the grip and texture. Control of the tip was a big issue in those days because they had dramatic effects on my handwriting legibility. The pencil wasn't completely abandoned, but I usually preferred mechanical pencils. They were more consistent on paper and didn't require getting up every 5 minutes to sharpen.

Computers were a growing force even before those grade school days. I was lucky enough to have an older computer in the early '90s that allowed me to practice typing and becoming proficient in developing operating systems. Word processing hadn't quite caught on yet and the experiences I had with printing on that early machine were terrifying to say the least. Nothing came out like it appeared on the screen and the printer itself was loud and unreliable. Technology moved fast after that, and by the mid '90s I could use my PC to print any number of documents using the Microsoft Office tools. Teachers around that time began to recognize the importance of having students use a computer to type reports and essays, or allowing them access to the school computer lab if they didn't have access at home.

Nowadays, I use the computer for almost everything I do in prose. Notes in class or short messages are done with a pen and I take officious tests in No. 2 pencil. Commonly I write on lined paper for my notes or just any scrap of material that can hold text for short messages at work or something I need to remember without holding it in mind. Lined paper really is best for organization and legibility. The only writing technologies that I really shun are certain kinds of pens which leave thick trails of ink, or that don't flow well onto the paper.