The tool doesn’t matter as much as the permission.
Pen, pencil, crayon, chalk — anything that can catch a thought before it disappears. I’ve written with all of them. My life made sure I had to adapt. Notebooks were the hardest. I would forget them somewhere, buy another, misplace that one too, only to find it months later. Writing survived the chaos, even when the container didn’t.
I tried voice-to-text, but free-writing that way felt strange, like the words arrived without my body attached. I recorded myself on my phone for a while, but I never went back to listen. Transcription became another barrier. I learned quickly that I wasn’t good at translating spoken thought back into written form.
At one point I found the perfect solution — or so I thought. A Rocketbook notebook. Special paper. Special pen. Wipe it clean with water and a cloth. Reusable. Organized. Except the software couldn’t read my handwriting. Especially not when the words came fast, when I followed the Artist’s Way instruction to never let the pen leave the page. My handwriting outran the technology.
Now, as I type these old journal pages into Scrivener, cleaning them up, I can see the pattern more clearly. I was never looking for the perfect tool. I was looking for a way to stay uninterrupted.
Dictation might return someday. Right now, it’s old school. Pen to paper. Fingers on keys. Retyping by hand. Quiet. No one interrupting me or telling me I talk to myself too much.
The one tool that has stayed with me is Scrivener. Not because it’s perfect, but because it holds everything in one place. Blogs, podcasts, screenplays, novels. It lets me organize without forcing order too soon. I even built my own template — Save the Cat meets the Snowflake — because I needed something that honored structure without flattening individuality. Jessica Brody was right. We’re all snowflakes. Unique. Delicate. And strong enough to hold our own shape.
The tool still doesn’t matter most.
What matters is that I keep showing up —
and that this time, I’ve built a place that can keep up with me.
Alignment Before Outcome
Sometimes the right tool isn’t the one that promises efficiency. It’s the one that allows you to stay with yourself long enough to hear what’s already there.
