Paper or Plastic?

[Feiss]

Do you write poetry with ink(pencil) on paper? Or do you use the cold mechanical, convenient, alien computer? Anyone use a typewriter?

Just curious if the saying that real writers write on paper is just some pretentious mumbo jumbo or if it has some truth to it.


personally, I like a blinking cursor on a glowing screen.

[Billytwice]

I like a blinking cursor on a glowing screen.

This would make a fantastic first line.

Myself?
I use paper and pencil usually for ideas that come to mind or whenever I'm away from a blinking computer.

[Steppe]

I use them both too.I can't aford a good laptop or I'd have one. I write rough drafts on notepad and then in my processor.But there are still those who want to go back to horse and buggy or just love to write. I don't have a good hand for it so don't miss it.

[Feiss]

I don't have a good hand for it so don't miss it.

I have terrible handwriting, and my words are spaced out too far. So when I write on paper, the line breaks are never right.

[Teena]

I use whatever is the fastest to get to when the muse speaks. Alot of my stuff is done on the computer, but I keep tablets & pencils in the car, next to the bed, in my purse, etc. in case inspiration comes away from electronics...or when the power is out. I love to write on paper by kerosene lamp or candlelight when the power is out. But then I must use ink so I can see it, being visually impaired.

I do all my novel outlining first on paper with a #2 wooden pencil to get my thoughts out - then put it in the computer so I can continually modify.

However, I write faster, and perhaps better, on the computer because I can move stuff around, add, delete and change direction easier.

I haven't used a typewriter since I got my first computer. Now that I have desktop and laptop, I will never go back. :D

[Feiss]

But poetry is probably spread evenly across both. Paper conveys anger better (as in, banging keys on a keyboard doesn't quite feel the same as cutting deep groves into a page with a pen). But i always do up the final draft and any further edits on pc.

You should see my keyboard. It's oozing blood and looks like a meteor crater

[Norman D Gutter]

I write prose on a screen with a keyboard, but I find I cannot write poetry that way. I have to write poetry on paper. I normally use ink rather than lead.

I've tried writing poetry on a computer, but it just won't work for me. With prose, the words gush out so fast that writing in manuscript will cause me to lose some. With poetry, the words come out so slowly that writing is no problem.

NDG

[HeronW]

depends on whatever's closest to hand.

[KTC]

I often scribble poetry on the back gas receipts in the car while I'm driving. By often, I mean almost every day. But computer is king.