Only...
When I'm REALLY in a writing mood, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, beats pen and paper. The feel of ink flowing across the page, the physical act of turning a page when you've filled it with WORDS, the slight crampy feeling in my hand when I've written page upon page upon page... using a laptop just can't relate.
It's also really hard to doodle at the edge of a computer screen or keyboard.
I'm at a stage of I'm-so-stuck-yness right now that I'm considering putting away my laptop altogether (for writing, that is, God knows what I'd do without email, twitter, blog, tumblr, facebook.....I'm addicted, right? *sigh*), and get out a good old notebook and pen. Preferably a fountain pen, they just feel so much better when flowing across the page.
In fact, they're the only implement that really does flow - I tend to push to hard with pencils and normal ballpoint pens and that either makes these letter-shaped dents on all pages beneath the one I'm using or it gives me horrid cramps in my hand (I guess I'm getting old). I also managed to dislocate my little finger twice yesterday whilst writing *shudder*, but then I'm weird that way.
How does the writing process work for you? Do you feel more creative on a keyboard or when using pen and paper? Does your Muse have a preference either way?
9 comments:
I feel inhibited by the keyboard. Something about the format makes me feel like the words should be perfect. When I write by hand, everything flows freely. Thus, I have always written by hand first and typed it into the computer later.
YES! My feeling, exactly. And then there's that nasty little spellchecker on the computer that always drags me out of the 'flow'...
Pen and paper all the way, baby.
Hey, Tess, don't you think you should start up on that pen and paper project of yours again? I'll join in if you do!
Tristan
ps. my word verification is ANNIE. hehe.
Yes, I suppose those little 'mistakes' that word catches do interrupt the writing flow at times. There is definitely something freeing about writing by hand and not worrying about spelling or grammar or anything. I used to write more by hand.
I love pen and papering it. I do first drafts by hand, then rewrite to my computer using yWriter.
When I'm done with that, I copy paste to Word so that I can edit with Track changes.
:-)
Some works I skip the pen and paper though, simply because I'm writing them between rewrites and edits.
I'm considering it to rewrite one idea by hand and before finishing the first draft.
I used to prefer the good old pen and paper, but it's gotten to the point where my ideas flow out like a waterfall and my hand starts to hurt from not being able to keep up!
So now I am fully embracing the loveliness of my swift typing skills and being able to type as I think!
~TRA
http://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
I agree with the feeling of being glued to the keyboard. I love a nice pen and I have so many cool journals to write in but I seldom do. I do write my outlines with pen and paper.
It depends on my mood. I don't type very fast, so if the story is flowing quickly, I will go longhand.
Wow, it's awesome that you can write all that much by hand. I love writing on the computer so I can revise as I go without making a million scribbles and cross-outs. It's also much easier to move stuff around, etc. I like to be able to see the whole work-in-progress and not just one or two handwritten pages.
Tessa,
I fully agree with you about writing, compared to typing. While it is faster and sometimes easier to type my story up, I very much prefer pen/pencil and paper. In fact, I prefer it so much, that I carry a notebook and writing utensil with me practically everywhere that I go. I am always writing on car rides (no matter how short or long), at the table when I'm out to eat, and on the couch at home, just to name a few examples of where it is that I write.
-Tara
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