Compulsion: to improve a draft’s structure we must see the whole! Scissors, tape, ink!
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I can't get over how helpful and freeing it is to *physically* see and move things around! to be literally surrounded by the creative process.
(and relatedly: why can't this feeling be captured on screens? is it foolish to try?)
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Screens are too small, too low resolution! Hard to improvise with too.
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Every paper I’ve written has been printed, sliced up, and physically re-arranged. It’s incredibly helpful and now a consistent part of my process!
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I recall an anecdote about PG Wodehouse’s writing: he would hang each page on a string strung around the perimeter of the room, and move them up/down as his rewrites of each page made them funnier/less funny. He wasn’t done until every page was at the ceiling.
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1/4 of an 8.5x11
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I have been trying to get this working on screens.
When the changed the meaning of "cut and paste",
the world lost a vital capability.
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Meant to say: I have been trying to get this
working on screens for decades.
When they changed the meaning of "cut and paste"
in 1984, the world lost a vital capability.
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Indeed! I'm grateful for all your work in this space. Do you still think it's possible to achieve this level of fluidity on typically-sized screens? Or must the hardware change significantly too?
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