By Hand Vs. Computer

VonShneer · Sep 25, 2007

I started off writing by hand just for fun, and got into writing novels by hand even. I really enjoyed that a lot, but there was a certain point where i realised, if i'm going to be doing this seriously then I'm going to have to get at the computer to reduce the process a great deal of time. I'm a fast typer... like lightning at times, but now I find my ideas don't flow as well on the computer as they did by hand... It's actually been a long time since i've written by hand, like over a year... but still i can't get into it so much as I did before...
Does anyone still write by hand and then tranfer it to the computer? I started thinking that'd take me too long, but now I'm starting to feel it might take me too long by the computer becuase i just can't get it out the same way...
It's also possible that I'm just in an angsty moment, which is quite a drag since it happens to me often...

Vomaxx · Sep 25, 2007

I always write by hand, then type it. The typing is the first revision. I find that for some reason I think better when using a pen than at a computer.

WendyNYC · Sep 25, 2007

I do, and then I edit when I type it in. It probably takes longer, but I'm more likely to sit and just WRITE (instead of messing about on the internet, like now).

roger · Sep 25, 2007

I write by hand, in notebooks, then type up on computer - sometimes continuing on computer past the point I got to by hand. I use a mixture in other words. But pen and paper is usually the way I start to get things going.

Scrawler · Sep 25, 2007

I do both and probably waste a lot of paper, but I recycle.
I type some, print it, sit quietly and write between the lines, then type all the handwritten parts. Repeat. Repeat. I'm most creative when writing by hand, and then the typing in gets my writing under way.

Salem · Sep 25, 2007

The computer drains me of all creativity. I absolutely have to write by hand! Preferably with a pencil and a notebook curled up on the couch, or outside on a cushy lounge chair by the pool.

sneakers145 · Sep 25, 2007

I can only think at the keyboard. If I have to physically write, my hand fails. I only write with pen on paper if I'm somewhere away from my computer and an idea strikes that is so good, I have to write it down before I forget (because I will, LOL).

ccarver30 · Sep 25, 2007

I wrote my first draft by hand (because my laptop blew up) but then I got a work one and now use that.

DamaNegra · Sep 25, 2007

I use a typewriter

I write too slow, but the computer has internet and it distracts me, so I found dad's old typewriter and began to use it. I've been writing like crazy ever since

There's something... beautifl about the typewriter's keys that can't be emulated by the compter, no matter which programs you download to do so.

The downside, though, is that I type so fast I make a lot of mistakes, and the typewriter doesn't have a delete key.

When I'm done with the typewriter, I copy it to my computer and start revising.

Jamesaritchie · Sep 25, 2007

Hand

You can be just as serious and just as professional writing longhand as writing by computer. More so, to my way of thinking. I see many, many reasons why using a computer is faster and easier, but I don't see any reason why using a computer means better, or even as good.

JLCwrites · Sep 25, 2007

If I wrote by hand, I wouldn't be able to read it.

David I · Sep 25, 2007

Only at the computer. And it's not because I can type faster than I scribble because I can't.

I find my handwriting looks distracting. I also need to see how the words look work on the page, and the closer they are to a finsihed product the easier for me.

I revise as I write, and if I did so with pen and paper it would soon be an incomprehensible mess.

tjwriter · Sep 25, 2007

I often write by hand. I find it useful to get 'unstuck' when I have that problem and necessary when I am somewhere that doesn't have a computer available.

Like Vomaxx, I type it in later and make minor revisions at that time. And like roger, I sometimes continue typing past the last page of handwritten material.

Longhand most certainly has its uses for some people.

This is another of those whatever works for each person questions, but if it works for you, keep doing it. It's not that unusual.

kristie911 · Sep 25, 2007

I wrote my first novel by hand. I really liked doing it that way but the cramps in my hands were killer. The second one I did on the computer...I didn't like the results as much. I cut too many corners on the computer...not sure why.

My current WIP was started on the computer but I wasn't happy with how it was going. I feel like I don't go into detail like I should. The computer version is almost like a really, really elaborate outline. So I printed it out and I'm filling it in by hand.

I think I finally found a method I like!

Harper K · Sep 25, 2007

I'm usually a computer person, but this past weekend I went back to notebook and pen for the first time in ages. Besides my usual problem of getting distracted by the Internet, I was also having the problem of scrolling through my WIP and reading some chapters too many times. I think I have the first few chapters pretty much memorized. Not a good thing, as I know they're still pretty rough and need to be changed. Physically leaving the draft behind for a while and going into another room with pen and paper worked very nicely. I'm probably going to stick with that method for a while. I wrote my first 7 or 8 novels with pencil and paper (when I was a wee one), so it's nice and nostalgic to go back to noveling this way.

I'm left-handed, so my hand drags over what I've just written and makes for a very inky hand. It can also make for a messy sheet of paper unless I have a pen with the type of ink that dries right away.

joyce · Sep 25, 2007

I write by hand only because it seems I'm more creative. I did make the mistake on my first novel to almost write the whole darn thing before I started transferring it on the computer. I swear I will never wait that long again to type it because it seemed like it took forever. Now I write about 25-50 pages then I type that. It's just a personal preference for me to write by hand. I can type really fast, but it does not seem to be as good as my handwritten stuff.

avalancheof1977 · Sep 25, 2007

Turkey Lurkey said:
If I wrote by hand, I wouldn't be able to read it.

x2

And my hand starts hurting after a page anyway.

ZannaPerry · Sep 25, 2007

I like to write long hand when my computer isn't around.

Claudia Gray · Sep 25, 2007

I once could only write by longhand, but eventually I got into the swing of working at the computer. Now I work that way almost exclusively. I still brainstorm on paper from time to time, and I've written longhand when no computer was available. But the computer has become part of my process.

Wraith · Sep 25, 2007

I always write longhand. I like the feeling of the words flowing freely (and much more quickly) from my hand, the way I can edit on the spot and cut things out (so they're still there when I need them), I don't like having a machine do the letters for me when I write. It is messier indeed, but it's a lovely mess, and easier to handle when you have lots of notes and can just spread the papers on the desk (or all around the house if need be). When I type what I've written, I also edit, because the computer helps me see stuff I hadn't noticed - and so I save myself some later work. I understand why people like to type, but I still find it a bit of a pity that few people write by hand these days.

melaniehoo · Sep 25, 2007

I write on the computer but will resort to a journal when the computer's turned off or I'm not at home. I've found my ideas flow more freely on paper, so I've turned back to that on occasion. The internet is an evil invention & I'd probably have more done if it wasn't there. I even have 2 computers running right now, while I'm supposed to be writing, so I can surf & watch CNN at the same time.

I'm also left handed but I just turn the page so my hand doesn't smear the ink.

OctoberRain · Sep 25, 2007

I do both but I get so impatient when writing by hand, and I can't write as much in one sitting. My hand eventually starts to cramp which becomes distracting.

However, when I write by hand, I write better. My words have more impact, and I have less verbal diarrhea. My dialogue is tighter my narrative is richer and more concise. I think it's because the slowness of pen to paper forces me to think about it before I blurt it out.

I've never written a page of entire garbage by hand. I have written chapters of garbage using the keyboard.

Manat · Sep 25, 2007

Nobody can read my handwriting, including me, so I don't have a choice.

burgy61 · Sep 25, 2007

I started out writing in a notebook but quickly realized that I needed spellcheck. Even then I get "no spelling suggestion" from it. I still write things down so as not to forget, but I have to go slow to watch my spelling.

Mud Dauber · Sep 25, 2007

OctoberRain said:
I think it's because the slowness of pen to paper forces me to think about it before I blurt it out.

I've never written a page of entire garbage by hand. I have written chapters of garbage using the keyboard.

Isn't that the strangest thing? Same goes for me. You must be on to something with the slowness of pen to paper forcing us to think about it, rather than rambling on and on about nothing for pages on end.

I started my WIP on the computer, and only turned to longhand when I had all sorts of laptop issues (I swear I bought a lemon). The experience was life-changing! LOL Well, not that serious, but it was a big eye opener. :Wha:

I couldn't get over how much closer I felt to my story and how in tune with my characters I was when I worked on it in longhand. It's a curious phenomenon, but apparently, I'm not the only one who's experienced it.

These days when I work on my WIP, I mostly use my laptop, but whenever I hit a block, it's back to the spiral notebook and pencil.

By Hand Vs. Computer

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