Pen, typewriter, or computer?

[Pale Blue Dot]

I have recently discovered, much to my surprise, that I am much more prolific if I write with a pen and paper as opposed to typing on the computer. I think it must have to do with the removal of distractions (like the internet) and the fact that I am a mediocre typist at best.

So when you sit down to write, what do you use?

[The Straight Story]

1. I dictate to my gimp :) (n/t)

[SaintAnne]

2. I mix a little bit

for academics: I do many rough drafts with pen and paper, and do finals on the computer. I'm pretty good a typing, so it's not big deal to write everything over again.
however, mostly all of my personal writing is done by pen and paper, and stays that way for many many months.
I like typing though, it's fun!:P

[Nikia]

3. I started writing when I was young

I wrote stories on a regular basis around the age of seven. I brought a notebook and pencil/pen nearly everywhere I went to write. I didn't start writing on the computer at all until I was in high school. I think because of that, it seems easier and more natural to actually write on paper. Posting on DU has given me more computer time writing but it still feels less natural.

[Dez]

4. I prefer my puter

I discovered this while I have been taking some college classes.. I can type faster than write, and my handwriting is awful, so I prefer to type..

[BigMcLargehuge]

5. Computer

I make notes, flesh out scenes, catch dialogue, and doodle in longhand (and even then it's block script and looks like something a serial killer would write). When I type I type fast. I am a keyboard snob too.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. I started on a portable manual

Moved to a semi-portable electric.

Then to a computer. I love the computer. It's the only way to write.

My current publisher is a small company that wants me to submit my stuff electronically, so there's no paper version at all until I see the final, printed book. Now, that makes sense to me.

[snacker]

7. pen and paper n/t

[miss_american_pie]

8. Pen and paper

Then I revise as I type into Word.

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. I find Word very unfriendly. I go with WordPerfect myself. n/t

[Chovexani]

26. I still use WordPerfect 3.5 on my Mac

Best word processor ever. It has all the useful features and 90% less bloat. No annoying paper clip guys either.

I discovered it back when I was in a gifted youth program at Johns Hopkins years ago and have been using it ever since.

[kcr]

9. Computer

My hand writing is atrocious. It is not unusual for me to be unable to read handwritten notes after a day or two. Plus, I blog, and the blogging software obviously requires text entry into a computer. I have just gotten used to the computer, despite my rotten typing.

[vixengrl]

10. Odd--pen for poetry, which might hit spur of the moment

computer for prose, which requires deliberation, organization...paragraphs. My desk at work and pages of books I've read and here and there, are scraps of verses, but if I want to do a story, I sit down and open Word. As a result, stories I've written years ago never survived computer crashes (as I am too lazy to backup anything) but poems survive, usually, copied neatly into spiral notebooks.

[nostamj]

11. i almost always start with pen & paper

either a big legal pad or the spiral notebook I keep next to the 'comfy chair' to jot down ideas.

when an idea 'takes off' i'll start writing in my insane mishmosh of longhand/printing and personal shorthand, at some point, I'll realize that even *I* won't be able to transcribe the notes and I'll fire up the laptop and put it into WP.

(haven't owned a typewriter in AGES, but my habit was pretty much the same... longhand to start, then TYPE

[fudge stripe cookays]

16. Great minds think alike, eh?

See mine below.

FSC

[fudge stripe cookays]

12. Pen and paper...

I love sitting at one of my favorite coffeehouses and jotting down whatever comes to mind-- I think better while I'm out, experiencing other people's conversations and movements, and observing life occurring.

Then I come home and type it all up. I type pretty fast, so that doesn't take any time at all.

But I work at a desk at all day anyway. If I had to sit at my desk to create, I'd feel like I was in jail.

FSC

[azoth]

13. I hate actually writing with pen and paper. Of course

it may have something to do with the fact that I have two small children so anything I do involving paper and a writing instrument becomes some morph of "art time."

I am in the research/fact gathering/plot and character development phase of a story idea I'm in love with and find myself doing all that preliminarry work in longhand. It would be far too cumbersome to do on the PC. However all of the actual writing I've done for the story has been done on the PC. I type ever so much faster than I can scribble, but not quite as fast as I can think. The act of writing on paper feels like it slows me down. It might not, but it feels that way.

One quirk I do have is that I *must* print what I write on the PC. There's something unsatisfying to me about reading the words on the screen. I prefer to have them in my hands, on paper. I edit this way, too, for short stories or other projects.

[wryter2000]

14. Alpha Smart

www.alphasmart.com

No, I don't own stock in the company :)

It has the main advantage of a computer, which is that you can change things easily. I often change a sentence two or three times before I finish it. However, you can't check your e-mail, play games, or surf the web on it. It's portable. And the teeny screen keeps you from going back and editing what you've already written. It's an absolute dream and only $200. Save your money on the Dana and get the basic Alpha Smart. It operates on 3 AA batteries.

[shimmergal]

19. I love AlphaSmart too.

Anymore I do most of my short pieces on it, then transfer them to my computer for the final edit. It's almost as portable as a paper notebook, but writing goes in much faster. I still have a block about thinking in Word, so it's ideal for anything that has to become electronic (including older stories I have to hand-retype from paper copies--don't have a scanner.)

But I started out with pencil and paper (NEVER a pen--only use pens to sign checks and legal documents). Graduated to a dedicated word processor (Brother 3400) which I still love. And have--only it's getting hard to find ribbons for it anymore. Basically I can write on anything that allows go-back editing while in the preliminary writing process. Pencil does (with copious use of erasers), so does the Brother, and even the AlphaSmart (though it's a pain to change things on it.)

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. My Windows CE... and protable keyboard, great and

portable....

No I don't own stock either.

Taht said my favorite iteration was an old HP, Windows CE 1.0 machine with integrated keyboard. It was larget but I loved the darn machine, until it died.

[Nadienne]

15. Pen and paper is more port'ble than a puter

:)

But of course, a puter is more able to neatly handle chapters and chapters... So far, I've written strictly for fun, and so I write and re-write my favorite parts of whatever story on which I claim to be working... anywhere I am.

When I think I'm being serious, I type everything I have so far into a computer and immediately lose interest. :shrug:

[Technowitch]

17. I can't write with pen & paper, and make too many mistakes for typewriter

[hyphenate]

18. I've also had far more luck with pen and paper

Because I can write whereever I am, without being a slave to technology. Once it's been written in long hand, I will transcribe it to the computer. I never, never, ever want to work with a typewriter again. It's the world's worst way to write in my estimation--typewriters aren't portable, nor are you able to store your documents. Once I owned a computer, the typewriter went into the trash--literally.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

20. I started out using pen and legal pad

Then, after my first novel sold, I was informed by my agent that I'd better get my ass in gear and invest in a fancy personal computer and printer (this was quite a few years ago). So, I did, but I continued to write on the legal pad and then transcribe it to the computer.

Soon, that become tiresome, and, once day, I realized that I could get a lot more written much more easily on the laptop or the desktop. So it continues to this day. Microsoft Word has done very well for me.

But, when I've done something great, I reward myself with something from this place - http://www.moleskine.com/eng/default.htm. Their notebooks are great for doodling, making notes to oneself, grocery lists, or just idly composing filthy limericks while waiting for a lunch date or a meeting to start.

Whatever works.

[flying_monkeys]

21. Pen and paper, then copy to word

I need the "tactile" feel of the paper to really get into writing. I can wing it on the puter but I far prefer notebooks and pens....

[RaleighNCDUer]

22. First draft is always pen & paper -- usually in a steno pad

that I carry with me wherever I go.

Then I transcribe it on the computer, and the transcription becomes the first re-write, as I shuffle sentences and paragraphs and entire scenes. All subsequent drafts are computer, for the ease of editing.

But the first draft, the creation, is always by hand.

OTOH, much of the supplemental work, which never sees daylight, such as timelines, geneologies, etc., is originated on the computer.

[leftofthedial]

24. I can't function without a word processor anymore

definitely computer.

[Chovexani]

25. I'm all about the computer.

I try to keep a notepad and a pen with me at all times, in case inspiration strikes me at an odd time, but I am basically all about the computer. Being 23 I came of age along with the home computer and it's all I know, heh. I type blazingly fast due to years of playing text-based online role-playing games. I don't rely on spellcheck--I write fantasy, and the plethora of strange proper names and made up languages that implies renders the feature almost entirely useless to me. Once in a while I'll use the WP thesaurus, but it's no substitute for a decent vocabulary and a copy of Roget's. I'm a nerd and I just feel more comfortable expressing my thoughts on a keyboard.

One thing that irks me though is I have had people, usually older writers, tell me in so many words that I'm not a "real" writer because I use the computer pretty much exclusively. I understand that being from a different generation they may not have the comfort level with technology that I do, or even that they might but just prefer the old-fashioned way because that's what they're used to. I just feel as if creative folks should use the tools they feel most comfortable with; to me it's no different than a painter choosing to work in watercolors vs. oil paint. There is no one right way to go about things.

[elepet]

28. computer

Even though I am of the "older generation" (much older)I notice that after years of journaling (mostly in illegible handriting) and poetry writing in pen or pencil, I think more clearly on the computer. Speed of input doesn't matter since I think as I write and generally am both composing and making minor corections as I go along.
Somehow it's easier for me to create structure when I can see everything on the screen in front of me. I've also noticed that tone changes. In handwriting I seem to be writing for myself only...on the computer the intention is for others to read what has been written.

[nadinbrzezinski]

36. Those older writers are elitists

by the way I am an older writer, and trust me after years of EMS and college education, I cannot read my own hand writing unless I write very slow... so I am stuck with a computer. Now I use a tablet PC, which now allows me to use pen input to edit... so you could say I use a mixed media as it were... hey it saves trees and I catch things I would not otherwise... as it slows me down

[MissBrooks]

27. laptop

[politicat]

29. All of the above and then some.

I compose pretty heavily on the word processing programs on the computer, but I also use paper and very good pens when I'm trying to get something running. I use a typewriter sometimes, but since my old manual fell apart, I've been doing without.

I also use my Sony Clie with Decuma handwriting and with the keyboard when I'm out and don't have my computer with me. I don't have a desktop computer anymore, so the only time I'm without my laptop is when it's intentional or it's a social function where getting down to words would be less appropriate. (That's where the Clie comes in handy!) (My clie is unfortunately in for warranty work right now, though. Sigh...)

Things I don't use: Windows, pencils, ball-points, dedicated word processors, voice recognition, dictation. I may talk out dialogue while I'm writing it, but I can't listen to myself.

Pcat

[Left Is Write]

30. I prefer a typewriter but use the computer.

Too much longhand cramps my fingers.

[sybylla]

31. Paper and a really nice pen

I do seem to be at my creative best with a pen in my hand. There seems to be something about the physical connection to the words that gets my muse going. Perhaps it is the pace as well. I don't write as fast as I can type. That means I get to mull the story over more as I put the words on paper. It just seems to flow better for some reason.

It does make me a pen snob, however. I don't want the feel of the pen to get in the way of my creativity. I'm also subject to episodes of numbness due to carpel tunnel syndrome. A good, easy-flowing pen is important in preventing the problem.

I have to confess, though, that lately I've been forcing myself to write more at the keyboard mainly because having to type everything in after the fact was getting to be a drag.

[BamaGirl]

32. Pen/paper and computer

Depends on where I am when I get an idea. I carry a notebook around with me, so I have a lot of things that start on paper and get transfer to the computer.

[yellowdawgdem]

33. mainly typewriter

I often get ideas at inconvenient times, like in the middle of the night, or at someone else's house or the like. So I feel lucky if I've got a pen or pencil plus some paper handy, and can jot down the ideas. Under normal circumstances, I like to write on an electric typewriter, I've got 3 of them. The computer is less desirable because I like to write a little, and then scratch out stuff. You can't really do that on a computer. But the alpha smart sounds interesting, that has possibilties.

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. All of the above, when I hit a snag I move to another

medium... if this makes sense

[WilliamPitt]

37. That was exactly my progression

Started longhand as a kid, worked hard to get used to the typewritier, which was difficult. Making friends with the keyboard was hard. By the time I got to college, I was comfortable, and wrote papers on the word processor. Now, I am a computer-only guy. Writing longhand is too slow to keep up.

[TikiGirl]

38. WoW

If you actually A) how to use a typewriter, B) own one, C) Own one that works, I must commend you! I never liked typewriters because one mistake, and you either start all over, or you have a mistake. I must say, considering I own a laptop, I generally use computers. I am a perfectionist, so paper was always a hassle.:argh:

[bigwillq]

39. Pen and paper

But then I usually record it on the computer.

[Liberty Belle]

40. I almost always use a computer.

I started writing my first novel with a typewriter. Then a friend who was going overseas asked me if I'd mind terribly babysitting her computer for a year. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

She wound up marrying a New Zealander and staying abroad. I bought her old 286 computer for a song, and loved it. My writing improved dramatically, because editing became so much easier.

I'm now on my fourth computer, and rely on it for all of my major projects.

That said, I do pick up pen and notepad on occasion. I spend a lot of hours at the skating rink with my daughter, and don't have a laptop. Sometimes I'll draft a lead to an article, a short essay, or a letter to the editor in longhand. For short pieces, there is still an advantage to taking pen in hand and really having to think before putting each word down on paper.

[marions ghost]

41. I use a weird hybrid patchwork style, first

cranking some stuff out on puter and then printing it out with spaces for input where I'm stuck and then handwriting all over that and then going back to puter and revising. Often there's even a layer of sticky notes that occurs early on. Maybe it goes with my thinking style which is not free-flowing and linear but circular and tangential. It gets more linear in the final stages. I marvel at those who write in neat handwriting in tidy notebooks, not skipping any pages, no scratching out or big x's...no wads of obsolete sticky notes...have tried it many times and now realize it's impossible for me. My trashcan overflows with fits and starts.

I work at a desk, bolt upright, serious business. Have seen people write wonderful stuff curled up on a chair at the coffeeshop and I also have no idea how they do that. Too easily distracted, I must go totally into the zone and cut myself off from the world.

Different styles...whatever works.

[Catamount]

42. "puters" for novels...or anything longer than 300 pages,

I can't imagine doing more than 2 drafts any other way!

Lyrics and poems are more portable, pens, pencils anything that makes a mark works for me.

[Ready4Change]

43. Word processing FREED me.

I loved writing when I was a kid, but writing by hand was a physical hassle, and got in the way. I also tend to edit some as I write, so I used pencil rather than pen, and then my edits wouldn't fit into the original space, more hassle.

Typewriters were worse. White out, backspacing, misstruck keys... arg!!!! Back to paper and pencil.

Then I started using word processing on computers. Ahhhhh! Flowing text. editing as I wrote. Heaven.

OTOH, I have found, on re-reading some of my old stuff, that I tended to write far tighter, leaner text. I think the hassle of the physical process made me loath to put anything down onto paper that didn't absolutely HAVE to be there. It takes several re-writes on a PC to achieve that level of tight word usage.

But I'm far happier with the process on a computer.

[Lautremont]

44. I often try with pen and paper

and wish that I could do a first draft that way, but my handwriting is lousy and the very process brings back bad memories (nuns! ruled paper! endless copying! no recess!), so I most often end up back on the old concubator.

[all.of.me]

45. Pen and paper

I do well typing, but I tend to correct my mistakes as I go. With a pen, I just scribble away without worrying about editing.

A friend of mine also said it best - A pen on paper is more intimate, and that intimacy lets you write from deep, almost secret places, which is where our most passionate work comes from.

[RevolutionaryActs]

46. I can't do pen and paper, my brain moves too fast for my hands.

I have to use the computer, so I can keep up with my ideas and let it flow.

Unless I'm writing a poem, then I use pen and paper, I guess I need to take it slow when writing poetry? :shrug:

:)

[Shopaholic]

47. Computer baby,

all the way.