Dark Mode Legal Pad, Revisited

A follow-up to my earlier effusive praise of my “dark mode legal pad,” still effusive but with more detail as both usage and purpose have solidified into two defined functions, each a version of “word-doodling”:

One, a “morning-pages” style stream of (un)conscious rambling to empty my brain and see if something, anything, sounds good. More often than not, the same phrases are repeated over days or weeks: stragglers trying to find the rhythm they need to join the rest of The Work — or the word equivalent of some jackass interjecting eleventeen, ninety-six, ninety-teen, when I’m trying to count to a hundred.

Second, a slowed-down testing ground for small revisions, seeking that right rhythm, that right turn of phrase, that might propel me to further development in the main iA Writer document. Note: I do have to make the leap back to iA Writer rather quickly thanks to my previously discussed shitty handwriting lest I become unable to read what I’ve written after a few minutes.

Amazed that this $40 piece of box-store plastic remains such an integral part of my process – and relieved that it has kept wasted scraps of legal pad paper and disposable pens (note: while I do my best to be environmentally conscious, I will never abandon my beloved Pilot V Razor Point pens; when we’re all wearing gas masks and floating about on half-inflated life rafts like an unfairly-maligned mid-90s piss-drinking Kevin Costner flop, I’ll still be clutching one of those pens) to a bare minimum. The only option I would like to see is a variety of stylus/pen tip sizes – a fine point would be most welcome (and perhaps help with control and the aforementioned shitty handwriting though I know that that’s all on me), and render my failed, screen-scratching hack involving an empty mechanical pencil and duct tape a distant memory.