Do you always use the computer to write?

Discuss writing, including writing tips & tricks, writing philosophy, writer's block, etc. If you have grammar questions, marketing questions, or if you want feedback on a poem or short story you wrote, please use the corresponding forum below.
Featured Topic: How to Get Your Book Published
Forum rules
If you have spelling or grammar questions, please post them in the International Grammar section.

If you want feedback for poetry or short stories you have written, please post the poem or short story in either the Creative Original Works: Short Stories section or the Creative Original Works: Poetry section.

If you have a book that you want reviewed, click here to submit your book for review.
Post Reply
User avatar
Terri2
Posts: 44
Joined: 26 Dec 2006, 09:59
Bookshelf Size: 0

Do you always use the computer to write?

Post by Terri2 »

I can't write well by hand, but I can type fast, and of course typing comes out neat and clean. Plus, I have spell-checker. So, I usually write everything on the computer. Do you do that? Or, do you write some thing by hand? What do you by hand, if you do?
iamthedreamer9
Posts: 2
Joined: 17 Jan 2007, 11:01
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by iamthedreamer9 »

The only time I don't type is when I don't have a computer around and a "great" idea pops into my head. I am a much faster typer and ideas usually flow better when I am typing something up.
User avatar
Linda
Posts: 556
Joined: 09 Jan 2007, 20:44
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Linda »

i mean to write on the computer but when i write i'm usually not infront of my computer so now i have tons and tons of notebooks all filled or half filled with work. i actually prefer writing by hand...and for some strange reason i love buying notebooks so i might as well fill them. It's a little difficult when one story idea is spread throughout 4 or 5 different notebooks but it's good to re-read what i wrote previously in an attempt to find something i had written in the past.
oh and everything I write I do by hand unless I know I'll have to submit it to a teacher later and they'll need a printed copy.

i like seeing cross outs and original ideas and then being able to also see the final product and how different it is.
"I hope you can't sleep and you dream about it
And when you dream I hope you can't sleep and you SCREAM about it
I hope your conscience EATS AT YOU and you can't BREATHE without me"
User avatar
DuchessAngel37
Posts: 62
Joined: 08 Feb 2007, 18:33
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by DuchessAngel37 »

I can't just write at the computer. I HAVE to be on paper. I tend to write sprawled across my bed (and I just bought a new queen sized one, perfect for this), and even though I type fast, I write faster, and if I'm in that good vibe where the words are just flowing, it just spills out. You really can't make typos when you're writing, so you have nothing to slow you down.

Then when I hit a spot where I got nothing left to say, I stop. Some time later I'll get around to typing it all up, which sometimes gets me back in that zone where I was before and I can keep going. Sometimes I'll be able to keep going right on the computer, but that's pretty rare.

Like Linda, I like seeing things crossed out. Even though not a lot of time is passing between the writing and the typing, I like seeing what I originally wrote, because maybe by the time I'm typing, I want to use the stuff I crossed out instead of the stuff I replaced it with.
User avatar
msstroda
Posts: 40
Joined: 15 Feb 2007, 13:24
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by msstroda »

When I wrote my first novel, Bailey's Pond, I wrote everything out by hand because I had a pen handy and once I began writing I couldn't seem to stop. After that, it varies. Sometimes I type the words, sometimes I write them. I suppose I prefer to write the story first, because after thinking about it, I realize I do that most of the time then type it all up. It is easier to keep track of everything when it is on the computer though.
User avatar
Hippykitty
Posts: 21
Joined: 17 Feb 2007, 01:33
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Hippykitty »

I've noticed my style has changed since switching to computer. I can write more for longer and tend to be overly verbose. This requires more editing.

Recently, I've begun to make use of Word's Outline function. This really helps to structure a piece of writing, but the jury's still out concerning whether the end result is too schematic.

I love the ease, the absence of writer's cramp which writing on a laptop gives me. Wouldn't want to return to my spider scrawl, or bashing an old typewriter.
User avatar
kaytie
Posts: 118
Joined: 17 Jan 2007, 11:42
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by kaytie »

I write everything on a computer but I do editing by hand, usually someplace outside of my house to get fresh air and perspective. Then I take my edited pages home and do the work of changing the text on the screen.
User avatar
awelker
Posts: 1025
Joined: 02 Oct 2006, 20:03
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by awelker »

when i sit at a computer the words just flow out of me. but when i sit down with a piece of paper the words just aren't there.
"'Tis better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all." - Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam:27

http://www.shelfari.com/awelker
Chance Murphy
Posts: 4
Joined: 03 Mar 2007, 15:22
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Chance Murphy »

I have not written a single page on paper since I was in high school. Using the computer allows me to type fast and edit quickly, though a writer should be careful to write forward and not edit their work until they are finished with the first draft. If you find yourself editing sentence structure and word choice on a first draft, stop! Keep going and do that later. I guess that is one disadvantage of using a computer--too much ease in editing that could get a writer bogged down (your first draft really should suck badly).

Also, don't tell anyone, but I can't freakin' spell anymore because I've become lazy and allow the computer to do too much thinking for me. That is a serious problem that comes from long hours of writing on the computer. It's like using a calculator all the time, eventually you will forget how to do math.

For short stories, paper might work ok, but all things considered, if you want to write a full length novel, you really should try to work on the computer. There's just not enough time for anything else.

Josh
Toni Stauffer
Posts: 7
Joined: 10 Mar 2007, 12:31
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Toni Stauffer »

Sometimes I'll jot down ideas on a legal pad and even write a rough draft of a story, but I type 100 words per minute and it is a lot faster than my writing. Besides, I hate the hand cramp that hand writing gives me.
User avatar
awelker
Posts: 1025
Joined: 02 Oct 2006, 20:03
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by awelker »

Toni Stauffer wrote:Sometimes I'll jot down ideas on a legal pad and even write a rough draft of a story, but I type 100 words per minute and it is a lot faster than my writing. Besides, I hate the hand cramp that hand writing gives me.

i hate thehand crampping. i get it all the time when i am in school. i will go from my college composition class right to mythology where we do an enormous amount of writing as well.
"'Tis better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all." - Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam:27

http://www.shelfari.com/awelker
Julie20201
Posts: 25
Joined: 12 Mar 2007, 21:19
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Julie20201 »

It depends...if I'm working on a novel...heck yeah...there's no way I'm going by hand on that...but if it's a poem just by hand on scrap does fine
User avatar
Linda
Posts: 556
Joined: 09 Jan 2007, 20:44
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Linda »

i dont like writing on the computer because i hate those people who try to look at my screen when im in the middle of writing.
"I hope you can't sleep and you dream about it
And when you dream I hope you can't sleep and you SCREAM about it
I hope your conscience EATS AT YOU and you can't BREATHE without me"
User avatar
awelker
Posts: 1025
Joined: 02 Oct 2006, 20:03
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by awelker »

that happens to me all the time but after a while hand writing my hand starts to cramp up and it hurts a lot.
"'Tis better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all." - Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam:27

http://www.shelfari.com/awelker
User avatar
Linda
Posts: 556
Joined: 09 Jan 2007, 20:44
Bookshelf Size: 0

Post by Linda »

oh i work through the pain.
"I hope you can't sleep and you dream about it
And when you dream I hope you can't sleep and you SCREAM about it
I hope your conscience EATS AT YOU and you can't BREATHE without me"
Post Reply

Return to “Writing Discussion”