I am still working graphics, mostly clearing away photo backgrounds, which is amazingly time-consuming work. But satisfying in a weird way. But I need to get back to editing words, and I discovered one thing that might be of interest to any of you who are, like me, of a certain age and not getting younger.

I learned to write on paper, and got pretty good with a typewriter. I actually wrote out most of my first novel longhand, which was an insane thing to do. I later typed it into WordStar when I got my first computer (though of course it’s been decades since I had any computer that could read eight-inch floppy disks in a CP/M format, but never mind). Though I’ve mostly taught myself to draft on the computer (I use Scrivener now), I still like to go to paper to edit. There’s something about seeing the words on a page that helps me read them in a different way.

But lately when I try to edit I’ve had real trouble focusing on the printout of this book, and haven’t understood why. But like that proverbial bolt of lightning I realized last week that the light on my desk was too dim for me to read well. I’ve long had to bump up my font sizes to be able to read — another reason why I love my Kindle — but I’ve always worked with the lights dim in my office. Alas, my eyes aren’t up to that any more.

So I got an LED desk lamp that fits for the “spreading out papers” side of my desk, and hope this will indeed help me to focus better. Since focus is the goal this time, that would be a big plus.

Here’s the blog hop link for today’s check-in. I hope that everyone has light shining on their work and all the focus they need.