What writing instrument do you most prefer?

Macintosh or a notebook and a Namiki retractable point fountain pen, sometimes a mechanical pencil, if I'm translating and need to erase.

I've seen two-dollar IBM Selectrics at thrift stores that look tempting, especially knowing what they originally cost. But I recall that those things make NOISE. I've got too much junk, but I'd still like to have one for a novelty/history item and occasional actual use.

I have several IBM PS/2 keyboards, with the slanted IBM logo in the oval on the left side above the ESC and F1 keys. These are known as the "Model M" keyboards (google Model M), and they're known for their robustness, as well as the clicking sound each key makes when you press and release it. I can testify it takes a lot of bread and cookie crumbs and spilled coffee to make it not work, and even then it can be cleaned out. It's much like the original IBM PC, XC and AT keyboards, but those older ones, especially the AT, make louder clicking noises. These keyboards are still in use at the teller windows at a lot of banks. Sometimes you can still find Model M's among all the "modern" lightweight cheapie keyboards in thrift stores, or pay some real money and order one online.

Medievalist said:

Macintosh or a notebook and a Namiki retractable point fountain pen, sometimes a mechanical pencil, if I'm translating and need to erase.

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I love my little Vanishing Point. I also have my good old MB 149 (grad present). I also restored a circa 1927 portable Underwood.

What a wonderful thread! Finally, no one will complain if the thread wanders off into complaining about computer features and longing for typewriters.

These days, I use a desktop and a laptop computer, because that's what I've got. I also have notepads of all sapes and sizes -- from legal pads, to leather journals, to college ruled spiral notebooks -- and a collection of nice (read: hardworking, not fancy) pens which I love writing with. I can float between methods, depending on what I've got on hand.

These days, I set my laptop up in my closet-office, and I have it in front of me. To my right, I have a sturdy desktop keyboard that I use when I write, because I can hammer on it safely, which I can't do on the laptop.

I miss typewriters. I loved my electric typewriter, whatever brand it was.

I still think a fountain pen is the best method, if you have the time for it, which I don't always...

Bic medium-point black ballpoint pen.
Mead Five-Star steno notebook.

Always.

You can't go fast with fancy pens (especially those ones with the little needly point.)

I can't compose on a computer. The ability to delete ruins it. I need to strike out. I need to scribble random notes in the margin. I need my pinkie to get dirty. And when I write for four hours, I want to have something.

BottomlessCup said:

Bic medium-point black ballpoint pen.
Mead Five-Star steno notebook.

Always.

You can't go fast with fancy pens (especially those ones with the little needly point.)

I can't compose on a computer. The ability to delete ruins it. I need to strike out. I need to scribble random notes in the margin. I need my pinkie to get dirty. And when I write for four hours, I want to have something.

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This is the exact allure that keeps me writing in notebooks. That, and it's too easy to just run on and on if you're writing on computers. Computer writing is a necessary evil for me, most of the time.

I disagree about pointy-tipped bens, though. I use the Pilot Precise V5 pens

And, barring those, I have a lovely fountain pen. It cost me eight bucks, it's weighted comfortably, and I abuse the hell out of it.

I like tipped pens, and fountain pens, because I don't have to press so much against the paper, and it helps my hand. That said, I'll write with any kind of pen. I'm not picky. I'll paint stories on cave walls, if I have to.

I just wrote something out longhand for the first time. It took forever, and then I still had to type it into the computer which took hours. Then I thought about editing a bit as I typed it in, because I had a hard copy of the first draft anyway, but it's easier just editing it on the computer, so I didn't even do that.

I find I do most of my writing on a computer, but when I'm away from the computer I have notepads that I love to writ in. Because of an issue I have with my eyes I can't use ink that blue or black, so I use gel pens or marble pens (which has ink in many colours througout the actual pen) and i find these work well for me.

I do dislike the fact then that once i've written it out I have to then type it all up again but I enjoy the freedom of writing in a pad gives me plus I feel more professional for some reason!

Nicole_Gestalt said:

I do dislike the fact then that once i've written it out I have to then type it all up again but I enjoy the freedom of writing in a pad gives me plus I feel more professional for some reason!

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The useful thing about typing it up is, you can make changes and edits as you're typing it in, essentially making the first typed version a second draft of your story.

I do that. It works pretty well, most of the time.

PeeDee said:

The useful thing about typing it up is, you can make changes and edits as you're typing it in, essentially making the first typed version a second draft of your story..

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Thats true, I found that with one of the pieces i'm working on now. However I also find that I have actually written a lot less then I think I have if I do it hand written first - but then thats just because I feel like I've written loads when in actuality its only been a few pages typed. I guess there's advantages and disadvantages for both.

I wrote one of my first ever short stories on a manual portable typewriter, sitting on the edge of my bed, with the typewriter on my knee! It nearly fell off dozens of times, but it was all I had at the time.

Now I use my computer. I find it very hard to write on paper. My handwriting gets all messy and I get lazy and start using abbreviations which I later totally forget what they mean.

I get amazed when I see photos of old manuscripts of writers like Jane Austen, with everything so neatly written. Even the bits crossed out are neat. I don't think I would have coped back then.

Computers are handy, and so easy to use, but my brain just works better most of the time if I sit with a pad and a pen. Lately I've been investing in the cheap notebooks around back-to-school time. As long as it's college ruled, I'm good.

Of course we all know now that writers always seem to have a bit of an office supply fetish. I remember the question once a long time ago and the response was overwhelming.

I don't have a favorite pen. As long as it lets me write quickly without destroying my penmanship, I'm happy.

I prefer my computer.

I have a hard time writing anything longhand in pen or sometimes even pencil - being lefthanded means I have a tendency to smear ink/graphite all over the page. Pen is out of the question for this reason, as it will make the page unreadable. I do have good handwriting, but the most I'll write anything longhand is outlining or keeping a pad handy for notes while typing on the computer.

I've also found that when I get in "the zone" and everything just clicks, I can barely keep up typing, never mind trying to scrawl across a page as fast as possible without degenerating to chicken scrath.

My earliest memories of writing involve our old typewriter (my father probably still has the thing), so it's no surprise that I favor keyboards over notebooks.

~DragonHeart~

I prefer to do my writing on the computer, simply because I can type nearly as fast as I think -- when I'm writing by hand, my hand can't keep up with my brain.

On the other hand, I do love journaling and I do that all by hand, in a leather-bound notebook with an inky blue pen.

My MacBook (my preferred tool because I think faster than I can handwrite).

Cheap spiral notebooks, college ruled (I like the 5"x7" ones because I can toss them in my purse. Great for first drafts when I don't have my MacBook handy).

Paper-Mate ballpoint pens, medium point, blue ink (cheap and effective).

An aging Compaq Presario 2100. I am a huge fan of this company, after a half dozen machines that never let me down, unlike that other company, that rhymes with hell.....

It's necessary for me to "tune out" or "drowned out" the normal noises around me; the ticking grandfather clock; the tv blaring; the kids outside (nephews) arguing or screaming at each other and then laughing hysterically; a very verbal Aunt who only seems to get extremely talkative if she knows I'm writing. I much prefer to write my first draft out longhand with pen, pencil, crayon, whatever is handy and will suffice. Once I get the chance to get it on the computer (usually the wee hours of the morning when everyone is asleep) I will edit as I type it up and then print out a working copy that I can read back through, and most times edit again. The main reason for the working copy is because the computer is too distracting and too easy to just connect to the internet. If I know I will be typing for a while on my computer, I will disable the dsl.

The Evolution of Writing, by Shadow Ferret

In the beginning, I worte long hand. It was convenient. I could do it in school instead of listening to the teacher in my notebook and they'd think I was actually taking notes. Fools.

Then I'd transcribe everything on my manual typewriter, with carbons. DOn't ask me why, but I always typed a carbon.

After typing it, I'd sit down with a pen and go over it making corrections, editing as necessary.

Then I'd retype the whole thing back on the typewriter. This always also ended up being part of the editing phase because often while typing I'd think of a whole new direction to go and the typed copy would invariably be different from the previous copy.

Now I use a computer. I rarely do it in long hand except maybe on a napkin in a restaurant and only for an idea, never for a whole story. My handwriting is just horrible.

The computer is just faster than a typewriter. I don't jam the hammers together because I'm typing faster than it can mechanically keep up. I don't have to fuss with Wite-Out or those paper strip things. And I never have to retype the whole blamed thing over and over and over again.

Cut and paste is my friend. Welcome to the 21st Century.

The End

Instrument

I prefer a fountain pen, but my hands are in such bad shape that comfort has become essential, which means i've tried darned near every writing instrument there is. I can't find a fountain pen that doesn't make my poor old hands ache.

I've settled on two writing instruments, depending on my needs. A Special Edition Dr. Grip gel pen with a custom grip for when I want ink, and a 5mm Penmate Duo Expert Automatic Drafting Pencil, also with a custom grip, for when I need to erase. (An Automatic Drafting Pencil is really just a fancy mechanical pencil made for drafting work.) I can also stick red lead in this for editing work.

I love using a manual typewriter, and I have a good one, but finding cotton ribbons is such a hassle that I've almost given up trying.

Hate writing first drafts on a computer, and for the same reason PattiTheWicked likes it. If my writing is keeping up with my thoughts, I'm not writing nearly as well as I want to be. My first thought is almost never my best thought. Writing in longhand, and taking the time to write neatly, means I have time to think at least twice before I write a sentence.

Dell Laptop.

There it is, in my avatar. The one and only Remington Quiet Writer. Alas, the term "quiet writer" must be relative. According to my wife it is anything but. So I revise completed rough drafts on the computer in the morning, then bang out new stuff on the Rem in the afternoon.

People get their driver's license and stop walking everywhere, which I think is a damn shame.

People get computers, and lost a lot of the ability to handwrite and use typewriters. I do maintain that computers are good for many things, and writg is not necessarily one of them.

I nearly always compose on my Toshiba laptop, though I keep notepads EVERYWHERE for when inspiration hits me. Otherwise, I forget what I wanted to write. LOL