Laptop or a Notebook?

WordPress is flooded with authors, all of whom are either novelists or bloggers alone. Every person’s website is a testimony to the pen they hold in their hand and as we indulge in this art almost every day, it’s crucial to know whether the mode of the art being crafted is suitable for the long run or not. Said modes are either writing through the literal pen or typing on the computer or laptop. A bestie of mine asked me about the pros and cons of each a couple of months ago and I thought, why not blog it for everyone else as well?

I’ve been in this for six years now and with all the experimentations, I’ve managed to finalise the list based on my results. You can choose whichever works best for you, as I can’t make this blog into a lesson you should definitely oblige to. But if my results and solutions strike a chord with you, I’m really happy.

Let’s see what comes with the laptop/computer first.

Pros:

• If the keyboard is sleek, you’ll never be tired of typing at all. And, you can actually complete writing sooner than you can on the notebook, with the letters already written and all you have to do is type them in the proper sequence of spellings and sentences.
• You’ll be able to fit loads of lines in one page than you normally would using a pen on an A4 sheet.
• One of the best parts of writing in a laptop is that you can edit without making a total mess of paragraph extras and cross outs. If someone opens my notebook to divulge the mystery of my story, they’ll be having a hard time divulging a page itself. But after you insert extra scenes or take some stuff out on the word document, you’ll have a neat result in the end.
• MS Word highlights spelling errors and grammatical errors for you to correct, as well as has an installed thesaurus whenever you’re stuck with finding the right word.
• The word document also calculates the number of words and pages, which is very useful if you have a word limit to your story. If you don’t have one, it’s great to see the numbers increasing. Well, in my case, as I can’t tell a short story at all.
• With all the different fonts and bolds and italics available, you can have loads of fun with styling your manuscript to your heart’s content, imagining it being in print already.

Cons:

• The first drawback of using a laptop or a computer is that you’ll strain your eyes if you spend too much time on it. And the worst part of it is, even when your eyes wail to get up off the chair immediately, you can’t resist completing a dialogue or a scene if you’re in the middle of an important one then.
• Speaking of the chair, you won’t be obliged to get up and stretch your muscles every now and then. It has a habit of making you stay seated for longer hours without any inkling of the time flashing by. It’s not good for our health that way. The longer hours of sitting can cause problems within your body you’re better off not having. Your elbows will also hurt by being pressured to your arm rests, if they don’t have cushions.
• One annoying trait is that you don’t stick to the word document alone. You won’t even be aware of yourself directing the mouse to clicking on Google Chrome to stalk someone online or end up on YouTube. Even if you switch off the WiFi, you have a tendency to switch it back on.

Moving onto the notebook.

Pros:

• The first pro of the notebook is that you never strain your eyes.
• When you can’t take your laptop to another place, in fear of it being damaged, you can always take your notebook to go with you. It’s perfect if you find a shady place under a tree in the middle of a peaceful field or park, where you can keep the notebook on your lap and sit in your comfortable position. You can’t keep a laptop on your lap – I do hope people don’t do that – or sit in a comfortable position with it on the floor, unless you like punching your back.
• You write in your own handwriting. Nothing is more amazing than seeing your own story written in your own words with your own handwriting. It’s a piece of priceless treasure.
• You’ll be more inclined to put it down for a while and go and take a walk to give your muscles some exercise.

Cons:

• As already mentioned before, the inserts of extras and cross-outs create a mess on the page. I don’t like my manuscripts being messy.
• Writing with the pen for too long can cramp the muscles of your forearms slightly. You won’t be able to write without taking a break, no matter how much you want to keep writing.
• Unlike the laptop, you can’t keep a backup of your story with the notebook. If it’s lost, you lose a ton of agonised tears along with it.

As you can see, there is almost equal balance between the laptop and notebook, as each has its own share of benefits and disadvantages. But in my personal opinion, I prefer the notebook first, the health benefit being the first and foremost.

I win!

If you’re in a profession, you have to find the healthiest way to do it if you want to be in it for a long time. What I do is write in my notebook during the weekdays, and then copy it all in the laptop during the weekend. At least, that’s what I try to do when the pulls of YouTube, F.R.I.E.N.D.S, and mythological shows on Hotstar lose their hold now and then. I strive to avoid the laptop and computer as much as I can and hope to achieve a healthy balance in which I am not driven to watching the aforementioned much more than I like to do.

Admit it, guys, this your dream office, isn’t it? Because it sure is mine!