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Do you Type or Scribble?
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Gemma
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Apr 27, 2011 08:13AM
What format do you prefer to work with when writing? Do you put it directly into your computer, or do you get a pen and some paper? Or do you have an old-fashioned typewriter, perhaps?
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I have a type writer, but my dad wont let me type on it.. I just type it into my computer, I can type faster than I can write and that way my train of thought isn't slowed down. :)
I prefer to type into my computer, as Ava said, I can type much faster than I can write, but I like to print out a copy and go through it by hand with a red pen to make edits and corrections. Then I can type those into the computer.
Computer, definitely. In part this is due to the way I write - I simply start at the beginning and keep writing until the novel is finished. I don't even read what I've written until it's complete.Sorting out the result would be a major drama if working on paper! I do have a small netbook to write on, so it's very convenient; no bigger than a pad of paper (it also converts into a touch-tablet, so it's nice to read on as well).
Nice approach, Pat. I wish I could work until I was finished without either stopping or getting stumbled by some perverse trick of words...I've recently started to write mostly in longhand because, quite often, the computer gets to be distracting - research trips go awry all the time, and I am learning to prefer ignorance or patience.
1.1 wrote: "Nice approach, Pat. I wish I could work until I was finished without either stopping or getting stumbled by some perverse trick of words...I've recently started to write mostly in longhand becaus..."
That's exactly why I write as I do. If I once started looking back over what I'd written I know I'd get bogged down tweaking and fiddling with it and lose all continuity.
Oddly enough, research is another reason I love working on the computer (I do extensive research - Wikipedia and Google Earth are a godsend!), as I can do it as I write. I'm describing a village - I go and look at it there and then. It's so immediate it doesn't really break my train of thought at all.
Most professional writers don't stop to edit until their first draft is done. Keep writing while in the creative mode. When you get that first draft done, then go back and do revisions, corrections, edits, honing, fleshing out, and polishing. That's actually where the REAL writing takes place.
I belong to a great critique group (this is local, face to face)with about 8 multi-published authors (in various genres). They bring a chapter of whatever they are working on for critiquing. Yes, even mulit-pubished authors depend on their critique group to help spot weak places, plot holes, when something is not working, etc.
Every writer should try to join a critique group. You'll learn more than any seminar or class about your writing.
It's not at all odd to prefer a computer for research, Pat. In bad weather (or late hour) it beats a trip to the library, although if you want to research through books, there's still no alternative to either possessing them or seeking them out in the stacks.There's even a few excellent online dictionaries, in addition to the resources you mentioned (and the thousands of others which are available). The computer really is an advantageous tool for research, but unfortunately I'm a bit of a tool when it comes to staying focused, and I find that research destroys my train of thought anyway. Even a simple spell-check can derail me in the middle of a surge of prose.
Edit: thanks for the advice Tina. I hear submitting work is usually also pretty good for feedback, but I've had mixed results.
Hi everyone.I used to write out my MSs, but my thoughts run too fast at times, so, now I'm a computer junkie when it comes to writing. Less messy when you have a lot of crossing out, just hit Delete. It got to the point I couldn't read my MSs when it came time to do revisions.
I wish I could write a book straight through without stopping and polishing as I go, but that's it, I can't move on until I'm fully satisifed with the construction and description of a scene. I guess it all boils down to style and what works for each author.
E.A. wrote: "Hi everyone.I used to write out my MSs, but my thoughts run too fast at times, so, now I'm a computer junkie when it comes to writing. Less messy when you have a lot of crossing out, just hit ..."
Very much so, it all comes down to individual temperament. I'm one of those people who the longer I consider something the less satisfied I am with it, to the point of self-destruction.
I used to hand write everything and sometimes I fall back on it if my computer isn't handy and I want to get something down. Overall I've made the shift to computer writing.
I hand write the first draft of all my manuscripts, then go through it with my trusty red pen at least twice, then I type it into the computer. That way if I can't get to my computer or if it crashes, I'm not held up when inspiration strikes. It takes a little longer, but it works.
I like to make sure I always have a printed copy of my current draft in case of computer crashes. My friend used to save her manuscripts on her flash drive, but she found out that they can crash too, when she lost most of her historical romance she was working on. So, my advice is that even if you type most of your drafts into a computer, keep a current printed copy of each chapter where you've made changes. Just in case.
As said previously, I only use my computer. I have my working file which I save regularly to its own folder and also a back-up folder as I work. Then, when I take a break, I save these to my flash drive and also copy it from there to my desktop computer.However, all these copies are "on site", so I also email finished work to myself (at my gmail account) but don't open it. This leaves a copy on their server so, if I have a house fire or burglary, I can retrieve them from another computer.
A bit paranoid, I guess, but better safe than sorry.
A friend of mine saved her manuscript on her flash drive. Well apparently they can crash too. I think they wear out eventually. But she lost her 400+ page manuscript. And she had an acquiring editor waiting for it at a publishing house. She took the flash drive to a technition and he was able to retrieve some of the manuscript, but not all of it. So, she had to re-write pretty much the whole thing.
I like your idea of emailing yourself a copy. I usually keep an updated printed copy and a copy on a disk, but if there was a house fire, those would be lost also.
Pat wrote: ...I'm one of those people who the longer I consider something the less satisfied I am with it, to the point of self-destruction.I know what you mean! Sometimes I wonder if the constant rewriting and revision is good for a book, or can an author actually wreck a great first impression or idea? However, I find in most instances when I'm repolishing, something just "clicks", and I know I can't do any better with a scene or descriptive passage, and it's time to move on. Does anyone else experience this at times?
RE: computer crashes, I've never had a major problem, only once did my file crash, and it looked like my computer locked me out of it, but I got in through some back route, can't remember what I did.
I had no idea a USB device could also crash until a friend told me their mother lost all her holiday pictures by removing the USB before "closing" it properly. If you look at the tiny icons on the bottom right of your desktop screen, (there's an 'up-arrow' icon on my computer), push that and move your pointer around until you find something that says "Remove Hardware Eject Support for Data", click that and then click the USB eject, you can then close off your device and remove it safely without losing your files. This works for other hardware devices too.
I feel for the author who lost most of her manuscript, it reminds me of Jack London and how he lost one of his completed manuscripts, I think he left it on a ship, I can't remember if it was "Call of the Wild" or "White Fang", but he had to rewrite the whole thing.
This reminds me, I think it's time to make some back-up files!
Though I have a flash drive and some kind of external memory thing my kids got me for Christmas, I'm really not a computer whizz and seldom use them. It takes me a long time to get used to new devices and to figure out how they work. I guess I'm showing my age.
I usually write at the computer but I always have a notebook in my bag. Never know when inspiration may strike. :)
(Actually I write in whatever paper I can find and then stuff it into the notebook. I don't think I've written directly on the notebook)
Kumekei wrote: "I usually write at the computer but I always have a notebook in my bag. Never know when inspiration may strike. :)
(Actually I write in whatever paper I can find and then stuff it into the not..."
When I worked at Wal-mart as a cashier I was always jotting down poems on receipt paper and brown paper towels :)
True, notebooks are very useful, I always have one close in case something strikes me. I may not use certain notes for a project I'm working at at the time, but they could come in handy much later. I also jot down important news events that occur in case I need to write about them in the future and must have the right dates on hand, try and keep chronology straight.RE: new technology, it has moved on in leaps and bounds, hasn't it? Remember when we had to format floppy and hard discs before we could use them? How thangs have changed.
There is a definite correlation between scribbling and the more methodical part of your brain. The right side of your brain is creative. The left is more methodical and appreciates you making notes or listing what you've seen or ideas you've had. The left reads it and runs with it, adding meat to what are basically only bullet points; two halves working together.www.jggoodhind
I write my books out on paper to get the feel of it and then i type them.
I have to admit i put pen to paper, love the way it looks & feels & the way i can look at it when im done n say omg i did that!
I usually end up writing in class, so when I do that, it's on paper. It's eaiser then to go home and type it up, because then you end up already into the story and continuing to type is a lot easier. *shrug* I've never written a whole rough draft in longhand. If anyone found my notebook they'd think I was crazy because it's just story fragments that I type in the afternoon. Fiona... you can do that with word documents too : )
I'm more comfortable with typing in my laptop so I usually type my writings.
Amy wrote: "I usually end up writing in class, so when I do that, it's on paper. It's eaiser then to go home and type it up, because then you end up already into the story and continuing to type is a lot easie..."I know but I'm just old fashioned I guess, I do type it out eventually but hey ho each to their own :D
SCRIBBLES! I find it's much easier - for me, anyway - to just keep everything hand-penned, that way leaving notes and revisions are simple and effective (albeit not as fast as a computer or typewriter), and I don't have to worry about a crashing computer or a malfunction in hardware. But, like I said, that's just my way of doing things.
Sarah wrote: "SCRIBBLES! I find it's much easier - for me, anyway - to just keep everything hand-penned, that way leaving notes and revisions are simple and effective (albeit not as fast as a computer or typewri..."Just keep in mind that eventually it will have to be typed out in manuscript format if you plan to submit to agents or publishers. But if you are just writing for yourself, then you don't need to worry about this.
I type novels and handwrite novellas and short stories. I'm like Pat in that I don't read what I've written until after I'm done. I'll print out the novels and then take a pen to them for editing. Same with the shorts, once I type them in.
I used to scribble. I'd fill out three legal size notepads for a book. But now I'm comfortable typing away on my computer. It took me a few books before I was ready to make the switch, likely because I wrote faster than I typed. The great thing about writing it on paper is you edit when you input it into the computer, at least I always did.
