A Love Of Paper

Using physical paper in the writing process

On a recent chat, Christine showed me her printout of her latest manuscript in progress, which she’s printed on paper for a revision pass because it helps her think better. Which got me thinking, because there are certain parts of my process that I also prefer to do on paper. So I thought I’d talk about when I move to physical paper in my process and why.

Ideation

I like to do early ideation on paper. I jot down notes, sketches, etc. on paper. I will sometimes to this digitally because I don’t have my notebook on me, but it’s definitely something I prefer to do on paper, like these early FRIENDBOTS sketches:

Early idea sketches for Friendbots

Tricky Problems

I also like to work our gnarly problems on paper. If I’m trying to work through some plot that’s not working, or figuring out rhyming lines, it can help me to move to paper because I can work more spatially… drawing arrows, shoving things in different spots, varying emphasis. Here’s some early noodling for my upcoming LOTS AND LOTS OF OCELOTS picture book:

Puzzling out lines for LOTS AND LOTS OF OCELOTS (coming 2026)

Visual Flow

Sometimes I do thumbnails on paper. These might be illustration thumbnails, or just story arc thumbnails for pacing. I mostly do these digitally now, but I might start on paper to work things out. Here’s a napkin sketch I did when I was trying to work out the pacing for THE BOO CREW NEEDS YOU! and didn’t have my actual notebook handy:

Paper Prototypes

I definitely also work in paper for working out novelty books! I make paper dummies to work out the mechanics of the books. Here’s my submission video for ALPHABOT, showcasing the novelty mix-and-match:

Later Revisions

I also like to move to paper if I’m feeling stuck in later phases on a story. It helps me to see the story in a different light, and jot down my thoughts in the margins. It lets me add thoughts where I think they might belong without altering the base structure.

Why Paper?

I don’t know why I can’t get digital to quite work the same as paper for some of these thought processes. I’ll sometimes use Procreate in the same ways I might use paper, but there’s something different about it. Maybe it’s the impermanence of digital drawing, or the meaninglessness of scale, or the lack of tactile feedback. Something about the act of the physical writing helps me think things through!

I also just… love paper. I love making things out of paper. It’s so full of possibilities and can be transformed in so many ways. I love making pop-up cards. I love making origami. I love visiting stationery stores. During Covid, my kids and I spent months making hundreds of paper robots.

So I guess, if you’re feeling stuck, try playing around on paper! It might just unlock something new.