#AmWriting – Writing Tech

This is another question that I see a lot in some of my writing forum haunts. Do you write on the computer or on paper? As with most questions of this kind, my base response is “Whatever works for you.” Use speech to text, type on a state of the art computer, or an old school typewriter, write on fine parchment paper with a gold nibbed fountain pen, scratch it out with the stub of a pencil on a scrap of paper bag. The bottom line is this:

it doesn’t matter.

It really doesn’t.

How do you feel comfortable writing? Do that.

I am serious.

It. Doesn’t. Matter.

At some point, you will have to convert it to a typed document if you want to publish it. But that’s a later step. At the point of creation, you need to create. So you need to work in the form that offers the fewest obstacles. Worse comes to worst, you can pay someone else to transfer your written notes to text. That’s a tradition of long-standing, in fact.

So stop worrying about writing technology, and get back to writing.

With all that in mind, let me offer myself as an example. Not that mine is the ultimate example, it’s how one writer goes about his craft.

I have two different preferred technologies depending on what I am writing. For prose, my preference is on a computer. I’ve typing/keyboarding for more than 40 years. I learned to touch-type, so I don’t have to look at the keys or the screen. (as I type these last couple sentences, I’ve been watching a room full of other writers working on their current project.) My favorite situation is in a dimly lit room, at a desk with a bright light shining onto the working surface. I have headphones on and I’m listening to some great music. With or without lyrics, doesn’t matter to me. I set that standard back in college. It’s how I studied for tests. It’s a model that works for me. I can lose myself in the process without thinking about it. I’m focused on the story, the characters, the dialogue. The rest of the world is silent. So much so that I have to warn my family when I’m going into writer mode. Otherwise, people get grumpy when they keep calling my name and I don’t respond.

All that changes for my rare forays into poetry. In fact, every detail flips the other direction. I don’t want to be in my office, and I can’t do it on the computer. My poetry is handwritten for the first and second drafts. Poetry is much more “art” than “craft” for me. There’s an organic feeling to it that doesn’t translate to computer writing. I write poetry in restaurants, coffee shops, malls, parks, somewhere the world offers a direct inspiration for me. I want to think about the sounds, smells, tastes, textures and views in the moment. I write most of my poetry in pencil, mechanical preferred. My favorite is a Zebra M-301. I also write in pen at times. The favorites there are a Uniball Vision or the Pilot G-2 pen. Nothing fancy, but they feel good in my hand.

(In case you’re wondering if I’m really that particular, the answer is yes. I can, and have, written with other pens or pencils. But it never feels quite right, and I will abandon any other option as soon as one of the instruments listed above is available. They feel right in my hand. That means I’m not thinking about them when I’m writing. That is always the goal. I need the technology to fade into the background.)

The technology you use serves only one function. Is it making the process of writing easier for you? As long as the answer is yes, you have found the right way to write. Remember, some writers create with pen, pencil, typewriter, and computer. Some dictate and an assistant writes it down. Some write standing, sitting or lying in bed. There’s at least one famous author who wrote in the nude.

It. Doesn’t. Matter.

Do what lets you write with as few obstacles as possible.

Just write.

Peace