Handwritten or Word Processor

EclipsesMuse said:

Sure I have to type it,so I am doing more work, but it feels better than staring at a blank screen.

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Don't think of it as "more work". Think of it as "doing revision".

I handwrite as long as my hand holds out (old injury, so it's limited). But what I get is usually good stuff and I'm happy with it.

For me it's the blinking cursor on the screen that propels me to write. (And I type faster than I write.) I have a netbook that is so portable I can take it just about anywhere and use dropbox so that my work from the desktop is always on my netbook.

I find it easier to compose writing longhand and edit using the computer. I use a fountain pen and good paper to ease the stress on my writing hand.

I do. Love it. I especially love pencil and college ruled notebook paper. My handwriting is horrible, and you are right, it's more work in one sense…but I find that I often stare at my computer screen for way too long and waste what writing time I actually have. But I rarely ever have this problem when I handwrite. I have a whole system of codes and markup that I use so it's not terribly labor intensive. I don't think anyone could pick it up and understand what I wrote though.

For me it's two different types of writing. Novels are done on the computer, essays, shorts, and profound thoughts are done in my journal.

I wriete by hand with a digital pen, so i get to handwrite but it also converts my handwriting to text for me, so I don't have to type it later.

EclipsesMuse said:

I try not to revise too much when typing. I plan on doing most revision when I am completely finished. If not, I'll spend forever fixing what I have and not finishing the novel.It's hard to resist the urge to revise something though. I have left notes in places I want to change so I don't forget.

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Whenever I hit something I'm not sure about, I surround the text with angle brackets <> as a reminder and promise to myself to go back and fix it later. It's a way to keep the train of thought from getting derailed. By putting something in the text, it calms the inner editor so I can move on.

I use a notebook at work to write ideas down... use the computer at home!

I suppose I'm used to writing on the computer. I write faster that way, and it's less hard on my hands. There are times though, when the computer screen will just not give enough inspiration, in which case, I turn to the good old pen and paper.

I prefer to type into word processing, as it makes it much easier to move or delete or add or otherwise sculpt the text as I go along. However, I've trained myself to switch to notebook and pen when necessary. As long as I have my Parker Jotter, I'm cool.

It depends on the mood that I'm in. I love the feeling of writing with a pen and paper (a good quality fountain pen is a must IMO) but at the same time I feel a lot more productive on a computer. So I do whatever I feel like. A lot of times if I'm stuck I'll go freehand until I get a flow going, then crank the rest out on a computer.

If I'm really stuck I'll just start drawing the scene until the words come out, then pen and paper, then computer

When I was younger, I separated the two. My journals were handwritten; fiction was typed. A few experiments with writing fiction by hand proved more frustrating than liberating. So handwritten work has always had a strong introspective association with me--a slow, careful, soulful unfurling.

When I write poetry (which isn't often enough, lately!), it's always handwritten.

Fiction is too big, complex, and protean for me to write by hand. Ideas spill out and shift rapidly in my mind. Typing is the only way I can capture significant portions of it. Of course there's also an emotional aspect to writing fiction, but for me, the emotion lies more in the inspiration rather than the execution (with some exceptions).

When it comes to poetry and introspective writing, the execution itself is emotional. Ink flowing from a pen onto smooth, virginal paper is a sensual catharsis unparalleled by the click-clack of plastic keys, but the reverse is true, too--when I want to see the big picture, get into the headspace of other characters, write in different voices and write believable dialogue, etc., I need the distance and control offered by typing.

But I primarily write in third-person limited perspective, so I don't expect everyone's process is the same. Writers who work primarily in first-person no doubt have a different experience.

The only thing I write by hand is a shopping list.

I always handwrite my first draft and always in pencil. I think I can better acccess my creative side when I'm actually connected to the page and my hand forms the letters. Not sure why. I'm fine typing it up later and doing revisions from that but the first creative stuff has to be by hand.
Sometimes I think it's because of all the years I spent at typewriters, word processors and computers in the work place. I don't connect using that equipment to being creative, just doing my job.

I write by hand and think of it as a first draft. I also have a digital pen but I prefer the feel of pen and paper.

EclipsesMuse said:

Recently, I have starting hand writing my scenes. Before I'd felt that doing this gives me more unnecessary work, but job changes have prevented me from having access to a Word Processor at work. The new job has given me ample time to write, So I broke out the pen and notepad and discovered that for some reason my writing flows easier.
Sure I have to type it,so I am doing more work, but it feels better than staring at a blank screen.
So, who else likes to write by hand? Why? And or those that prefer the word Processor, why do you like it better?

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I love to write by hand. Discovered it by accident one day, a scene/idea came to me when all I had with me was a pen and a notebook. I was amazed at how much better/smoother (and more quickly!) the words flowed. If I write by hand, I don't have a problem getting serious wordage done. Something about real paper inspires me to get crap written, whereas the blank screen of MS Word seems to infect my brain and Bingo! I got nothing.

It just works better for me--I get random inspiration sometimes and it's easier to scribble it out on a piece of paper than to lug around the lappy/netbook. Not to mention the fact that I habitually write in coffeeshops, libraries, etc., and a lowly notebook is less likely to get lifted than a cute purple netbook. You know, in the event I have to go to the loo, or see cute boys to flirt with, need a coffee refill, have to tie my shoes, run screaming from the room....

I'm a little paranoid about technology crashes, too. No virus is gonna eat my notebook. Termites, maybe, but no viruses. And my laptop battery seriously sucks. Gives me like 4.234234 minutes run time. And bloodshot computer eyes really don't do much for my figure.

So, yes--love it.

ETA: Zebra ball point pens are the bomb diggity. Srsly.

I've written an entire manuscript draft by hand before typing it in. As a backup strategy, I scanned in each page as a .jpg image so I would be able to reproduce the work if I ever lost the notebook.

Yep, I pretty much type everything.

Larger:
http://yfrog.com/6bn32809021358187016196j

I normally - and prefer - to go directly from brain to laptop. However, there are times when scenes or sentences, etc strike me when I don't have access and I handwrite.

For a while I didn't have a laptop and hand wrote...the advantage in my mind? You can edit as you input. For me, the downside is I'm faster at typing than writing, so I don't fill the scenes in as much long hand.

I used to handwrite, mainly because I didn't originally have computer access (teenager + paranoid, overbearing parents + "No, Mom, you can't read my crappy first draft" = no computer). Also, I could write in class...funny how the teachers thought I was taking such extensive notes. Ha. Ha.
Then this summer I discovered the wonders of a computer. I can edit as I go without wasting space by crossing stuff out! My irrational worries about word count and page count have disappeared!
I still carry around a notebook for auld lang syne. (Black mead notebook w/ the handy front pockets, college rule, and a clicky black 0.7 pen.)

Definitely computer for me. I'm the slowest handwriter ever and have changed heaps in my WIP...tbh I shudder to think of the mess it would be if I handwrote it.