#adventures in creativity generation versus workflow optimisation versus physical limitation versus time-resource constraint

[divinekangaroo]

I think I posted about getting a Remarkable? Worst name ever I feel embarrassed even writing it so I will call it the rmk.

it’s surprisingly pleasant to use as that infinite notebook, and I’ve found it astoundingly useful at work, like writing/drawing/mapping matrix shit out (or difficult emails) before going to computer.

for writing, though, I’m of two minds. I picked an old concept one shot (a 9k txl) and managed to long-hand write a full zero draft soooo easily. No distraction, good flow, no pain; the ability to add notes at random times; the ability to add a sentence or two in boring overlong meetings…so the zero draft one shot felt like a pure success, such absolute ease of writing. but then I get stuck: the only thing I can do to get that draft a step closer to a post is fully re-type it out on the computer, which took me three of my available night blocks anyway and with very little improvement/edit.

I could possibly improve my handwriting, ‘text to type’ it in the rmk, then email my computer a PDF and copy-paste into word…but then I’m stuck on the computer again anyway.

I could ‘text to type’ it in the rmk and *only* edit it within the rmk , then do the pdf copy-paste only when I’m ready to post - but tbh the editing capabilities for word processing are fairly poor.

and then comes the issue of multichaps. I thought, ‘all right, my handwritings a lost cause on this one for text to type to test that ‘edit and finalise on rmk’ workflow…so let’s try fixing one of these languishing unfinished chapters I have…’ but I can’t get an editable doc from computer to rmk. Only PDF. So I’m not gonna fully re write something just to edit it on the rmk, and you can’t split screen so you can’t even flick back and forth to make that rewrite on the device easier.

then the final issue being, I have no idea how you’d actually write a multichap on this, because I neeeeed to flick back and forth. Does this idea belong here or there or in the future? Did I say that already? Idek! And so again: limited ability to deal with complex story structures.

so yeah, a success at work, a success at actually giving me *back* some time for writing (it’s such a delightfully comfortable thing to use with longhand, and that zero draft really was a fluid pleasure to write - can use at playground, at table, on couch watching kids) but *only* limited to well defined, well visualised one-shots that can be zero-drafted, and at some point there’s a duplication of effort or a transfer barrier that causes delay anyway.