A trustworthy writing tool

James Patterson writes all his books with a pencil. He scribbles every outline and page and then has someone type them out.

The nice thing about a pencil is that they're a piece low-tech that's quickly replaceable. You could lose or break it, but if you know this, you can plan ahead.

The worst-case scenario is you could lose the book you're writing in. As someone who's done this in the past, it's not a good feeling. (I still think about Hemingway's suitcase that was lost with his early drafts.)

No tool is perfect.

A computer relies on processors, operating systems, software, storage, and the internet. We could revert to a typewriter, but even that could jam or run out of ink.

All tools are good—until they aren't and get in the way of the work. The simpler the solution, the better you can trust it. It might fail, but you'll have a reliable backup if the solution is simple.