My Love Affair with Lead
- Carla Gonzalez
- Dec 14, 2014
- 2 min read
Why Graphite Delirium you ask? (Just pretend you did to go along with the post).
Well, it has to be because of my lover for pencils.
Yes. Pencils.
Good ones though, like Ticonderoga, not the cheap ones where the wood around the lead always breaks.
For me, there are very few things in life that are better than a freshly sharpened pencil. I am referring to realistic things, mind you, not fantastical items like a 6-month tour of Europe or flying through space in an YT-1300 freighter (Google it, I’ll wait).
Back? OK.
The smell of shavings, the sound of the grinder, and the sight of precision marks on the paper are enough to give me chills. Every idea seems smarter and fresher when it comes out of a fine point versus a blunt end. And when the words flow at a near constant pace the experience becomes Zen-like, putting Nirvana just a “t” crossing or period away.
Yeah, fine, that was all a little over the top, I know. But it’s no exaggeration when I say I do my best writing with pencil and paper than at a keyboard. I find it less stifling—my mind is able to move more quickly from one idea to another without my progress being hindered. I find the keyboard somehow restraining, and I focus more on the squares I’m hitting than the ideas I’m producing.
That’s not to say that I can’t write at my computer. On the contrary, when it comes to bulk blocks of copy like the content for a brochure or pages for a website, I complete at least 95% of it at my computer. When I’m in the zone, my fingers are on fire. But for the finer points— strategy ideas, tag lines, headlining, opening graphs, and alike—I’m am at my best crossing out, half scribbling, and occasionally doodling on a legal pad than staring at a glowing screen. This is the material that needs my deepest thinking.
I think, in fact, it’s that ability to write freely that makes the difference. Writing for me is as much physical as it is mental. I need to be able to doodle a bit as I think, or “feel” the words as they come out. Then there’s this instant where I see it—the ideas floating about in my mind solidify—and I’m quick like a bunny to the computer. From that moment on it’s pure euphoria as my fingers fly across the keys. Sure, what I consider brilliance may not make the cut, but in that moment I am ecstatic about the message I’ve created. For me, that moment is the part of my job that I love best.
Now, it’s not for everyone, but do I recommend that if you are a) developing any kind of writing and b) are stuck or just need to get your ideas into inspired order, you give it a try. Novel, ad, instruction manual for a futon—whatever it is, breaking free from the cat videos and soft glow of the monitor might just be the thing you need to get your ideas to the next level.
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