Do you type or write by hand?

Do you type or write by hand?

  • Type it out.

    Votes: 1 100.0%

  • Write it out.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Tape recorder.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    1
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Azura Skye

I'm sitting here typing up what I had written for the past week and hating it. I like the idea of being able to carry a notebook and pen around with me anywhere and writing when the mood strikes. The downside to all of that is I absolutely hate to type when I'm looking at something. I have no problem looking at the screen while I type but when I get on my computer to write I start doing other things, like surfing. I simply can't make up my mind which method I'm going to use.>: :rollin

Which method do you use?
 

EGGammon

When I get a sudden idea, I write it down by hand, but when I am writing chapters or writing a story outline, I usually type it, just because I will have to do it eventually anyway. But whenever I am writing on my computer, I unplug the phone line, so I don't have those surfing urges.
 

Kallahan

Try a scanner and OCR software, if you handwriting is legible it should be able to take what you've written and deposit it into a rich text file ( .rtf watch out they tend to be huge).

Other than that, tablet PC's are huge on the campus scene for taking notes. Also palm tops have hadwriting recognition, just takes about 30 mins to get really used to their graphitie.

Personally I don't mind writting by hand or typing too much, but I HATE typing up what I've just written by hand, so I type when I write almost exclusivly.
 

Lori Basiewicz

I'm with, Egg. When I sit down to write, I type it on the computer screen. But there are times when I'm traveling or have a sudden idea late at night or just need to look at the words a little differently that I write by hand. I also keep a tape recorder in my car, but I generally only use it on longer roadtrips when I'm traveling by myself.
 

Vomaxx

I much prefer to write with a pen, then type it later. The typing constitutes the first revision.
 

macalicious731

Hmmm, tape recorder. I've never thought of that. It wouldn't ever work for me to put the whole thing on tape, but usually before I drift off at night I work out perfectly good sentences in my head, and are always lost by the time I get a pencil in hand for such emergencies.

But, for the poll, I type everything.
 

maestrowork

I use a tablet PC. So I can do both (type or write by hand). The tablet has handwriting recognition. Pretty nifty.
 

Vulpes Sapien

It seems I always have to start a scene on paper, with a pen. So my house is full of notebooks with partial scenes in them, every few pages. Then I type what I've written into the computer, editing as I go.

I really enjoy writing. I mean *writing* with a decent quality pen and paper. I always have. My problem is only that it's not very editable.
 

mistri

type and write

I mostly write directly on to my pc or laptop. But I also have a pda with 'graffiti' (a bit like handwriting recognition software), which feels almost like normal handwriting when you write into it, that I use for on the move.
 

mr mistook

Re: type and write

Handwriting is a horrible chore for me. I've always had such bad penmanship that my only hope is to print things, and even that is so sloppy it can barely be deciphered. Maybe it was thanks to emotional trauma at the hands of my 2nd grade cursive teacher, a very disagreeable nun.

Thank God my mother forced me to take a typing class, my sophmore year. Now that computers are here, I only write by hand if there's no other recourse (I'd gladly use a tape recorder before resorting to pen and paper).

I envy the cursive writers with fluid hands who twirl off effortless sentences on paper, but it's a skill I'll never have.
 

maestrowork

Re: type and write

Good point. I type 100 times faster than I scribble.
 

Kallahan

Re: type and write

I HATE cursive. Half the time its faster to print and it's almost always more legible. I sign my name in print, looks like cursive though, my hand writing is terrible. Alas the problem with being a geek and growing up around computers... At least I type fast. :)
 

Writing Again

Re: type and write

I use a digital voice recorder, holds up to 11.5 hours of notes in five folders, almost as small as a credit card, and with a usb port drops right to my puter. Is usable with Dragon Naturally Speaking -- But I can't afford that program.

I don't see the need for notebooks and pens any more.
 

Azura Skye

Re: type and write

>>I envy the cursive writers with fluid hands who twirl off effortless sentences on paper, but it's a skill I'll never have.

Yeah but when I'm on roll my beautiful, fluid handwriting becomes like chicken scratch.

:rollin
 

katdad

I'm either lucky or cursed with a sharp memory. If I have a story idea while driving or whatever, I can remember it and put it down later on computer.

My touch typing is quite good, and when I write, the words flow directly from my brain to the screen. I free-associate, then save rough text in temporary files.

Computers being what they are nowdays, I can save hundreds of files and check back on them later. I organize everything by folders, so ideas for one story or novel go into that folder. I also have general folders "horror", "mystery" etc.

In high school I took typing and maybe that one course was the most beneficial to me of the otherwise forgettable 4 years.

Working for a newspaper makes it necessary to type, and I remember vividly those huge old clunky Underwood manual typewriters on the desks, all clacking away. Noisy but not as much as the Linotype room, which was chaos!

Having a technical background as well as literary, I worked with computers for many years, and so they are 2nd nature to me.

When I sell my novel I'm gonna buy a nice Dell handheld that interprets handwriting via stylus, but for now, I rely on the ol' grey matter for my quick idea storage.
 

allion

I'm one of the pen to paper folk. I like the act of drawing a pen across blank paper and making something appear. And I can doodle if things are not going well, and add jokes to myself, and scribble up the margins if I want. And there are all the different colours of ink to use.

For me, writing longhand is more portable than a computer, which is one reason I am still looking at an Alphasmart.

I do use the computer for the next draft process. When I transcribe, it becomes the first revision of many. I also leave notes as I write in longhand ("change this, describe this, need name here" things) which I find hard to do on the computer.

And I wouldn't give up the search and replace function for all the world. I did my first trunk novel on a manual typewriter, and that was painful if something had to be fixed.

The one problem is that I leave the transcribing for too long, so too many pages can pile up, and I may lose track of what was going on. But that is what an outline is for, right?
 

triceretops

I've just finished hand-writing 60 pages, single space, and still have to wait for that new word processing program before I can transpose it to the screen.

All my books were written right on the screen years ago. I don't know why the heck I'm enjoying hand-writing so much now.

Tri
 

ShinyPenguin

I write it out

And usually do editing while I enter it into the computer. My hubby wanted to buy me software that I could dictate to, but I was afraid I'd be constantly editing out the million things I have to yell at the kids.
 

MarthaOConnor

Re: I write it out

I like to type. My fingers move much more quickly over a keyboard than over a tablet of paper. That said, I find the Internet and email TREMENDOUSLY distracting when I'm trying to write. I've found the best solution is to take the laptop PHYSICALLY OUT OF THE HOUSE (we have a wireless network, so it's no good just to take it to another room) and work at the library or at a cafe.
 

Oklahoma Wolf

Re: I write it out

My hands have the terrible habit of cramping when I write anything by hand, so I type everything I can. Not really a touch typist though... I usually point my eyes in the direction of the keyboard and just start typing.

Usually, my memory is good enough to catch spelling mistakes as they're typed, so I don't have to stop and look at the monitor very often until the creative well runs temporarily dry and I'm ready for some editing.
 

vstrauss

I wrote my first novel in longhand in yellow spiral notebooks. My mom (bless her) typed it for me. Then I learned to type, and switched to composing on a manual typewriter--heaven! Finally I could compose almost as fast as I could think. Then I switched to an electric typewriter--double heaven--then to an IBM Selectric with a correcting ribbon--high tech!--then, finally, to a computer. Nirvana. I can type on a computer way faster than any kind of typewriter, and it's always a clean copy. No more scribbles in the margins, pasted-in bits of paper, etc. I love the fluidity of electronic text. Handwritten text seems so static now.

- Victoria
 

Greenwolf103

With novels, first drafts get written by hand. The words just seem to pour through me more easily this way. Then I type everything into the 'puter but not word for word. Sentences get rewritten, scenes get moved around. I'm more creative when I write with a pen, more analytical when I type. So it makes sense for me to work this way.
 

Ivonia

I typically type on a computer, but when I'm at school, I can't bring my desktop with me, so I bring my handy-dandy notebook and pen (pencil if I feel like drawing something instead, as I tend to make a lot of changes).

Strangely enough, although I can get ideas anywhere when I'm inspired, I often develop my best ideas when I'm sitting around a coffee shop or in the student union at my university. So I tend to daydream and think up ideas and jot them down asap so I can remember them for later and then use those ideas for my stories if they're good.

I guess we'll see if doing this was any good in the near future when I finish the book :)
 

Lee Tasey

Dear Azura Skye,

I longhand it--always. Five or six drafts for a short story and three or four drafts for a novel. Then it goes on a Macintosh. There is somethnig mysterious that happens when I work with a purple pen. I don't know what it is. I don't want to know, either.

Best,

Lee
 

DarkHaven80

I type. When I write in longhand it doesn't sound good and the words come to me slower. If I have a lot in my head and a few sentences come to me phrased well, if I'm writing with a pen or pencil, I forget the exact wording by the time I write the first sentence, which then makes me go back and try and think of the right word, which interrupts my train of thought, and -- argh!! Typings easier because I do it quickly and for some reason I'm more creative with a keyboard now, maybe because I'm more used to it.
 
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