Writing innovation...

In a shock move for me I adopted a different approach to writing last night. I wrote with a pen. On paper. Yes, I know. You've been doing that for years. But, well, I avoid writing with a pen on paper as much as I can. I have developed a serious psychological hang up about this very process. This could be borne out of the fact that my handwriting is rubbish and, actually, I no longer 'do' handwriting ever - I've developed some childlike unjoined up writing style. Yes, laugh if you must. I have also convinced myself that I type as fast as I think - which, thinking about it as I write this, is true - and that my efforts with a pen on paper leave me unable to keep up with my thoughts. But last night, yes, I adopted what is, for me, a different approach. Writing with a pen. On paper. And this morning, I took that writing, and typed it up, and made some amends along the way, although not enough to constitute a redraft, and rather enjoyed the old-fashioned process. Which I will use again.

How did it come to this? Well. I've been writing at a 'keyboard' since around the age of eight, I think. I stole my sister's military-green Imperial typewriter and quickly learned to type using the few-fingered approach that I still adopt. Karma perhaps dictated that when I had ceased copying the work of others and started composing original material, said Imperial typewriter was stolen from me by a drunken uncle, who never returned it. I was sans typewriter for a long time, until some sub-standard Petite arrived after much nagging at the parents (I nagged for a typewriter and a drum kit. The typewriter was obviously the lesser of the two noisy, irritating evils) and got me going again. It was upon this typewriter that I wrote and carbon copied frankly ridiculous single-fold comedic publications that I would distribute around school to a select band of friends, who no doubt quickly assumed that I was having some kind of qwertyuiop-fuelled mental breakdown as they accepted, with a forced smile, their copies.

And then came computers. Little goes on Spectrum ZX80s, ZX81s and the school's Apple and BBC Acorn nicely prepared me for the delivery of my first 'personal computer'. I took delivery of my Commodore 64 on a sunny... (ok, enough boring tech talk already .- Geek Ed)