Hi all, I’m trying to reduce my screen use outside of work, because I work at a computer all day, plus all the other features on my devices are a distraction. I don’t have much free time right now, so I want it to be focused on writing, not useless online activities. To this end, I’m switching to writing in a paper notebook. (I write poems and flash fiction.) I’m finding it hard to make the switch, though, because when I wrote on a screen, I just edited as I went. But now I can’t edit as I go so easily, and I’m finding it harder to actually put words to paper. I’ve written some good poems on paper (“Driving Through Kansas” was one of them, and my readers love that one), I’m just finding it hard to go without editing as I go and have to actually look at that ugly first draft. Has anyone else switched to using paper? If so, what pointers would you give someone else who wants to make the same change? Thanks!
I've written fiction on paper most of my life, though as my hands have become stiffer, I compose more on the computer. My paper writing technique: I put my pen on the paper and write until I have nothing else to say or I need a break, whichever comes first. I ignore punctuation, spelling, sentence structure while writing by hand, and just get the words down as they come into my head. After a break of ten minutes or ten days or ten weeks (depends), I go back and note adjustments in a different color ink. This includes things like choosing one of several written versions of how to proceed from point A to Point B, and crossing out the rest. The real first editing is done when transferring handwritten material to the computer. Nonfiction requires a different frame of mind than fiction. I often take notes on paper, but I compose the articles on the computer, editing as I go.
Writing on 8x5" record cards* helps with editing because then you can shuffle them around and they're short so if you want to rewrite the whole page its not that much effort. I gather Lolita was written entirely on record cards, though Nabokov used a typewriter. I write a great deal of my professional non-fiction stuff on record cards. Its satisfyingly tactile too, to shuffle a deck full of prose until it's a really good hand, then you lay it down in front of you and say, "Yep, that works, that can go in the folder". Also: Double spacing. Then you can edit in-line much easier and neater with the good old ^. ____ *AKA index cards
Hey User, I don't know if you're fully committed to writing on paper, but if you're open to other options, you might be interesteed in this: Ok, software, but how about hardware dedicated writers It doesn't connect to the internet, doesn't have any games or anything else, it only lets you write. Yes, it has a screen, but it's a very small one that only shows you a few lines at a time. Mostly I don't even look at it while I'm writing. But it's only for first drafts, then I would download to the computer and work it up there. The advantage over hand writing is that you end up with a digital file you can download to the computer for revisions, rather than needing to type up what you've already written.
Basically just do and don't worry about editing. If you just work on the writing, you can get to the editing part when you type it up on the computer.
I'm another who enjoys writing on paper - it gives me an "excuse" to use my fountain pens . In all seriousness, without the distractions of the computer, spell check, formatting, etc., I find I can be more creative. It is also fast to move text around by circling it and an arrow to a number, then a circle with the number to where it is to go. While I keep my handwritten notebook around until after the entire work is done (I write novel length fiction for fun), I do enter everything into the computer at the end of each day. This gives me a chance to do a quick, minor edit, look up things I had left a placeholder for, etc.
This topic strikes a chord with me. For various reasons, I am simply unable to resist becoming an editor while writing, which breaks me out of the creative zone and slows progress to a near stop. I am held under the tyranny of the delete key. All of my initial outlines and drafts are done with either a fountain pen and stationery or typewriter. The permanence of ink on a physical page prevents editing what I've written and forces me to keep looking forward, to a place where thoughts continue to flow freely. I find it profoundly liberating and will never go back. Plus, there's nothing quite like the feel of a finely tuned gold nib effortlessly gliding across a piece of stationery. Thankfully, optical character recognition has become very good, even for cursive handwriting, and I can effortlessly digitize my drafts for editing. A few tips: Use whatever is most comfortable. I started with fancy notebooks but ended up using loose stationery. I'm a left-handed overwriter, and thick notebooks simply aren't comfortable. Don't underestimate good stationery. Even the best pen won't write well on standard printer paper. Resist scratching out large sections of text. The greatest power of ink on a page is the permanence. Embrace it. Look back at your mistakes and learn from them.
I write all my drafts (long form fiction) on paper and use fountain pens. I also use a nice paper (Rhodia) in wire bound notebooks which allow me to write to the edges without any problems and are micro-perforated to make the pages easier to remove. Varying the grip widths with different pens as I go helps with my arthritis. At the end of each day, or the next morning, I do enter it all into the computer.
