The Pomera has been my Holy Grail of writer decks since I backed it on Indiegogo. When I first saw it advertised on Facebook, I backed it as soon as I could. I have tried both the Freewrite Alpha and the Freewrite Traveler, and neither met my needs in the same way. I am a child of the late 90s early 2000s and lived in that era where what was yours was yours, and there were few subscriptions if any to use what you owned. I greatly miss the era where you didn’t always have to subscribe to get the full capabilities of everything your product was able to do. I love technology but I do have my complaints on why nearly everything is a subscription.
The Pomera simply works. It’s thin, low-profile, unobtrusive form is perfect for a tiny New York City coffee shop tabletop, and it goes seamlessly from day to night with an adjustable backlight and doesn’t disrupt workflow with straightforward spell check and comparison capabilities. I have written over 50,000 words on this small but mighty device, easily going through many chapters at a time in a single file and making edits primarily for my Blue Lattice Network Series. Each time I dip into my series where the key takeaway of the story is that technology and science need immediate guardrails made by compassionate humans the stars never seemed more aligned when I was asked to write this article about why I am so obsessed with this device.
When I was first introduced to the world of e-ink, low-tech and the concept of going back to analog hobbies like common placing and morning pages I was so enraptured with the idea of going back to the basics of less noise, distractions and just immersed in one activity at one time. The current world is so overstimulating at times that even booting up your computer, your eyes can be forced to juggle video, multitude of colors and sounds and pings and just everything all at once and you haven’t even begun your task. I have a multitude of what people would consider analog hobbies. I occasionally write short stories in full by hand and am deeply passionate about a good Blackwing pencil, journaling daily in my Hobonichi Cousin and my nightly ritual is reading for an hour before bed on my Kindle. If I spent my whole day in front of screens, it’s so hard for me to sleep. The physical act writing for example, although it can feel labor intensive compared to typing, helps me process and capture my day. The physically filled pages of ephemera also feel good to see and touch.
I am easily distracted and sidetracked by notifications and the Pomera has none of that at any point. It’s just me and the world I have created for myself. It takes me back to a time when I was a child lost to my own imagination siting by the window in the sunlight. Whenever I am using my Pomera it is like a nervous system reset. Even if I make a temporary pivot into my writing notes on my side while using my Pomera, it is not as distracting as a stack of photos being shared to my phone from a friend, a ping from Facebook about a like, and being informed of a sale on Steam on my laptop.
I truly feel that the Pomera is the ideal writer deck for someone looking for fluidity in their workflow from the device to their computer and to protect their work since there is a password protect feature. I also think the Pomera is perfect for people who want to carry light since they can use the comparison feature on the opposite side for world building and notes and the opposite side for their prose or writing piece in progress so no real need for notebooks. As a mom who writes primarily at night the Pomera has been perfect for me because of the backlight feature which the Freewrite Traveler lacks. The LCD screen makes all the difference in speed because although I appreciate e-ink for when I want the paper-like feel for ebooks, when I have an idea and need to get it down, I need to get it down fast.
What I appreciate so much about Pomera is I don’t feel like I am sacrificing anything. Everything feels purposefully designed and everything works together perfectly every time. The Pomera has a very human-centered design where the focus is your focus. I have just a few more chapters to transfer to my computer before I am done with the book I am currently writing on the Pomera: These Severed Threads of Magic. I have had a very busy time in my life where I started my teaching career as a middle school ELA teacher and finishing up this series and this little device has protected my writing time by keeping it exclusively writing time.
| Author | Anna Lisa L. Young |
|---|---|
| Bio |
NYC. MFA. The Blue Lattice Network. NYU ‘25 |
| @alyoungwrites | |
| TikTok | @al_youngwrites |