If you were born before computers were on every lap and desk around the country, you probably started your writing career with pencil and paper. This included poetry, short stories and reports for school.
While working as a newspaper reporter and a college student, I began to write more and more directly on the computer. I would go straight from notes to first (or final, depending on the deadline) draft. I continued that
after graduating and moving on in my career.
Then, one lonely winter evening outside and event at work, I was stranded with only a legal pad and a pen. I started writing. I wrote a good two to three pages of fiction before my shift ended. And I realized I enjoyed getting my ideas out in this manner.
I’ve taken the pages that I write longhand (I prefer legal pads), and typed them up in Word. This gives me a chance to look at the words a second time. I’ve done a lot of expanding and rearranging on the stories I’ve been working on since then. I still do some writing directly on the computer, but if I have the time, I still prefer the pen and paper.
I say all this to leave you with this thought: find the way you like to write and do that. If you like the pen and paper, that’s fine. Stephen King wrote on a typewriter for years. He did all right.
That’s one of the beautiful things about us humans. We’re all different, and we all approach life in our own way. Do the same for your writing.
While working as a newspaper reporter and a college student, I began to write more and more directly on the computer. I would go straight from notes to first (or final, depending on the deadline) draft. I continued that
after graduating and moving on in my career.
Then, one lonely winter evening outside and event at work, I was stranded with only a legal pad and a pen. I started writing. I wrote a good two to three pages of fiction before my shift ended. And I realized I enjoyed getting my ideas out in this manner.
I’ve taken the pages that I write longhand (I prefer legal pads), and typed them up in Word. This gives me a chance to look at the words a second time. I’ve done a lot of expanding and rearranging on the stories I’ve been working on since then. I still do some writing directly on the computer, but if I have the time, I still prefer the pen and paper.
I say all this to leave you with this thought: find the way you like to write and do that. If you like the pen and paper, that’s fine. Stephen King wrote on a typewriter for years. He did all right.
That’s one of the beautiful things about us humans. We’re all different, and we all approach life in our own way. Do the same for your writing.