When I was a young student, around the 1990s, before computers and word-processing applications were fully available to us, the tools for writing were pen and paper. A manual or electric typewriter was the best technology at that time.
In those days, writing assignments followed these steps:
I started with reading books in the libraries. On the topics I decided on, I roamed around bookshelves. They were located based on the numbers like 100 for philosophy, 130 for anthropology, 200 for theology, and the like. I loved this Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), as disciplines like philosophy and theology were treated with high respect.
Another place I used to spend hours was in front of the card box cabinets. In the university libraries, the card box cabinets were in one designated room, where you could spend hours checking library cards. It was a tedious task as you checked each card and took notes, manually copying the bibliographical information like titles, authors, and dates.
Recalling these efforts, I’m amazed at how patient all students and researchers were during those days, spending days and weeks on this task. Later on, the card cabinets were digitized, and yet we needed to check the classic MS-DOS-like dark mode screen of a bulky desktop computer.
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With relevant bibliographies identified, I moved to reading these books. While reading was enjoyable, the effort was tedious. As the books were from the library, I couldn’t write anything on the margins. If I encountered something important, either quotable or insightful, I had to manually copy the portions, summarize them, or write a micro-essay.
What I was doing was indeed “slow reading.” The books embedded in my mind in life were the ones I met during those days. That is the power of slow reading and the importance of reading while you are young.
And yet, I had to “stop” searching for more books at certain points. This decision was crucial. Otherwise, reading books and materials for research tends to be endless. The more I read, the more books I felt I must read emerge.
That’s one of the problems graduate students fall into. Let’s say, writing is like cooking. First, you should gather ingredients. But collecting these ingredients (reading relevant books) alone is not yet cooking (writing). The important thing is to “start” writing. While it sounds strange, you can never start writing, unless and until you start writing. “Drafting” is the action that saves you.
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In the late twentieth century, the writing task was not yet digitized. Many of us believed that drafting should be done manually. We should use a pen and paper. One typical “tool” for drafting was the yellow legal pad. It looked inexpensive, and we could bring it anywhere and treat it like a piece of scratch paper.
This feeling mitigated the psychological burden of initiating the act of writing, feeling like merely jotting down what came to mind.
I miss those manual handwriting days.
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We were advised to create the outline first. Once the outline was fixed, that was the time we could confidently start writing. However, as Peter Elbow, the author of Writing without Teachers and Writing with Power, one of the best advocates for freewriting, emphasized, your rigid outline could be counterproductive.
With this outline, we no longer write in a way that thoughts flow through writing but focus on “filling the content” based on the predetermined outline. We miss creative “serendipity” in this outline-based writing process.
I agree with Peter Elbow. We shouldn’t allow the outline to limit our creativity. Writing should always be in a state of flux and flow, with a series of serendipitous moments as part of writing meditation.
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People sometimes preferred drafting with a manual typewriter. This classic act looked fascinating with the mesmerizing sounds of typing. I tried this approach from time to time, but a manual typewriter created a loud noise and bulky to bring it anywhere.
For writing, we need a sanctuary. While it didn’t have to be your room, the place where you could devote yourself to writing was ideal.
I used a desk in the library bookshelves or a table in the cafeteria. On the days when we didn’t have a notebook computer or tablet device at all, the ideal item was a pen and paper, like a cheap ballpoint pen and a legal-size yellow pad.
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Once the drafting task was completed, then I proceeded to the next step, using a word-processing application to format and refine the content for submission.
When Windows 95 was released, or Apple’s PowerBook was a cool gadget, early adopters were directly drafting with those machines. But then, manual writing with a pen and paper was the way many of us completed writing tasks.
We believed that writing should be a “physical act,” not only fingers but a physical pen and paper should be used to maximize the creative flow of our minds.
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I’m not sure today if I could do the same steps if I were to write a term paper, thesis, or dissertation without the internet and advanced writing tools.
I can no longer draft with a pen and paper. I don’t visit the library unless I need to check non-digitized documents. I directly type content using my laptop, not a PowerBook but a MacBook Air.
Drafting can even be done with my iPhone. Typing with a virtual keyboard is more convenient than typing on a physical keyboard. And the tiny screen of a smartphone allows me to focus on writing act alone, “here and now” like meditation.
I go shopping with my wife; while she enjoys shopping, I walk behind her, drafting on my iPhone, catching flowing ideas and thoughts at the moment. It gives me a similar sentiment to the days I carried my yellow legal pad everywhere.
Despite technological differences, what has never changed is the act of “drafting.” If you are a believer that writing is thinking, and vice versa, and value writing meditation, whether it is done with a yellow pad or an iPhone, you are drafting with your creative flow state.
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The rest is more about “refinement.”
For this part, advanced word-processing technology has made our lives easier. You don’t worry about extra copies as digital content can be duplicated unlimitedly. Spelling and grammar checkers and other proofreading tools are sophisticated. I can recall those days when I needed to check spelling, grammar, and punctuation with my physical eyes one by one, which wasn’t enough; I asked my classmates to check them.
Today, with generative AI, we are experiencing the most sophisticated technology for refinement and proofreading.
In recent years, tools like Grammarly have been for checking my writing, along with similar features in word-processing or note-taking applications. However, due to the introduction of generative AI in 2023, this influence was inevitable.
You can even conduct brainstorming or ideation sessions with AI. And once you have completed your draft, AI can immediately refine it, making it more reader-friendly or SEO-tailored. You can ask AI to make any strategic, marketable modifications.
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In the business sector, this adoption of generative AI is a must. Without AI, you can’t survive in any industry; hence, the use of AI, whether intentional or not, has become commonplace even in my writing. At first, it was for spelling and grammar checking alone. But then, getting used to AI intelligence as it evolves rapidly, even when my draft was rough, AI could complete it pleasingly.
This would be a dilemma. Once this becomes habitual, it might affect my writing instinct.
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While working in the IT industry, I’ve taken this for granted as the use of AI is encouraged, but there is such a thing as AI detectors. Teachers and publishers rely on them as their priorities are the originality and creativity of the submitted writings.
And now on YouTube, there are tons of videos sharing how to evade the AI detectors. It’s indeed like the sports industry dealing with doping challenges. On the other hand, I’ve noticed tons of posts, mainly by students, even professional writers, who suffer from false positive results of AI detectors.
I had been optimistic about AI’s involvement in content creation. But now, after knowing these things, I’m not sure. In my work, using AI is inevitable, but for my “personal” writing like this, discretion seems necessary.
Image: Photo captured by the author.
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