Repurposing Old Texts

a wacko revision prompt

Lately I’ve been having the time of my life playing with actual scraps. It’s a feature-in-progress of analog practice: in moving more of my creative world offline, it actually exists in the physical world. Writing is physical, visual.

Last month I bought a typewriter, and once I set it up in my writing space, it sat there like a question mark at first, and then an invitation. I wasn’t sure exactly how I’d use it. But gradually, as we’ve gotten to know each other, I’ve found that I love it for little notes, ideas, and inspirations—the kinds of things I would have tapped into my Notes app and then forgotten about forever.

Now, at the end of the day, if there’s something I want to get down, I grab a scrap of paper and type it out.

The more I do it, the more the scrap turns out to be as important as the text.

Like earlier this week, when I wanted to remember a part of a conversation I’d had with Sarah earlier in the day, I rifled through my scrap pile and found this rejected pencil drawing of a foxglove. I typed over the sketch and then, to finish the job, I felt compelled to fill it in.