how many of us still write things out on paper?

[zell19861986]

i was thinking about that today. how many people still write stories/poems/and what ever else out on paper when the computer is so much easier to use? well for one i do.

 

[Angeline]

Hi Zell.

I almost never do, but that's because I'm left-handed and my hand drags across the paper when I write and smears everything. Keyboarding liberated me.

 

[zell19861986]

ah. well at least you write right?

 

[zell19861986]

i just finished writing a poem out. i don't know why but it felt better writing it out on paper, cause i started out on the computer but couldn't get passed the second line

 

[Guest]

I write little snippets or ideas for poems on scratch paper then transfer them to the computer. I'm a lefty like Ange and her reason with the smeary paper is mine also.

 

[zell19861986]

I write little snippets or ideas for poems on scratch paper then transfer them to the computer. I'm a lefty like Ange and her reason with the smeary paper is mine also.

cool. for some reason when mine smears i like the way it looks. lol i don't know why

 

[WickedEve]

I prefer the computer.
If I'm away from the computer, then I take paper and pen with me. It's usually some funky scrap of paper and a pen that's leaking ink. I'm never properly prepared for anything in life.

 

[zell19861986]

I prefer the computer.
If I'm away from the computer, then I take paper and pen with me. It's usually some funky scrap of paper and a pen that's leaking ink. I'm never properly prepared for anything in life.

who is ever prepared for life? lol.

 

[bluerains]

I find it much easier to correct mistakes , lines and such on computer rather than the constant eraser and rewrites on paper..I do write on paper in the early hours of morning if in dreaming a pattern of sounds making into a phrase ...I hurry write it down and try to build something around it...its usually the unique phrases like blue cozies of Stella...my dreaming however, saw Labatt blue ...strange huh...blue

who is ever prepared for life? lol.

 

[Guest]

I prefer the computer because I can always check for related words, etc. on rhymingzone.com (when my brains not working), and because of the spell checker on M.S Word.

I also keep a pad of paper and pencil hidden under my mattress. Sometimes I can't sleep and just need to write. I've fallen asleep and woke to the pad stuck to my cheek because I lay on my side as I write.

 

[MercyMia]

i just finished writing a poem out. i don't know why but it felt better writing it out on paper, cause i started out on the computer but couldn't get passed the second line

A friend told me she handwrites her poetry and short stories during creation and then types them into the computer for revision. She said she finds it inhibiting to face a blank screen, feels pressured by the cursor. I also think there's something sterile about typing into a computer, at least creative work. Technical stuff and email are fine but poetry seems to need more careful handling for some reason...just MHO.

 

[bogusbrig]

For the amount of time I spend on the computer this really seems perverse but I hate them. I much prefer to write on paper (preferably in my favourite bar with a beer) and I hate reading from a screen. I can just about read a couple of poems from a screen but please don't ask me to read a short story. If it wasn't for the communication a computer offers and its use as a graphics tool which are fantastic, I'd throw it in the garbage bin.

 

[sandspike]

Paper

The only idea I ever have in front of a computer is to burn the ?*#$%*&# thing.
Thoughts come to me daydreaming so I carry paper or try and remember the
first two lines until I'm sober.

 

[Tzara]

I am to the point where I almost can't write if I don't have access to a word processor. I sometimes make some notes on paper and play around with phrases a bit, but I do all my composition on the computer.

There are a number of reasons for this, I think:

• It's very easy to move things around. Change the relative positions of lines, change line and strophe breaks, etc.
• Spell check. I am a very good speller, but there are certain words I misspell. Because I am a good speller, I usually have to be argued with about something I haven't spelled correctly. The computer tends to win those arguments.
• Speed. I type faster than I write by hand.
• Neatness. Poems just look better typewritten.
• Habit. I work with computers all the time as part of my job. It is how I am used to communicating with people.

I've tried keeping a notebook and find that I don't write in it. If I am away from the computer and I come up with the beginnings of a poem, I usually try to keep repeating it to myself to memorize it until I can get to a system and type it in.

 

[flyguy69]

I need both. I do all of my composition at the keyboard, but an essentail and final(!) step is to print it out and scribble. I need to hold poems in my hands in order to really appreciate them.

One of the reasons I don't care much for poetry readings.

 

[Rybka]

Most of my "inspirations" come while away from the computer. So, like many others, I carry paper and pencil and have a pad next to the bed. - However, whatever inspires me seldom gives more than an idea or a phrase or two. So, like many others, I do my writing, editing, rearranging on my computer. Spell checking, the thesaurus, Google, and online rhyming dictionaries are a Godsend!

 

[The Huntsman]

Longhand

Greetings, folks!
It's been a few years, but I'm glad this forum is flourishing!

To respond to the topic:

(another leftie, here)

I find myself hand-writing first and then typing second.

More often than not, I'll get an idea when I'm driving or
hiking or doing something that requires me to be away
from the computer.

So, I end up making a note that I later type out.

Then, I print out whatever I've typed, even if I only have
a few lines.
Then, I take this print-copy with me and I make hand-written
revisions. When the copy is edited and/or revised, I use the
blank space on the paper to continue the poem or story.
Then, I type up the changes, print the next draft, and repeat
the process.

As a result, I end up with a stack of drafts that is rather thick.
However, this makes the writing process easier to track (for me)
and allows me to observe the synthesis of thoughts / inspirations.

I have a freshly printed copy of a short story I'm working, and
I'm a few minutes away from a drive down to the Bear River -
where I will write and revise.

Great topic!

The H.

 

[Angeline]

cool. for some reason when mine smears i like the way it looks. lol i don't know why

I don't like when my hands get all smeary cause I know I'll forget and get ink or pencil on my clothes, my furniture, you name it.

I can be very absent-minded. I've walked around all day with a post-it note stuck to me and not even noticed it. Once I was at a business meeting giving a presentation and I happened to look down and see I had a big Sesame Street Colorform stuck to my leg under my pantyhose. I believe it was Grover. (My son was around three then, deeply into Colorforms at the time and would stick them on me and I'd forget they were there.) I pretended not to notice, but I'm sure everyone else did.

So I'm better off kept far away from low tech.

Hey, Neo, it's a bitch being a southpaw in a righty world, isn't it?

 

[Angeline]

Greetings, folks!
It's been a few years, but I'm glad this forum is flourishing!

To respond to the topic:

(another leftie, here)

I find myself hand-writing first and then typing second.

More often than not, I'll get an idea when I'm driving or
hiking or doing something that requires me to be away
from the computer.

So, I end up making a note that I later type out.

Then, I print out whatever I've typed, even if I only have
a few lines.
Then, I take this print-copy with me and I make hand-written
revisions. When the copy is edited and/or revised, I use the
blank space on the paper to continue the poem or story.
Then, I type up the changes, print the next draft, and repeat
the process.

As a result, I end up with a stack of drafts that is rather thick.
However, this makes the writing process easier to track (for me)
and allows me to observe the synthesis of thoughts / inspirations.

I have a freshly printed copy of a short story I'm working, and
I'm a few minutes away from a drive down to the Bear River -
where I will write and revise.

Great topic!

The H.

Hey! Welcome back! Wanna post some poems?

 

[vampiredust]

I always write down my initial ideas in my journals and flesh out drafts of poems and stories on paper, I like the feel of the pencil going against the grain of the paper.

 

[SeattleRain]

another smudgy lefty here

although I like the smudge, miss the smudge and the callous on my left ring finger.

Remember in Little Women when Prof. Behr sees Jo's ink stained fingers and knows she is a writer Sigh.

I only write on paper when I am out and away from my keyboard. The keyboard is another output device of my brain now like the pen used to be. It works MUCH BETTER than my mouth. Very sad. I need to get out more.

 

[Liar]

Leftie too, but that's not why I don't write on paper. I simply can't read my own handwriting.

 

[wildsweetone]

i was thinking about that today. how many people still write stories/poems/and what ever else out on paper when the computer is so much easier to use? well for one i do.

i use both depending on where i am at the time. i always carry paper and pen with me, even when i sit at the computer to type. i haven't quite got to the stage of a joined poem i.e. one line from the pc and one from the pen. one day when i've got nothing to do i might just try that.

 

[SeattleRain]

seem to be a lot of lefties and aquarians around here
we should do a poll.... see how it compares to the norm

 

[The Huntsman]

Submitting

Hey! Welcome back! Wanna post some poems?

You bet!
I just submitted my most recent poem.
I hope it's enjoyed.


The H.