What do You Use to Write? Keyboard? Pen? Other?

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by That Secret Ninja, May 2, 2010.

  1. bookmark12

    bookmark12 New Member

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    All my stories come from my notebook and pen. The only thing I don't like about it is transferring all those stories to my computer
     
  2. DBTate

    DBTate New Member

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    Weapons of Mass Description

    Hey guys,

    Just a quick question:

    Computer / word processor VS Pen / paper?

    I'm sure most people use a combination of both, but in what order, or how do you use them?

    For me, the pen and paper is used when I'm still discovering my story. I feel that writing takes a lot more concentration then simply typing. Every letter, every flick of the pen means something. Where as using a computer and a keyboard can somewhat detach me from my work. So I feel that it is important to write your story to begin with, and when you're happy with what you've written, you start to type it.

    Thoughts?

    Cheers,

    David :)
     
  3. DBock

    DBock New Member

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    Don't forget Typewriter. I use a word processor and type very loudly because I haven't found an expensive typewriter I want to invest in. :D
     
  4. walshy12238

    walshy12238 New Member

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    Word processor is the only way to go in my opinion.
    Writing by hand can take too long, especially when you can possibly do twice as much in the same amount of time with a computer/typewriter.
     
  5. Quezacotl

    Quezacotl New Member

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    Pen/Paper. It's nice to have something tangible, word processors tend to detach me from my work.

    However, I prefer word processors in the case of speed. I can manipulate everything so much easier.
     
  6. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    I write either with computer (Microsoft Word) or with a pen. The pen and a notebook comprise the best word processor ever invented.

    Of course, like everybody else, I type much faster than I can write by hand. In my case, that’s irrelevant. I’m not one of those geniuses who can write good prose at typing speed – about 98% of my writing time is spent staring off into space thinking about what the next sentence or phrase should be, not actually setting it down on the page. My writing speed is definitely not limited by the speed at which I get the words down; it’s limited by the speed at which I can think of the words, and that speed is not very high. So it really doesn’t matter, speedwise, whether I use a computer or a pen.

    One of the major benefits of writing by hand is that the user interface, so to speak, is very free-form. I cross out words I don’t like, but as another poster said, never enough that I can’t read them after. So all “mistakes” and corrections are always visible. Sometimes when I can’t decide which of three or four words to use, I’ll write them in small print in a column where the final choice should go in the manuscript so that I can choose from them later. I can add new paragraphs by writing at right angles to the normal text in the margins. If I have to insert a large amount of text, I put a red circled A (or other letter) where the insert goes, and write the insert on the reverse side of the page. If I favor one version of a sentence over another at the time of initial composition, I write both down with the favorite written larger. I use several colors of pen and each color has a different purpose. Some people who do this kind of thing wind up complaining that their manuscript looks like a mess, and that’s why they prefer using a computer, but I think my pages look kind of like works of art in themselves, and they’re certainly a better record of my thought processes than any computer-written page.

    Another benefit of using a pen is that I get immediate psychological feedback from doing it. I can tell by the look of my handwriting, and by how my hand feels as I write it, how I’m feeling at the moment, and I can use that information as I write. I can, to a certain extent, play myself into and out of moods with my guitar; I can do the same with handwriting. I get a little of the same kind of feedback when I write by computer, but nowhere near as intensely, and the effect is only there as I’m actually writing – I can’t look at the results the next day and see what kind of mood I was in because the computer text looks the same no matter what I was feeling like when I wrote it.

    Lastly, there’s the pure physical pleasure I get from writing by hand. When I’m playing a synthesizer, I’m keenly aware that my fingers are on plastic keys and the sound emerges from a speaker separated from my fingers by a long chain of transducers, electronic hardware, and digital signal processing software. There’s no connection between me and the music. When I’m playing guitar, my fingers are touching the strings that are vibrating and producing the sound, and I feel very physically connected to the music. The same thing happens with writing by hand – I feel connected to the words in a way I never do when typing on a keyboard. I’ve never tried to quantitatively measure whether that affects my prose at all – whether or not my sentences are longer or shorter one way or another, or whether I use more metaphorical imagery, or whatever – but after an hour of writing by hand, I feel like I’ve been doing an artist’s work, whereas after an hour of typing, I feel like I’ve just been, well, typing.

    Oh, one more thing (so the previous paragraph shouldn’t have started “Lastly”, I guess): Obviously, I can’t submit a handwritten manuscript to anybody, so when I’m writing by hand, I know that I’ll be typing the work into a computer at a later time. It may be that the knowledge that what I’m writing isn’t the “final” version, that I’ll have another pass to make corrections and rewrites, makes me freer during the composition to experiment, maybe, or just to be a bit more adventurous in my choices of words, images, and rhythms, than I would be if I thought I might be working on a “final” version.

    So there it is: about 800 words on why I like writing with a pen, all written on a computer.
     
  7. skeloboy_97

    skeloboy_97 New Member

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    Use my laptop, can't stand writing on hand, i'm too slow and messy. Just use a basic word processor - microsoft works .
     
  8. Yoshiko

    Yoshiko Contributor Contributor

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    I sometimes outline on paper when I'm out of the house but for the most part I stick to using a keyboard. I'm much faster at typing than handwriting.
     
  9. chatterbox

    chatterbox Member

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    computer is better because it is neat even after changing parts of your work but a simple pen and paper would not be neat after changes to writing.
     
  10. digitig

    digitig Contributor Contributor

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    Meh. The publisher sorts out "neat". (Well, ok, you have to type up the MS, but lots of creatives don't particularly do "neat").
     
  11. Peutra

    Peutra Member

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    I bought a black notebook a couple days ago at B'N.. it's like, a small moleskin notebook, and I'm trying to fill it up. Can't resist going back to my Macbook to type a few things up in half the time it takes to write one page in that book :( oh well! Everyone's different :p
     
  12. Clumsywordsmith

    Clumsywordsmith Active Member

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    I can't write properly without a keyboard. Besides, I'm longwinded, and the keyboard has only served to accentuate that trait... and thus trying to say anything by writing it down on paper takes an abnormally long time to do, and thus I don't tend to do so unless it's really worth writing down.
     
  13. Fullmetal Xeno

    Fullmetal Xeno Protector of Literature Contributor

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    Pen, Paper, Computer. I use all three.
     
  14. Lost_in_Thought

    Lost_in_Thought New Member

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    First I write it down in one of my millions of notebooks then I type it onto the computer. My writing is nothing but messy, but thats okay wih me the only people who are going to read the written copy are me, myself, and I (maybe one fiend too) and thats it.
     
  15. CosmicHallux

    CosmicHallux New Member

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    I have horrible handwriting, but I just love writing by hand. I haven't done it since I got my computer.

    I thought Minstrel's post was interesting. I've done a lot of drawing, and I know that there are a ton of subtle movements that the hand is capable of portraying with a pen and pencil, but not with a keyboard.

    I am going to try writing by hand again. The only thing that worries me is looking back over my own writing. It is such weird hand writing--like, I don't even write with the letters slanting the same way, but they slant all over the place. I used to worry that meant I was a serial killer or something--but I'm not, so I don't have to worry about that anymore.

    Plus, when I have my laptop in front of me I am more likely to go on the internet and waste my writing time on online forums like this one--although this one isn't really a waste of time, but sometimes I should be writing instead of here.

    Also, I want to be able to write in bed in the morning and I tried to do that with my laptop but it was awkward. I have a tape recorder, so I've been meaning to try using that too, like Cogito said that he does.
     
  16. Logan | Aspire

    Logan | Aspire New Member

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    I almost always use my laptop because typing is obviously faster and computers have basically taken over our world. Although when I write with a pen I get hit with more inspiration and I have a better overall feeling about my writing. I can't quite put my finger on it as to why, but it's just how it is with me.

    -Logan
     
  17. NaughtyNick

    NaughtyNick New Member

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    I use a computer as I make so many amendments as a write. Also, my handwriting is dreadful and my hand gets tired after three or four sentences. If I hand wrote my book it would take me at least a decade. And then I'd probably lose it.
     
  18. Forceflow

    Forceflow New Member

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    I use a laptop and some software called ywriter. if i wrote by hand my hand would melt to the pen trying to write anything more than a page at once, even then im one of the only people in the world who can read my handwriting.
     
  19. Tesoro

    Tesoro Contributor Contributor

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    this must be the ultimate procrastination-thread out there.
     
  20. Andrae Smith

    Andrae Smith Bestselling Author|Editor|Writing Coach Contributor

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    Writing: Done by Hand vs. Typed on a Computer

    Hey, I'm only a few days into my membership here and I am loving it. :) so much help is available here!

    But I have question. Does anyone feel any particular advantage in writing by hand, or is this an all computerized world when it comes to writing?

    In previous projects I'VE ALWAYS written by hand before I take it to the computer. I may up fill up multiple notebooks but it usually comes out worth it for me. Anyone else like the old pen and paper? What do you think of traditional writing?
     
  21. josie101

    josie101 New Member

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    I use regular writing when i form my ideas and get things flowing in my head, writing things long hand make you actually think about what you are actually writing, (thats why they make you take notes in school ;) i type on the computer though to finalize my writing, to edit and read over dozens of times. So yeah, i totally agree with you, traditional writing is more effective especially when generating ideas! :)
     
  22. SocksFox

    SocksFox Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Some of it depends on what I'm working on. If it is poetry, I do all of mine on the computer, so much easier to edit rhyme schemes and verse. Once I have a piece done the way I want, I rewrite it by hand in one of my leather bound journals, simply because I want to. :rolleyes: Story lines, character sketches, plot ideas, and fragments of conversation, I scribble down by hand so I don't loose them. Major action sequences are all done on the computer. Story introductions I like to do by hand; it slows me down allowing the new piece time to steep and become more real. My grandma taught me how to write in copperplate when I was very little, so some of this I do for sentimental reasons more than anything else. But in all honesty I do most of my work on my computer.

    - Darkkin
     
  23. Andrae Smith

    Andrae Smith Bestselling Author|Editor|Writing Coach Contributor

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    Well that's pretty cool. For My last project I had about 3 or 4 notebooks worth of material written out by hand. I got started on the story and continued to write. It just makes me feel a bit more like a writer sometimes. writing is a type of art-- a craft yes-- but I like to see my hand writing laid out on pages. after things get rolling I'll still write by hand just so I'm forced to recheck everything before it goes into the computer. it's like doing two drafts in one :)
     
  24. BonanzaGirl1

    BonanzaGirl1 New Member

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    I do all of my writing on the computer. Its a lot easier and you don't waste paper if you happen to make mistakes. Welcome to the forum by the way :)
     
  25. inkyliddlefingers

    inkyliddlefingers New Member

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    Andrae - I, too, always write first (and sometimes subsequent) drafts of my novels (for children) by hand. I always use a fountain pen, as they are so ergonomic, as well as environmentally friendly (refillable). It has been proven scientifically that using a fountain pen takes far less effort, and therefore causes less cramping, than a ballpoint does.

    For me the process of filling up one of my pens - I have over 80 now - with the ink of my choice, of which I have 40+ different bottles, is part of the ritual. Then, I use two good quality notebooks; one for notes on plotlines, scenes, characters and so on; the other for the story itself. Writing by hand is an organic experience, esp if pen and ink is used. It allows time for the brain to formulate thoughts more fully, transmit those impulses to the arm/hand and stimulate the creative process. I find that dong everything via computer feels cold and isolating, mechanical rather than organic.

    Anyone could have typed these words, but had I written them to you, they would have been unique. The hand written words would have made more of a conncetion between us. Writing by hand gives me more of a connection with my charaters and, by extension, with my readers, even after my scrawl has been interpreted and copied onto a computer, because I was better able to ply my craft at a slower pace.
     

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