The Novelty of Notebooks · 6:35am Nov 28th, 2014
Whenever I'm constructing a chapter for one of my stories, I usually write things out first by hand. Not because I have any sort of problem with a keyboard or typing things out, but one of my major flaws as a writer is how easily distracted I get. There are about a million and one things on the internet that can draw my attention at a moments notice and even as I type this blog post, I'm doubtless going to break away from it at least ten times to do random stuff like check my e-mail, chat with friends, or look on Fimfiction with barely suppressed glee to see if anyone has commented on my stories.
To avoid all this, I have a notebook where all of my first drafts go. Writing by hand is a bit tedious at times, but it frees me from distractions and allows me to think a bit more about what I'm writing as it comes out. Unfortunately, doing things in this way has also come with a few unexpected downsides.
I'll be frank. I have no clue why this seems to happen, but whenever I'm in a semi-public setting and writing something, everyone within a fifty foot radius takes that as a free pass to interrupt me. Not so much random strangers (although there have been a few), but co-workers and family members immediately seize upon the opportunity to interrupt my train of thought and ask me what I'm writing.
This isn't localized to my notebook either. In almost every situation, you can find me with a small writing pad in my pocket. Something I can flip out to jot down any thoughts that come to mind while I'm doing the menial tasks that make up my job or just simply waiting for something. More often times than not I'll get questioned about it, as if I'm writing down something incriminating about the people around me.
I have no idea why this happens. It's not like anyone cares about what someone is doing on their cellphone, but pull out a notepad and an honest to god pen and suddenly you can be the center of attention...which can be incredibly irritating when you're trying to write your thoughts down.
Of course, whenever I actually tell them that I'm writing about magical talking ponies, no one ever believes me. Go figure.
I know that feel br-
Sorry, there was a notification and I got distracted, what were we doing?
Nobody believes me either when I say that's what I'm reading. I'm not sure whether to take that as a compliment that they don't think I'm lame enough, or an insult that they think it's lame.