Always be sharpening
In which I celebrate the enduring power of the pencil:
Because pencils are so straightforward, they’ve long been associated in my mind with the kind of focus that likes to elude me when I am working onscreen. When I need to revise a piece, I still like to print out the current draft and read through it with a freshly sharpened pencil in hand. Even the act of sharpening that pencil signals to my brain that it’s time to get down to work and pay attention.
