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Q: Typing, or longhand?

Chaotic Action Man

Chaotic Action Man

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May 25, 2003
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i'm lost please help!
what medium do you initially write poetry on

i'm just wondering what you like to write your poetry on usually.

personally i like to write with pencil on yellow lined paper. i have no clue why, but better ideas seem to pour out when i am facing that yellow and chewing on some old fashioned wood pencil.

i'm sure we all write on anything we can get our hands on when the idea hits, but ideally what would it be?
 
Normally scraps of paper that are stuffed into my journal on my bed at home.

If I think of something at work, I'll email it home to myself.
 
usually a notebook
sometimes on whatever i can find
and on the computer

i actually quite enjoy typing them up on the computer as i think, much easier to move the text around or insert lines or edit in general.

it'd be nice if i had a laptop to carry around and write in =D
 
i have only recently begun to type original idea onto the computer. i agree in many ways it makes it easier to be able to type and then move stuff around, kind of play with swaping stanzas around and seeing where it all ends up.
 
Pretty much anything at hand. While I prefer writing prose the old-fashioned way with pen and paper, I do prefer using a pc for poetry because like vurt said, it's good to be able to swap lines around, move text, format it how I like etc. I also really like writing short pieces on my mobile, then saving the text and re-writing it later on a computer or using it for inspiration.
 
I have a text editor which I use mainly for programming, it's now found its second use! I prefer using the computer so that I can change things quickly as my minds jumps from one place to another.
 
regular lined notebook paper and a fine tipped blue ink pen. yes really specific huh? I've written a few things on the comp in notebook actually, lines just come to me and I type em up in there, save em and finish them later. nothing gets me more excited than a packet of clean notebook paper and a pen staring at me!

~Shelly~
 
I am growing to enjoy typing on this silly box more and more, but my first love will always be those cliched journals that they sell at Hallmark and Waldenbooks that have all the stupid maps and even pictures of other books on them, and I find that the item I use to write with depends on my mood: blue ink for necessary writing, black ink for angst-ridden writing, red ink for drug-induced craziness, and markers for ransom notes and the like:)
 
Great bump! :)

I prefer to use unlined notebooks and ballpoints. For many years I refused to use a book which didn't have a black cover, but my current one is pure claret.

I write straight on to the computer too - as noted, it offers plenty of scope for editing and experimenting with text. If I transcribe notebook jottings on to computer, I tend to retain the line-breaks from the notebook, even if they're "arbitary".

And like Raz, I've used my mobile for taking down notes, phrases, ideas... so much so that its note and message memory is now completely full. Time to get a new phone I think! ;)

I have a text editor which I use mainly for programming
Click to expand...

That's interesting... I come from a family of programmers (well, my Mum and my brother), and I think learning to program affected my composition technique in a major way.

find that the item I use to write with depends on my mood: blue ink for necessary writing, black ink for angst-ridden writing, red ink for drug-induced craziness, and markers for ransom notes and the like
Click to expand...

:D
 
Usually straight onto a computer because I can't write fast enough any more (which is pretty lame!) I find it easier to edit it that way too. I do always keep a book next to my bed though for those late night thoughts that I'd never remember in the morning.
 
Notepad.exe ;)

I do (try to remember to) carry a notebook and pen on me at all times, for when inspiration gets me. But my handwriting is way too slow to do it all the time, I lose my ideas that way. I much prefer typing. I generally type tons of stuff, save it, then edit and save again as the finished piece. That way all the raw ideas remain there for future reference.
 
Yeah, I've recently adopted the practice of saving many drafts of a piece... if there are many drafts, that is. Sometimes things just pour out (although it's rare).
 
I just thought this would be an interesting topic for Words, though it's about technique only...

In short:

1.) Which do you prefer: writing longhand, or typing?

2.) Why do you prefer ____ ?


1.) Longhand.

2.) It's hard to explain.

I've found that when I write longhand versus typing, my writing styles are very different. I write very fast longhand, such that I feel it more closely matches my "speed of thought". In fact, it's not uncommon for my handwritten work to have an almost stream-of-consciousness feel to it. Furthermore, I tend to write much more longhand, and my handwritten stories regularly beat my typed ones in length--and not just because my handwriting takes up more space.

However, what I *dislike* about longhand is that it introduces the additional step of having to type it up (which I wrote it longhand to avoid anyway). I'm a slow typer, and revising as I transcribe makes it slower. This is why when I type a story first, I tend to take much more time choosing my words--even though it's easier to correct in a WP program than on a sheet of college-ruled paper in pen.

Which technique do you prefer, and why?
 
Heya,

There was a quite similar thread in here recently that you might want to have a look at:

What medium do you initially write poetry on?

I don't write much anymore, but I prefer longhand. Always felt so much more natural for me with a pen in hand :) Plus, I generally used to come up with lines as I was drifting off to sleep, so I'd just scrawl them into my notebook to look at in the morning.
 
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