That too! Forgot about that in my list. Also, a notebook full of text, crossed out words, margins full of notes is just so satisfying to see.
I squashed my writing hand cutting the door off of a crashed car a couple of years ago, so writing long passages is too painful. I used to love writing letters, but that's a struggle now. A story would be impossible. So PC it is for me.
Have you tried any of the voice-t0-text apps available? A friend of mine says that they've been a life saver for her.
I started in notebooks and would rather write physically, however I'd have to type it up if I wanted to actually do anything productive with it. Therefore, the computer. However the computer has a lot of advantages I like: colored text, find & search function, font sizes, etc. All very useful for organization and flavor. Also far more legible than anything my hands are capable of.
Typing it from paper provides an opportunity to do a first edit. I make a lot of improvements when it goes from my notepad into the computer.
I like the security of pen and paper. It's immune to power spikes, save those that burn the house down, and my handwriting is bad enough to qualify as self-encrypting. Seriously, writing is still writing, regardless of the medium. If I had to forego my digital systems, I'd prefer a typewriter to pen and paper. In fact, I'm about half tempted to find a manual portable in good shape. It would be just the thing, off grid in a primitive campsite.
Writing on paper for me takes up more hand co-ordination, which I am severely lacking in. My handwriting is terrible and I make so many errors, and I write so slowly - it's just more expedient for me to use a word processor. I haven't written on paper for years and years, and my writing has significantly improved because I can now write without worrying about making my hands move properly.
Computer, not even a question in my mind. I came up in the pre-personal computer era, I have absolutely NO desire to go back to what seems like the middle-ages to me. Also, as a retired programmer and software project manager, creativity in a digital environment seems quite natural to me.
For me, I have a specific thought in my mind when I decide between paper and plastic...I mean, paper and computer. If I'm looking for spontaneous writing, I use computer. If I want to slow down my writing, I use paper first and then move to computer later.
It's fascinating. In the modern twitterverse, where we are marketed, manipulated, and pressed by the rush of media, we writers still influence the course of history with our minds. Even the most technocratic among us are still effective with centuries-old tools. Paper, pen, subject, verb. Even in the digital spectrum, plain text is far from dead. #werock, as the kids would say.
I just wrote 5 note book pages with a fountain pen. Will probably write at least two more tonight. It’ll get typed up tomorrow and edited as I type.
Computers make editing, formatting and collating so much easier. But I do prefer writing on paper occasionally when I'm doing something more like brainstorming, trying to compare different possibilities for something.
I've always hated writing longhand. I can't even decipher my own handwriting. I can type a lot faster. If I want a more natural word construction, I use Dragon Naturally Speaking as I find I often speak differently from the way I write. Handwriting is the bane of my life, to be avoided like a disease!
I also type a lot faster than I write, but I also write faster than I come up with scenes, paragraphs and sentences (usually). So it works out in the end.
Totally agree.i do it in longhand and add sentences later in smaller writing.ive noticed a odvious differance between longhand and using a computer.
so, i used to have scores of notebooks. I flew back home over the weekend and didnt feel like bringing my computer, so I brought my notebook. I was reminded why i prefer the computer: 1) i write so much and so small, i get cramps in my hand and I am forced to take a break 2) I cant write as fast as I think without it being chicken scratch to the point where even i can read it... when I type, I can type as fast as I want and auto correct takes care of the words I hastily type out (and when I'm done, I can go back and read my work to see if the words are right and makes sense) 3) i now have to type everything I've written this weekend in to a doc.... I am dreading it.....
I use only computer. I can organize my thoughts better, work on multiple stories at once and my word count is higher per day. I’ll sometimes write notes on paper or just brainstorm, but most of the time I’ll just keep everything in my head. Do whatever you feel is right for you.
As @Glen Barrington suggests - the only drawback to the computer age - is our inability to quickly sift the IT graduates with their appalling hand-writing/& techy manners. This previous advantage for the arts & humanities, BA rather than BSC [shudder], my people - has evolved to nigh on a discrimination and the end of culture.
