What method do you use when you write?

[M. A.]

I always find it so interesting to see what methids others use. I personally, well at this time since I am still new at writing, feel like I can not create my story unless I put pen to paper for the first draft, and that is literal itmust be a pen lol. However, Iam curious to see what computer programs, if any, are used to create your stories. And where do you display them once they are finished?

[Victoria]

I use Microsoft Word to do the writing, and publish via Smashwords when I'm done.

When I could still see, I used to do the first draft with pen and paper, and then type it up on a word processor when I was ready to do the second draft. But that's not an option now, and I haven't found a way to re-create the pen and paper part with the tools available to me now; a brailler (braille typewriter) is too bulky,and the braille frames require you to be so careful with every single letter (which you have to write backwards with most frames) that I can't let the story come to life, since my attention is on making sure I'm doing the right letter. That's why I just do it on the computer from start to finnish now.

[M. A.]

Victoria that is amazing that you never gave up on your dream. Truly amazing.

[Victoria]

Millie wrote: "Victoria that is amazing that you never gave up on your dream. Truly amazing."

Thank you!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Millie wrote: "Victoria that is amazing that you never gave up on your dream. Truly amazing."

I COMPLETELY agree!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

I also just use MS Word. I'm a fast typer and I hardly ever write by hand anymore so when I do my hand cramps up LOL.

[Storm]

Google docs is my way. I lost too many stories to computers that crapped out. Google docs feels the safest route. As for how I write, I fast type too and I try to get my motivation going. If I can make a thousand words then I'm happy.

[Rebecca]

Millie wrote: "Victoria that is amazing that you never gave up on your dream. Truly amazing."

I definitely agree. Wow.

[Rebecca]

I wrote my first draft on WordPerfect. The conversion process to Word was a nightmare. Now, I write on Word.

[Aasha]

When I first started writing, I used pen and paper but eventually I progressed to Microsoft Word (it makes editing a whole lot easier :D )

[Karen’s Library]

David wrote: "Millie wrote: "Victoria that is amazing that you never gave up on your dream. Truly amazing."

I COMPLETELY agree!"

Absolutely!!

[Tommy]

David wrote: "Millie wrote: "Victoria that is amazing that you never gave up on your dream. Truly amazing."

I COMPLETELY agree!"

Not only impressive, and an amazing personal achievement, but also a great motivator for wannabe writers like myself. Some of us who have, erm, some less than productive days. You show that there truly is no excuse not to do this if it's what you want to do. Much respect.

[Victoria]

Thank you, David, Rebecca, Karen, and Tommy!

*Blushes*

I don't really feel I've done anything praise-worthy, but thanks anyway!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Victoria wrote: "Thank you, David, Rebecca, Karen, and Tommy!

*Blushes*

I don't really feel I've done anything praise-worthy, but thanks anyway!"

Anyone who writes with passion and their heart is worthy of praise! And that's you :)

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Storm wrote: "Google docs is my way. I lost too many stories to computers that crapped out. Google docs feels the safest route. As for how I write, I fast type too and I try to get my motivation going. If I can ..."

Storm brings up a good point, be careful not to lose all your hard work! Although I use MS Word to write, every time I save the file it automatically back up to the Dropbox Cloud, which I can recover from any computer or mobile device. Unfortunately, before I got wise as to these things, I lost a huge part of one of my books and had to rewrite it! I've also had a computer crash and was lucky to have everything backed up!

[Ashley Marie]

I like to write the first draft longhand, with pencil and paper -- I love pen, but I wind up erasing and changing words so often that I now feel it best to just use pencil -- although it sucks when the graphite smears. Then I type everything up using Scrivener or Word. I like Scrivener for its compartmentalizing features, but I like Word for its straightforwardness. So it's a toss-up between the two :)

[M. A.]

I start out hand writing every chapter for the first draft. Then type out that chapter, making changes as I go, then email it to a friend who beta reads and corrects any of my errors. Once she sends it back to me then I print that chapter. I have to have a printed copy to read through and revise. I do that for every chapter, at this point thats my back up lol. I am sure as I get further down the line I will change my methods a bit but this is all still very new to me.

[W.J.]

I use MS Word to write my first draft, in addition to a ton of handwritten research notes, plot outline, names, character info and sketches on various scraps of paper and notebooks. A lot of people rave about Scrivener and I know it would help me get more organised, just haven't had time to figure out how to use it yet. What I really wish I had space for is a gigantic white board like a crime scene board so I can see all the major plot points on my 200 year timeline at a glance. Right now I'm using a a long roll of lining paper, lol!

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

LOL I know what you mean, W.J.! I want to cover the walls with notes, plotlines, and characters, but I never do. Maybe for my next project :)

[W.J.]

Phew! Glad to know I'm in good company and not completely nuts, David ;) - Wendy

[Ashley Marie]

W.J. wrote: "I use MS Word to write my first draft, in addition to a ton of handwritten research notes, plot outline, names, character info and sketches on various scraps of paper and notebooks. A lot of people..."

it's my dream to have a wall that is entirely a whiteboard. I know a friend who coats her wall in colored index cards when she's working on an idea.

[W.J.]

I'm with you there, Ashley. Believe me, I've thought about doing much the same, but don't have a designated work space as have to hot desk with my hubby. Mind you it would be tempting to cover him in post it notes, he's tall enough, ha ha. My dream is to have my own office/studio some day in the garden under the trees.

[Victoria]

David wrote: "Victoria wrote: "Thank you, David, Rebecca, Karen, and Tommy!

*Blushes*

I don't really feel I've done anything praise-worthy, but thanks anyway!"

Anyone who writes with passion and their heart i..."

Thanks, David!

[Tommy]

*Pasted from another post, but it seemed relevant. Just putting this here as a heads up so no one thinks I'm spamming or anything.

I know it's been awhile, but this is what my approach has turned into, in case anyone else wants to try it because it helped me a lot because outlining and writing both make me look at the story in different ways.

First, I start at the beginning(unorthodox, I know) and I outline very freely. No Roman numerals or alphabets/numbers. Just *1. and then describe the chapter to whatever degree it flows for me. Some chapters will get more details than others.
Then I outline until I get stuck, and when I do get stuck, start writing the first draft. So, say I outline up to chapter 7, I'll then start writing the story, and in writing it, will dislodge whatever was blocking me in the first place. Then once I'm caught up, or near caught up, I use the new ideas from the writing, and switch back to the outline.

So basically, I'm an outliner. The entire outline will be done before the first draft is, but not before the first draft is started, if that makes sense haha.

I'm sure this isn't a new approach, but it's been working wonders for me, so I decided to share it in case someone is where I was, stuck on an outline not knowing where to take the story. Hope it helps. And if not, at least we're chatting haha.

[David, Mr. Blue Eyes; He's the Best--Ain't no lie!! ;)]

Thanks for sharing something that's worked so well for you! My approach is somewhat similar, except without filling in chapters. I just start with a bunch of ideas and I try to put them in some sort of an order (but not necessarily chapters). Then I start writing and as I go I add ideas as they come to me, and slot them into the right places.

Great stuff!

[Alycia]

I keep two Word documents per story: the first is the story manuscript itself and the second is a notes document that holds character and place names, plot outlines, and any random scenes that I haven't found a place for in the main manuscript document.

I tend to either type my stories directly into Word or use speech-to-text recognition software to talk out my first drafts. I use Dragon Naturally Speaking and my Samsung smart phone's own speech recognition software for this purpose.

There are other authors I know who never step in front of a computer for the first draft of anything. Lisa Shearin, for example, writes the full first draft of each of her books in a journal with a fountain pen.

[M.J.]

I write my first draft into a notebook, using a pen. I make corrections on the margins and add comments on the top and bottom of the page. I think the old fashion way is great for first draft! I put the second draft into my word program. I like seeing something more refined on the computer. So, I am with Lisa on this one! M. J. Mandoki

[Brigid ✩]

It's interesting that everyone has their own unique method! I personally am a huge fan of Scrivener. I bought it a few years ago and have never used anything else to write my books. I love doing a lot of planning, research, and outlining for my stories and I like having all those notes in one organized place. (Before that I used to just have like five Word documents open at once, hahaha.) And I also like that I can easily switch between chapters and whatnot. Also I just like how aesthetically pleasing it is. :D Sometimes I write snippets by hand or even on my phone, but mostly I work on my laptop.

[Elora]

I write on Word and have a notebook by my side for notes. When I'm rewriting/reworking, I have my two documents opened side by side on the laptop.
I loved the idea of having an inspiration wall......I wonder if getting one of those folding project poster boards (like what kids use for science fairs) would work for us limited on space?

[Brigid ✩]

That would be cool, Elora! But yeah, it might take up a lot of space. :D If you're not opposed to having a virtual inspiration wall, I've found that Pinterest is good for that. I usually have some kind of "board" for each of my books where I can keep pins for character/clothes/settings references, or just images that inspire me. :)

[Ashley Marie]

I love outlining too, Tommy! If I don't have a strong outline, the story winds up going completely off-course.

And I agree with Brigid about Pintrest, I started using it as writing inspiration a few months ago and I love it -- being able to see my characters as I write is awesome :)

[W.J.]

I've been using Pinterest for a while now and love it. Don't know about you guys, but I can get lost in there for hours. Think I've become addicted :)

[Elora]

A Pinterest board is a great idea! I'll have to try it

[Alyson]

I use Microsoft word and sticky notes.

[J.N.]

I just use Microsoft Word, but I outline pretty extensively. It's really useful and my outlines are usually about 3-4 thousand words. If you get the details down, you'll find the actual writing is easier and you'll spend far less time staring at the screen. When I wrote my first book, I had a huge problem with that.

[A.D.]

I write using Word. I type fairly fast and my fingers still have trouble keeping up with my brain when I'm writing, there is no way my hand could keep up with a pen. I usually have two Word Docs, one for the MS and one for some side notes. I also have a notebook where the majority of my notes go. Somehow making notes long hand lets my mind work things out about the story that it might be having trouble with. I'm a pantser. I've tried outlining, but once I'm into the story, the characters take over and the story ends up changing drastically from what I first though it would be. So I gave up trying to outline. Nothing is organized and I've discovered I work best in barely controlled chaos. I know the beginning, the end, and a few points in the middle. How the story gets through the points to the end though, I don't know until I get there. There have been times where I'm writing fast and furious and come to a sudden stop and stare at what I just wrote because I wasn't expecting that to happen. I've learned not to argue with the muse. She knows what she's doing.

[Barb]

I write a lot on different platforms, but lately I've been using Writer on my phone and then I edit things in Word. It's very simple and I actually find writing in that app a lot easier from some reason.

And there is also traditional way - pen and paper.

One idea that I got while reading a biography of one of my favourite authors is to close my eyes and record what I say and even though it sounds crazy, it helps a lot! This way I don't forget what I wanted to write/say, but it does take some time to get used to listening to your own voice without cringing every second