Such a Tool

From typewriters to word processors to apps, I've always been particular about the tools of my trade

In my earlier quasi-review of my new Kindle Scribe, I gushed about the ways it had increased my creative output. That’s still the case, with the big e-ink pad serving as the focus for my ideas, outlines, and notes on what I’m reading.

But, as much as I love the damn thing, it can’t serve as my main tool for writing. I’m not crazy and the idea of writing 1,500 words for publication in one sitting purely via handwriting makes my hand cramp in advance. That’s why I have other and better tools for that.

I’m thinking of this in part because I’ve been poking around some writers’ groups on Reddit and other fetid pools of the internet, where one of the biggest questions new writers have is, “What do you use to write?” (One of the other biggest questions is, “I’ve always wanted to be a writer but I can’t figure out how to write anything can I still be a famous writer?” Followed by, “Will you read this thing I wrote?” Nope and nope.)

As internet writing questions go, asking about the tools of the …