question

[Flag Pole Sitta]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

But then perhaps I'm unique in sharing my body with a sprite that picks up pens and paper when I'm doing something else and places these items where I'll never look for them; at least, that would explain why I lose things all the time! It's not my untidiness, oh no ... and I'm not absent minded, of course not! What was I saying...?)

You are defiantly not the only one with those annoying sprites (Am I allowed to curse on this forum? I was going to use the d-word but thought better of it) I'll be holding something one minute and the next it's nowhere to be found...

and I use Word for most typing, but Apple works has a special place in my heart, even though it's really not as good, it's what I learned to type in, plus those annoying typing computer games. /ramble

[Ursa major]

Originally Posted by Aes

Paper is practically useless to me at this point. Everything I do in terms of creative writing (or all writing in general!) gets done in Word or Access. At one point, I'd say I at least use paper to sketch characters, but even that can be handled with programs like painter classic or photoshop.

Pen & paper is just so limiting, both in terms of speed and in terms of flexibility; editing, adding, correcting, or even showcasing anything is far easier over an electronic medium than it is over more primitive means.

That's just my take, anyway.

I write in Word and keep stats - e.g. character attributes, chapter info (and should I mention train timetables?) - in Excel.

And I use Powerpoint for drawing maps. How sad is that?

[Sephiroth]

I use Fractal Terrains Pro for my world map, it's not ideal, but it lets you see the world as a globe, or choose your map projection, which is cool.

The downside is that you have to painstakingly draw your word by adjusting the elevation manually, and it's annoying, time-consuming work.

I use Excel, too, for chronological lists of historical and plot-related occurrences by year, and for national and regional population statistics, cities over 100k, etc.

[Anne Lyle]

Originally Posted by shamguy4

thanks for your responses

it seems that writing on a notebook with a pen help you write better from all the posts I've read

What makes you write better is practice. Whether that's with pen and paper or on a computer doesn't matter, as long as it works for you.

I used to write longhand, but now I find it inhibiting. Perhaps it's because I've become accustomed to the pristine appearance of typed text, but I hate the thought of ending up with a semi-illegible first draft covered in crossings-out. Although I try to write the first draft straight through without stopping, often I change my mind about something mid-sentence and have to at least fix that paragraph before I can move on with the story. Or in the heat of creation I miss out a vital point and have to go back and insert it (if I leave it until the next draft, I might forget).

At the end of a drafting marathon I just want to print the whole darned thing out ready for reading and revising - if I had to type up 50k+ words before I could read it properly, I don't think I'd bother with draft two...

[Hilarious Joke]

For the most I agree with what has been said about typing over handwriting, but not long ago my brother was borrowing my laptop and I had the urge to write and so I did it via the vintage pen and paper method. Maybe it was the moment, but the words came easily and I quickly covered quite a few pages in my tiny handwriting, doing maps and family trees here and there as the ideas came. Having done the beginning I went to type it up and found that typing it from my handwriting was an excellent chance to 'hear' how the story sounded, changing words and sentence structure as I went. It also helped me develop further ideas in terms of background and parallel storylines. So maybe this is a good approach, I think I will continue handwriting and then typing for this particular work.

[Wolflance]

I use both paper and computer. Paper is good for drafting and mind-mapping, while I use computer to wrote down most of my writing.

[Cal20]

I write with a pen and paper. I feel that the actual physical part of wriritng is just as enjoyable as thinking of ideas and seeing them coming together on the page. It does flow better and it also means you can write anywhere, any time.