Emm's Digital Library

The first clear memory I have of writing takes me back to around fourth grade when our class had learned to write cursive the previous year. The assignment I distinctly remember was to write a fiction story, but we had to write with paper and pencil, fully in cursive. I was so proud and satisfied with the hard work and time that translated on to the physical page when it was done that my mother kept it for all these years. Looking back, that’s probably around the time that my enthusiasm for hand-writing my essays and thoughts started. Alexis gives many examples of people who view desks as central to their developing identity as a writer, as well as the others in their presence who supported and many times provided those objects that uplift their identity as a writer. This made me take a deeper look into what objects are central to my identity as a writer, ultimately pointing me to consider my notebook and my laptop.

When I first realized I had a specific interested in English, I was a senior in high school. I had always imagined a ‘real’ writer was someone who had an old, well-loved notebook and a special fountain pen, maybe even a laptop that was littered with stickers that reflected who they were on the surface. From my understanding, something that Alexis is trying to point out is that it’s less about the actual object and more about it’s symbolic power. These objects reaffirm and help us sustain our sense of being as ‘real’ writers. Because of my clichéd view of what authentic writers looked like when I was younger, it affirms my sense of being as a writer by hand-writing my thoughts in a physical notebook and then typing them up later. Along with the sentimentality of every essay I’ve ever typed holding memory and value within the laptop I got my junior year of high school.

Alexis made me realize that these objects and writing tools aren’t passive in my writing identity, they’re active contributors to how I feel and view myself as a writer, even if it is symbolic.