Computer vs Pen & Paper

I don't know about the rest of you, but I cannot write my first draft on a computer. I need to be able to go anywhere and be able to write (even if it's only to another room). My first attempt at writing a novel was on a computer and it took me three years to write sixty pages (I gave up on it after that). Writing on paper has been called visceral writing and I love writing my first draft on paper; I wrote four chapters of my new novel on lunch breaks at work. I think pens and paper are how books should be written, but many probably think the opposite is true. I would really like to hear what other people think about this.
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For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

I like the computer, I can't spell.

Mr Andlu
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I honestly never thought I would live this long. Now I don't know what to do with myself.

Niether can I

same here
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For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

I prefer the computer because of the spelling reason but also so that I can look something up fairly easily if a new idea comes. I do keep pads of paper lying around so that I can jot something down quickly if needed. Also, editing and simply for the case of rewriting it seems more productive. I am trying to save money for a laptop so I can travel around and write at the same time.

Ta,
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I feel the same way about disco as I do about herpes. -HST

I can't agree more for editing and re-writes; in fact that is how my second draft is created, by copying it off into my computer. but for first drafts I think pens and paper is the most flexible and therefore, for me the best.

Sometimes even I can't read my own writing, so I'll go with a computer. I'd kill way too many trees with a typewriter. A laptop can fix your problem with needing to be anywhere. Watch out for testicular cancer though :O
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White and feathery, yet crude and noisy, the chicken is the backbone of our farming community.

My husband was giving me heat about this the other day.

"What did you do before computers came along?" he asked, to my request for a laptop because of their portability.

"I wrote poetry, in case you've forgotten."

"Well, why can't you write freehand and then carry it back to the computer?"

"Because I'd spend half my time scribbling out my last sentence, writing comments and corrections in the margins, wadding up and throwing away half of everything only to rewrite what I did get done when I got back to the computer. I do it once in a while when I'm stuck, but generally all I get out of it is a sense of direction."

"Well what do you suppose people did before there were computers?"

"A lot fewer of them wrote books."

Which is probably true. For me, it's a matter of convenience and time. The computer is simply a more efficient way to get the job done.
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. . .once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.
(The Velveteen Rabbit)

I like paper for first drafts. To be more specific, I like paper and pencil. You can always run spell check and stuff when you enter the piece into the computer. But, don't do like I did and try to enter an entire notebook full of stuff in at one time. That makes the whole process icky. I write some until I get 'stuck' or tired of one point in the story. Then I'd go back and put some into the computer. That way I was doing a reread at the same time and sometimes it even helped me pick up the momentum.
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Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders

"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank

I think the best short story I ever wrote I used the following method:

I hand wrote the first draft, and did corrections on the sheet. When the sheet was too much of a mess to read, I hole punched the other side of the page, flipped it over, and kept it on the left side of the binder with a fresh sheet on the right, and so on. I kept doin this until I couldn't improve it any more, then I typed it into the computer where I did some minor fiddling, mostly punctuation and spelling.

I don't know if that story had the best ideas, characters and so on, but it was the smoothest thing I ever wrote. There's something about moving that pen that just makes things flow.

I've tried the same thing with a novel, but I've only done parts of it like that. Can't sustain it for one reason or another.

I almost never use a desktop. During the school year, I do a lot of my writing on the bus and the subway, for which I usually use a jornada (small handheld with keyboard in clamshell -- too small to touch type, but I don't write that fast anyway). Sometimes I use an ipaq (think palm if you don't know it, but it's windows) for revision.

But I'm still not publish -- in fiction, anyway -- so what do I know?

palmer wrote:

I think the best short story I ever wrote I used the following method: I hand wrote the first draft, and did corrections on the sheet. When the sheet was too much of a mess to read, I hole punched the other side of the page, flipped it over, and kept it on the left side of the binder with a fresh sheet on the right, and so on. I kept doin this until I couldn't improve it any more, then I typed it into the computer where I did some minor fiddling, mostly punctuation and spelling. I don't know if that story had the best ideas, characters and so on, but it was the smoothest thing I ever wrote. There's something about moving that pen that just makes things flow. I've tried the same thing with a novel, but I've only done parts of it like that. Can't sustain it for one reason or another. I almost never use a desktop. During the school year, I do a lot of my writing on the bus and the subway, for which I usually use a jornada (small handheld with keyboard in clamshell -- too small to touch type, but I don't write that fast anyway). Sometimes I use an ipaq (think palm if you don't know it, but it's windows) for revision. I really, really like to print things out for some stages of revision. It's easier seeing thewhole page a being able to flip around. But I'm still not published -- in fiction, anyway -- so what do I know?

Last synopsis I wrote (for a friend, not mine) was hand-written in a 8 day course of lunches at Perkins - the waiter helped. I think he looked forward to my visits.

Otherwise, computer. I can type as fast as I think, so its more progressive work that way.
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There are no such things as limits to growth, because there are no limits on the human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder.
-- Ronald Reagan

I use both - it just depends on whatever is availabled when I need to get something done...

I do not recommend writing on the walls of your firends homes, however, they tend not to invite you back...