As part of the 2010 WordCount Blogathon, we’re hosting guest blog posters today.

Please welcome Rebecca L. Weber, who blogs for NewsTilt SAfrica:

Unhinged
By Rebecca L. Weber

My laptop’s screen is detaching itself. I’ve been advised to avoid using it, but even when I cheat, I can’t do anything with photos or video as everything has gone bright white and green. In the best-case scenario, in another 10 business days the repair will have been approved, the part will arrive from Europe, and I’ll be able to get back to work as normal. Except that that may not actually be what I want or need. I’m very good at setting up boundaries about work and home and not spending too much time in front of the computer screen, but not so good about actually following those rules. I know that my most enjoyable (and usually best) work comes when I work on big sheets of paper, with mindmaps and drawings. But I usually opt for “saving time” by beginning and ending projects on the computer.

Typically, I take ferocious notes on my laptop to keep up with the person speaking. I’ll likely record the interviews as well, and afterword I zap the digital file to the computer to cross-check everything.

It’s been two parts hassle, one part relief, to come up with work-arounds that make sense without the computer. I’ve been writing drafts longhand, printing them out at the internet cafe while checking email, and making edits with a red pen. And, inevitably, meandering off with wherever my pen takes me.

At the Franschhoek Literary Festival this weekend, I dutifully took a little reporter’s notebook and jotted down sound bites from writers Ndumiso Ngcobo and Antjie Krog. I noted that most other reporters were not recording anything. Did they just have better recall? Or were they going for the essence of what somebody said and not futzing too much about exact quotes?

My last session of the day was a panel including South African novelist Ivan Vladislavi? and the New Yorker’s Philip Gourevitch talking about editorial relationships. Listening to this talk was pure pleasure–no notes. Alas, I can’t accurately quote Gourevitch talking about how to faithfully and grammatically quote somebody who starts repeating themselves. But I can report that there was a clear and emphatic warning to guard against work that can sap you of the energy better spent on creative projects. They were holding up editing as an example of such work, but I think for me, the internet’s traps and delights are just as damaging.

Rebecca L. Weber is a journalist who covers social justice, the arts, and health. Rebecca has written for aarp.org, the Christian Science Monitor, GlobalPost, O the Oprah Magazine, the Washington Blade, the Washington Post, and many other publications.

Share on Facebook