There are so many wonderful advantaged to computers.
Writing letters, reports, stories making presentations, being creative, finding information, learning, connecting to people and much more has become easier and more time efficient. Not to mention the endless gaming possibilities. I love my computer!!!
But a dear friend of mine, the pencil (that thing you write on paper with, remember?) is shrinking into the distance as the computer races to new, improved technologies.
I bring this up because even though I treasure my lap top and all the wonders it contains at my finger tips, I am really a pencil and paper kind of person. Ok- sometimes I use pen :)
When I am jotting down my story on paper instead of Word, it all seems to flow easier for me. Plus, when I am having a moments pause over something, a search for the right wording or a simple lag between scenes I can doodle in the margins- and come on, who doesn't love a good doodle?- sometimes freeing or providing inspiration for what I need to continue my work at that moment.
Also, his makes editing much easier for me. I simply can not edit on a computer, I need the hard copy.
The draw back are simple and bold:
It takes sooooo much longer...and that's before it's transcribed onto the computer.
No auto correct on spelling or grammar.
It's easier to loose pages than it is a computer.
While I am writing I do not have that instant information at my finger tips if I need to check a fact or something. I have to move out of my comfy writing position, shuffle papers, get my computer up and running.....blah, blah, blah.
This all contributes to my time problem mentioned in my first ever post. I have many time constrictions to work around and the fact that writing by hand is easier for me makes my time a little tighter because I always get all my thoughts down in the time I have or I may no be able to finish a scene when it's first fresh in my mind with that ringing clarity.
So; this is me, owning up to another challenge I must face. But don't worry, I am a writer and I will do this! (*sings: Yay, me! Yay, me! while doing a happy dance*)
But I hope this serves as a reminder to everyone how wonderful our little doodling pencil friend still is. ;)
A friend of mine, Scott Prussing, author of Beathless, had this to say, but was unable to comment. "I wrote my first book in pen on legal pads.. 800 pages.. not very good. The worst was when my apartment burned down after I'd written 250 pages... all gone.. no backup... now I send a back up file to a buddy every couple days... So chalk up another advantage to the computer!"
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