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I think I've posted a blog asking this same question in the past, but I can't remember and I can't find it, so I'll just go ahead and do it again.
How many people here prefer writing their stories by hand before taking them to the screen?
For me, writing by hand and writing on my computer are two very different experiences, and depending on the story I'm writing I'll do either one or the other almost exclusively.
For example, my very first story I posted to BC, Echoes, was started in paper format. I began writing it at a time I didn't even have a computer available worth using (all the way back before going to college and discovering BC, even,) and up until about the point I introduce Miriam's parents the entire story was kept in a notebook by my bed. After that point, though, I began writing the story pretty exclusively on PC, since that was about the time I got my very own compy for college.
With "The Tree," "Oh, Cheers," and even a few of my other shorts, I continued to use the handwriting method of getting my stories down, since it was the most convenient method if I wanted to do any writing while, say, at work.
Then there are other stories of mine that have taken a completely different path.
PFH has from the beginning been pretty much exclusively compy-based. The same can be said of "The Right Hand of the Devil," my Josie's Con stories, and quite a few of my drabbles. Switcheroo, Pickles, and even Boys of Summer all started out with a few pages of handwritten text, but quickly were converted over to digital-only, and the same can be said of just about anything that's been featured in one of my "Snippets" pieces.
Slowly but surely, I'm starting to piece out how much different each method of writing makes a piece feel, at least to me.
Things I write on PC first and foremost tend to feel a lot more dry than my stories I do by hand. It's not that they're more stilted, per se, but there's a different personality to the text and flavor than there is to things I write by hand. I tend to treat a lot of the elements of the stories more critically as well, judging and adjusting things as I go along. This is part of the reason I have so much trouble finishing things I write on PC -- it's so easy to go back and redo things, or abandon it entirely, that I too often give in to the urge to do so.
Writing by hand, however, tends to produce looser stories for me. Their plots usually aren't as deep as the things I try and do on my keyboard, and usually fall more into the daydream or fantasy side of things than my computer stuff. On the other hand, I also have more of a tendency to take an idea to, if not completion, than at least a point where I can judge whether to keep it or discard it, when I write by hand. Stories flow more easily, and develop their own personalities more quickly as well, since I'll often adjust my handwriting slightly to fit how the story feels to me. "Oh, Cheers" was written largely in bold-set print, while "The Tree" used some of my most florid cursive, since that seemed to help me focus on the airy and flowing elements of that story better. Taking them from paper to screen usually involves a bit of editing and reworking, but they still will usually end up feeling more organic to me than my digital-only stuff.
Does this kind of dichotomy (hoping I'm using that word right) pop up in many of your own stories depending on how you write them? Or is this just me being weird?
I'm asking partly because I've found myself writing mostly by hand the last few days, so I'm interested in seeing how other people feel about it.
Melanie E.
Comments
I started several stories on dead trees
But I had no choice in the matter.
I am working on several stories I started that way, but they were started before 1978 when I got my first computer with a word processor. I built my first computer in late 1975, because I wanted a word processor, but didn't really find a usable one until I got my first Radio Shack TRS-90â„¢. Let me tell you, it was not easy to move an electronic file from the TRS-80 to a format usable on an IBM PCâ„¢ clone.
I found, and find, that dead tree format is too unforgiving, as I go back and make extensive changes, both corrections and additions/subtractions.
I haven't yet completed the first major story I started on paper in 1973, but still plan to. I have, however, just completed one I started in the mid-1980s. I am about to send it out to have a couple of other eyes look it over and sanity check it before I post it here. It is not related to any of the stories I've posted here, and is not heavily TG, though it had what some would call a TG element from the very start, even though it would be around 15 years before I really knew about transgender. I have added a bit more, but it is still not the usual fare for Big Closet.
The oldest story began on paper, then went to a sort of processor I wrote myself, that had to be hand copied onto the TRS-80 using Electric Pencil â„¢ then Type Write Secretaryâ„¢, both on the TRS-80, to Perfect Writerâ„¢ on the PC clone, to Word Perfectâ„¢ to WORDâ„¢, through several variations of the last two.
Ditto for one more story, though a couple more I want to finish didn't get started until I had the PC clone.
But since I got a usable word processor, dead Tree and graphite are only for notes.
Holly
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
Interestingly ...
... there was a discussion on just this topic on BBC R4 last week. The professional writers were divided on the topic. The older ones (my memory fails me as to all their identities but Diana Athil was the oldest at 90) who started writing long before any sort of home computers/wordprocessors were available still had a strong attachment to hand writing but the others seemed to prefer electronic keyboards. So perhaps it's an age thing. Though all the writers used notebooks for jotting down ideas on the run.
My first involvement with word processing was using Wordstar to write assembler on a development system. Once I mastered all the cntrl commands it was huge change to be able to write my own reports and not rely on typists to decipher both my hand writing and the technical content. My first home computer was also a TRS80 copy called a Video Genie. I'm not surprised you had problems transferring stored text to a PC because the C90 cassette format was a nightmare to get working reliably (it wasn't the more reliable CUTS aka Kansas City standard).
I much prefer wordprocessing over hand-writing. That's mainly because after a cycle accident damaged my spine I've had great difficulty manipulating a pen, so, while I can still write by hand, I find it difficult. The big advantage of using a PC is the ability to change what's written easily without making a mess. In any case, for the same reason I can't hand write, I can't touch type either so copy typing is very slow.
I bet type-written exam scripts and essays make life a lot easier for teachers and examiners.
Robi
Actually, I didn't use the TRS-80 cassette much
Very early on, I got involved with the Exatron Stringy Floppy. It used a tape cartridge business card size by about 1/8"/.6cm, in a digital format. It was about 1/3 the price of adding a floppy drive, and did not need the expansion box or additional memory. It was a lot faster and more reliable than the cassette.
But to transfer to a PC, I found the best way was to print it out in 16 point Courier text and use optical character recognition, then fix the recognition errors.
I'm not a great typist, but it is still a lot faster than handwriting, allowing me to keep up with my thoughts a bit better.
As I mentioned, I make dead tree notes, but that is when away from the computer. While on the computer, I make my notes in a separate file and go back to writing.
Holly
It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.
Holly
Paper, computer, telepathy
My first few stories that appeared online were written on the computer under the theory that they would wind up their eventually and I was being efficient. However, I notice that my writing style and the way I craft stories improved on my seven year withdrawl from computers. I was able to really think about the scene, pick my words, choose my mood. It also forced me to really know which way I wanted the story to go, since editing requires re-writing whole segments. When I use to write on the computer, things seemed and felt rushed and my writing was sloppy (compared to penmanship.) Also, my stories went all over the place.
That said however. Since I have returned to writing on the computer (much cheaper) I notice the lessons that I've learned have stuck with me and I have become a fairly decent author. God Bless the Child was written on computer. However, the rewrite was hand written as well as the sequels. I have taught myself to slow down when typing, though sometimes it is easy to try to hit my word count goal (on paper its a page length goal). I think a lot of people who are beginning writers, might benefit from writing on paper. It makes the work more real (I think) and might show them areas where they are lacking.
In the end, it will depend on the person. I think perhaps swapping back and forth before you have an author voice that you are comfortable with is the key. It took me a while. I look back at my earlier work and cringe, even though it was popular. I was going to re-write How Life Can Change, but once I looked at it, I abandoned that idea and wondered how anyone could think it was quality.
Perhaps I learned that there is a difference between being a great story teller and being a decent writer. A great story can only take you so far, but it is the writing that makes people stick with a story to the end, probably why I've abandoned following several stories.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
Definately Computer
Though I would not dream of using a typewriter.
Back in the dim, dark days
when I was scared of my own shadow, I wrote a few stories on a typewriter. Sadly these are now lost.
Everything I've written in the last 10 years has been on computer because (a) they're regularly backed up, and (b) my handwriting is so poor that even I can't read it.
i know that many great works were written either longhand or on a typewriter and you have to admire authors who use these forms of expression.
S.
Dim days?
...here's a copy of my first ever story,
THE SISSY CHARIOTEER
Love, Andrea Lena
Not a writer per say...
I actually failed all four terms of 9th grade English because of my inability to put thoughts down on paper in a coherent fashion. I had been diagnosed in the 7th grade as being dyslexic but no one ever told me this until way later (long after I finished school). I was also never given any help in working around this. I also can not compose anything using a typewriter either, yes, I took typing classes in High School and can type quite well. It was not until I was stationed in Korea during the mid 80's that a wonderful thing happened to me. At the time I was my unit's Armorer and my Battery Commander (artillery for Company Commander, a Captain position) gave me access to his personal computer to do my paperwork on. One day, while sitting at the computer I actually typed out a 2 1/2 page letter to my mother in less than 30 minutes. If I had attempted that longhand it would have taken me 2 to 4 weeks to get the first paragraph written. Either that or I would be stuck at the first point in the letter I tried to use a word like if or of... Do you know how difficult it is to spell two letter words when you are dyslexic? :) Oh, wow, I used 3 two letter words in a row in that question :)
Doesn't sound like dyslexia to me Payter
Please take this as to someone who has studied in the field of education and know these things; not as someone who is trying to dispute something you know of yourself.
There is a possibility that you are dyslexic, and there are test out their for that. But there is also another disorder that is similar but separate and not as widely known. What you have described sounds a lot like a learning disorder called Dysgraphia, and, if you have the ability, you might want to get that checked out. There are treatments. I have dyslexia and dysgraphia may be considered a subset of that. There is minor debate if they are different symptoms of the same disorder. My dyslexia shows up in my writing sometimes, but usually it is with the b,p,d,q letters and sometimes with words. Funny thing is, its not a motor skills thing (sometimes it is) but even when typing I will put a p for a b. I know that it gets frustrating when people tell you, oh, you meant this word. Sometimes I have to concentrate really hard to find the actual word I am looking for, but since I have practiced writing for decades, it has gotten better with practice. Sometimes I purposefully put in the wrong word, knowing it is wrong, but while being unable to conjure up the right word I move on then come back. This happened yesterday when I couldn't remember the word appearance, I forgot what word I substituted, but remembered the right word later on. I blame part of this on being left handed and have my theories for why left handed people have a higher propensity of being dyslexic, but I won't bore you with it.
Here is more info on it, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgraphia and I hope you take this in the spirit in which it was given.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
Paper or Word Processor
Ideas, thoughts, descriptions of things I see or pull out of my imagination, that I want to use, all are on paper at some time to be noted into a word processor. Something I am hoping to do soon is to use the new version of Dragon Naturally Speaking to talk into a recorder and then to dump this into my computer to pick and paste out what is worth saving.
With the changes I make as I am writing in spelling, grammar and thought placement,I had great problems prior to 1983. Now it just keeps getting better.
Just as an example of the first statement, part of this was fifty year old technology of how phones worked, part of it was a modification of a town I spent a year in, and part of it was from looking at a house across the road from where I was posted, the house was pulled down a half year latter. All of these were note written down in a pocket sized composition notebook while on patrol. Always keep a pen and paper handy. How I wished I had done this for many of my thoughts when trying to sleep.
The ideas are parked for now to build into a story later, some to these are parked here.
Dragon
I had it for a while, but grew frustrated with it early. I had it for a month before I updated my computer to Windows 7 and didn't have a Windows 7 of dragon available. I then gave my copy to someone with MS. I wish I saved it, because now I am back on a computer using Win XP. It takes a lot of time to set up. I think in the end, it could be worth it. I don't know about writing stories with it, but would like to give it a try.
Just be aware, there is a lot of time to set it up for your voice. This may have changed in the newer versions though. My speech to text on my phone is pretty accurate if I speak slowly.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
Sort of both
I usually type direct into the computer, as I can quickly change the sentence structure as I type, which isn't easy on paper. Also, I'm lazy and don't fancy writing stuff twice.
What I have started to do recently is use the handwriting recognition on Windows 8. I have a cheap pen tablet that allows me to hand write direct into the computer. Considering I haven't trained it, and my handwriting isn't brilliant, I'm actually quite surprised at the accuracy. Using the handwriting recognition is slightly slower than typing or writing on paper, not not a very big difference.
Paper Versus Screen
I have a friend who must either pen her story idea, or record it on tape. then write in in dead tree so it can be edited and finally transcribed to a computer.
May Your Light Forever Shine
Mine changed...
When I first started writing, it was always paper and pencil/pen, it's what was most convenient most of the time. I was a student in elementary, then middle, and then high school, and I always had tons of notebooks and pens and pencils. It was also the 90s and small computers weren't ubiquitous quite yet. I'd later transfer over to the computer and do my expanding, editing, re-tooling, etc on a computer.
These days I just start on a computer in the first place and rewrite as I write. Later editing is thus far less involved than it used to be when I transcribed from paper first.
I actually find that the computer is better for my creativity than paper was.
Abigail Drew.
Desktop
My preferred method of writing is on a computer and more specifically on my desktop. I've tried pen/pencil and paper and I even tried on a typewriter, but writing always seems to come easiest to me when I'm sitting at my desk at home on my desktop computer. I sometimes do some writing on my laptop, but that's only when I'm not at home.
I don't pretend to understand why, it's just how it is.
Have delightfully devious day,