Commendation
Using cell-writing, the act of producing a piece of written work takes on a more spatial feel. Working in this way, can be surprisingly liberating. It somehow becomes a less linear process; it feels less constrained by the conventional approaches that many find problematic. For those who find constructing written work using linear writing systems difficult, this is a viable alternative. Instead of writing sequentially, one is able to think spatially about a piece of work. Some find thinking spatial less easy than others and so, while I would commend cell-writing to anyone, it is possible that this approach may not suit everybody.
Furthermore, this approach can be quite versatile. If one does not want the sentences to follow linearly – at least not for the time being – they can be entered anywhere on the spreadsheet grid. Indeed, one does not really have to write complete sentences initially. Sentences and/or notes can be entered in any sequence and edited, re-ordered etc. later on. The final structure is very much something for a later stage. Content and substance must have first priority. Cell-writing is primarily about entering and ordering the text that forms the content of a piece of writing. It is about constructing one's argument without being constrained by what a linear framework imposes. As such, it is about not being constrained by what word processors impose. Nevertheless, cell-writing also lends itself to conventional linear writing. One can write sentences that follow one after the other. One simply forms them into a column of sentence-containing cells. These can also be arranged in a block to represent paragraphs.
In a spatial system such as cell-writing, it can be much easier to find one's place within the body of the text because changes are restricted only to the cells in question. There are no text-flow effects with which one has to contend as occurs when using word processors. One's mental image of the structure of a piece of writing, is not upset each time something is edited.
If you find cell-writing useful...
...please tell others. Please go to the Cell-Writing Leaflet page where a .pdf leaflet is available to print or email.
Conclusion
Cell-writing is, for me, a tried and tested writing system. As I said elsewhere, it is the approach I now adopt as a matter of course when ever I have a sizeable writing project. It was the approach I used to write the text for this website.
Having used cell-writing for a number of years, I have seen my use of it change over time. Using a spreadsheet, I have added and removed different keyboard shortcuts and macros. I have now more-or-less settled down into my own way of using the technique. That is not to say that some minor tweak or new idea might not emerge in future. To that end, this website will show any new developments from time to time should they emerge. However, I am sure that I will never try to write directly into a word processor again. Certainly not when it comes to writing something important and that I want to do well.
One seems to adopt a different mentality when using cell-writing. A different mind-set seems to emerge. Writing using a two dimensional grid literally adds a extra dimension to one's writing.