Do you always use the computer to write?

Headbanginghunny · Post by **Headbanginghunny** » 20 May 2014, 19:02

I write by hand almost all of the time. I just write whatever pops into my head. I can type fast but I'm usually not at the computer when ideas pop in my head. I like the feeling of writing by hand and having my hand cramp up because I'm trying to write very fast and not forget anything. I also like fancy pens! It just feels more satisfying to me to write in a journal or on paper.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 21 May 2014, 13:03

Alexandra Bayer wrote:I once wrote an entire hour-and-a-half movie script by hand.

But you couldn't submit a handwritten manuscript, could you? I see you're Canadian, and I wonder where you submitted this manuscript. Do Canadian filmmakers or agencies accept manuscript screenplays?

Because I've written screenplays myself (just finished one last month) and they are required to be in standard American screenplay format and must also be in electronic format. No agents will accept otherwise.

For those who don't know, standard American screenplay format is specific as to font and spacing, even page margins. It's written in non-proportional font (12 pt Courier) and single spaced, double spacing between dialogues, specific margins for narrative vs dialogue, and so on.

I'm unaware of Canadian agency or production formats, however. So I assume they accept handwritten? Interesting.

sammi8764 · Post by **sammi8764** » 22 May 2014, 17:56

Honestly yes, because I'm sure if I were to write things by hand I wouldn't finish anything I started. Typing on the computer is so much faster and easier.

Nathrad Sheare · Post by **Nathrad Sheare** » 22 May 2014, 20:37

Wow... Well, I guess that's how all the writers used to do it. Isn't it amazing that we of the 21st Century think it's unheard of? We're so spoiled.

Sally Balboa · Post by **Sally Balboa** » 22 May 2014, 20:48

The only time I use paper to write is when inspiration strikes me when I'm not around my computer. Otherwise I love my PC.

Kinza Sheikh · Post by **Kinza Sheikh** » 27 May 2014, 06:37

I like writing on computer since the organizing is easy there. But i do outlining and ideas note-taking by hand. Especially when i read others work, i always keep a pen and paper with me and keep taking notes from it. So a whole bunch of my work is done by hand, but equally work done in computer.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 27 May 2014, 12:53

After lots of practice, I do all my quick note-taking in the old noggin. Then I of course keep an "ideas" file ready to add to on my laptop. Nowadays, everything, even the smallest of ideas or details, is logged faithfully into the computer, and backed up religiously. So no handwritten stuff at all now.

annabear3 · Post by **annabear3** » 29 May 2014, 09:16

No, I never use the computer to write...I'm old school (: I like to write everything out by hand on notebook paper or sometimes just the back of a piece of scratch paper with a pen or pencil. Then I later type it up on the computer and change things or fix sloppy mistakes I made while hashing it out on paper. I have an easier time reading something that's on a piece of paper than on the computer. A computer screen gives me a headache if I stare at it for too long.

-- 29 May 2014, 10:16 --

No, I never use the computer to write...I'm old school (: I like to write everything out by hand on notebook paper or sometimes just the back of a piece of scratch paper with a pen or pencil. Then I later type it up on the computer and change things or fix sloppy mistakes I made while hashing it out on paper. I have an easier time reading something that's on a piece of paper than on the computer. A computer screen gives me a headache if I stare at it for too long.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 29 May 2014, 11:27

Just a small note re. your headache with a computer. Do you have to tilt your head back and look at the screen through the bottom half of bifocals? It may be that -- I don't know, but possibly. What I did years ago (in my "day job" I was a consultant for gas & oil exploration and so I used a computer all day) was to get trifocals. Opticians can set up trifocals with a narrow band above the "reading" area of a bifocal. This small section has the same "formula" as the bifocal reading area but with a longer focal length, exactly as needed to see a computer screen, so you don't need to tilt the head back, which causes neck strain and headaches.

laureng · Post by **laureng** » 01 Jun 2014, 19:23

I always use a computer. The thoughts always come faster than my brain can process them, and plus I am a very fast typist. Writing out an idea never works for me. If I didn't have a computer I am not sure what I would do.

JKPoindexter · Post by **JKPoindexter** » 08 Jun 2014, 20:47

I always start of with a pad of paper and pen, then type the days writing on my PC. The reason is I like to write in different places and I don't want to carry my laptop with me everywhere I go.

Timea · Post by **Timea** » 09 Jun 2014, 17:36

I write my ideas by hand, also fragments but I write the rest on the computer, it is less tiring and it goes faster too.

greenpoppy · Post by **greenpoppy** » 16 Jun 2014, 23:26

I cannot write on a computer new work. It has to be paper and black ink pen and then from the paper i type onto the computer.

moderntimes · Post by **moderntimes** » 17 Jun 2014, 12:48

green, writing directly on the computer is an acquired skill but one I'd strongly recommend that you learn. Manually writing w. pen & paper and then transferring to the computer is a hang-up and is far too slow for any consistent writing. Unless you have nothing else to do days and nights. It just takes too much time.

But to say you "cannot" is fooling yourself. You're smart and fully capable of learning things anew. Just set yourself the task of writing straight to the computer, work at it, and you'll soon get out of the pen & paper habit. Imagine that you were a newspaper reporter or worked for a big magazine. You'd HAVE to write straight to the computer. And if a newswriter can do it, so can you.

I used to think that I couldn't write straight to the computer but with 3 novels, 4 screenplays, 20 short stories, maybe 100 book reviews later, I've managed to do it nicely.

Anna Meyer · Post by **Anna Meyer** » 18 Jun 2014, 14:36

I love to write by hand. I haven't written anything that I wish to publish, so I will write everything down on any kind of paper I can get my hands to. I have typed out writings on the computer as well, but it just doesn't feel the same.
I don't really like computers. I will type a letter of encouragement to someone and then feel bad for typing and printing it via the computer! I just feel it's better in handwriting. I know for a fact that people receiving a letter or something to read for them personally, prefer a handwritten and not printed version. Adds more value to it.
(I'm a huge letter writer! Encouraging people via letters...) I have thought about writing...I would love to publish a book still... I know that there is no other way than via the computer... strict guidelines etc. for handing in a manuscript. If I want to pursue this dream, I will just have to sit and shake up. But I do find typing much faster, to pin down my thoughts and of course..... it much neater!