For those of you who write long-hand first...

I've been writing my current WIP longhand because I've found that my pacing works better that way. Usually when I write longhand I type it up every chapter or so and would post it somewhere so I could show it to a certain friend. However, right now this friend has been away with no internet access — she's no longer reading so I've felt no reason to type up what I've written at all.

Right now I have a notebook with about 42 pages of writing in it (estimated 10,500 words). Has anybody here found any benefit to typing up longhand writing every chapter/few pages/etc, or should I go ahead and try to finish the novel longhand?

Thanks for the help ^^

It could certainly refresh your memory, and if your notebook gets in a situation, you probably don't want to rewrite entirely.

I would type it up chapter by chapter. Since I don't have my laptop all the time, I carry my notepad everywhere, and my typing speed is faster when typing off paper, I find it conveinet. (How do you spell it? My spell-checker is bad).

edited 25th Jun '11 1:47:38 PM by chihuahua0

"Convenient".

In recent years, I've never had much success writing anything longhand. I can move a lot faster at my keyboard than on paper. For some reason, words and ideas just stop flowing when I find myself with just paper to work with. I could start putting an awesome idea that's been nagging at me for a week on paper, and then totally lose steam after a few sentences, barely breaking 20 words, usually. But then, if I do the same at a computer, I can often push this little plotlet out to 250-something words in one go without stopping.

I'm probably just more comfortable on my computer because my school went almost completely digital two years ago.

I've also noticed that my brain moves way, way faster than my pencil does, hence why I keep finding myself writing piece of some other word later in the sentence in the middle of an earlier word. Naturally, this makes it difficult to keep a nice pace. When I type, I can keep up with my brain, and everyone wins! ^ _ ^

I can only write longhand. I don't know how do otherwise.

Quantity isn't everything.

I can't write as fast as I sometimes think longhand, and I also end up going back and erasing/crossing out things a dozen or more times.

Editing, in short, is my biggest problem with longhand. It's a huge pain in the ass editing longhand vs. editing typing. Other benefits include not having to worry about losing the writing (I can store it in about 5 different places with just a few clicks) and making it easy to share with others.

I like writing things out longhand first, because it forces me to look over the work again and revise it when I type it up. When writing on the computer, I have a tendency to just throw things in a text document and then never look at them again. I don't think it's vitally important to type it up by the chapter, though. I do it at pretty irregular intervals myself.

I write first, because the internet is not on the paper.

I perfer to type it as transcripting is a pain and their is much easier manipulation on a computer than on a paper. Also it is easier to back it up as well.

Infact, I'll pay you to transcript all my old longhand drafts, with no corrections made so I can keep a record of all my old drafts.

I usually write long-hand first, unless it's something really short; when I'm sitting in front of a stack of papers and have a pen(cil) on my hand, my first thought will be, "Gotta finish at least 10 pages today", while on the computer will be more like... "I wonder if there's someone on Facebook right now."

Replace Facebook with TV Tropes, and you'll be describing my number one problem when writing on the computer. I'll waste a lot of time checking TV Tropes every thirty seconds 10 o clock at night.

Even when I flip the wireless off, I'll hit a snag in my writing and think, "Got to look something up!".

I have the same problem, but when I'm at home I prefer to write my stories using the computer because they're more easily editable in that form, and I can save different revisions.

I really don't like writing long-hand. It takes much longer and is often physically uncomfortable in a way that typing can't be. Furthermore, it's much easier to revise your work - which I do constantly - on the computer.

I like writing long-hand.

It's harder to pad, write filler, beat around the bush, etc, when all you have is a pencil or pen instead of a laptop. It makes you focus harder and make every word you do write count.

Also, with all the editing that goes into a first draft anyway, I usually edit as I transcribe.

Also also Stephen King, Garth Nix, and JK Rowling write their stuff long-hand first, so clearly something about writing long-hand is conducive to success and it's not efficiency.

This.

I edit in long-hand also: make all of the correction marks, cross things out, re-write, etc. I catch whatever I missed when I transcribe it to a Focus Writer document.

edited 28th Jun '11 12:03:31 PM by BetsyandtheFiveAvengers

My wrist aches when I write passages down by hand, for a long period of time. My imagination suddenly freezes, like I am more self-conscious of my writing. I prefer typing the keyboard. They are words I express, but you won't have to know they're from moi with the anonymous font.

Seconding AHR and Leradny. It's less distracting and for some reason it's got a lot more clarity when I work with a simple pen and paper. More of a feel for the words, perhaps.