An inquiry for my curiousity.

[Imposter]

Question (Yes Dwight):

For those of you who write a fair bit during the run of the average day, how much of it is written via the computer?

I'm sitting around right now with a pencil and paper writing a good ole fashioned letter to a friend and I realized I don't really remember me using these tools very often anymore. Despite me being in school I hardly take notes without using my lap top nowadays. Has the age of technology booted out the use of such tools?

I understand that the computer is an amazing device and provides many services. From the provision of mass amounts of information, to entertainment, and even being an outlet to communicate with peoples you may never meet in you lifetime, but it also has its fair share of suckiness. I.e. the dumbness of drama flowing all over the interweb, and like many things touched by human hands it can be corrupted quite easily. I do believe it is safe to say the computer is a double edged sword.

It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword, but is such the case in this day and age? Where do you stand? Is the old fashion pen/pencil writing a tradition that should be discarded with the technology being as primary as it is. I'm quite curious as to the opinions of some of you, so please enlighten me.

[Sarah]

I write equally using pen and paper and typing. I prefer to do my writing on my computer, because my hand writing is horrendous. However, I find that when it comes to taking notes or studying, I commit things to memory much more easily if I write it by hand.

Computers could never replace real writing. It's simply foolish to remove one way of doing something, because there is another way of doing it. People need to have many different ways to approach a situation to truly have control over it. What if the electricity were out for an extended period of time? A UPS or laptop battery won't last the entire time.

I don't think your "point" about drama on the internet really has any place here, though. What does that have to do with real writing? That's merely socialization, and that is going to be everywhere. No matter what.


For those of you who are curious... Yes, I still have my writing callous.

[Chez Daja]

Hm, I type more than I write. I'm done with school and college and currently unemployed so I use the computer a lot.

I enjoy writing, though. I don't write a lot, but I use pencils all the time for sketching... Art and designing was my subject at college so, yeah, I still sketch, paint and etc.

But yeah, typing overrules my writing at the moment.

[Lunasa]

I can't stand typing. So limited, and I can't remember what I typed in the case of classes and stuff. I can remember scribing the actual characters, though without an issue. That and technology aggravates to begin with because of it's ability to crash constantly, especially when I have to EMAIL a paper, as opposed to handing it in class because the printer was fine. I like doing stuff the old fashion, look it up in the textbook way, anyways. I still sometimes do longhand calculus or division when I forget my calculator. I have old fashion reference charts and formulas for that sort of thing.

[Andromeda]

Oddly enough when I'm at work I write with pencil and paper more often. Which could be seen as really odd since I have my PC and do the bulk of my work on it. But when taking notes or just needing to remember something for later or even making a list its the paper that I use and not the computer. For quick fast things I just find the paper easier.

If I'm doing something long term or need to send something to someone then I use my computer and type it out. But I also have only used a single pad of paper in the three years that I have been there and I'm still using. I write really small and conservatively. So I guess it is no surprise. I also remember things rather than write as well. Which then makes me worry at times I'm doing things right. >< Yeah, but it all works out.

At home it is almost all computer. I have two laptops and a desktop. So it is all typed pretty much. Though I'm starting to use post it notes for remembering vast amounts of important information for my story that I'm working on. So it is starting to be used again.

[ChloChloAriadne]

When I write, I almost always do everything on pen and paper. All my school drafts are in pen and paper, and if I feel like writing poetry/random bits and pieces, it's all on paper. I may type it up later, but everything is initially done in ink.

[Sean]

I write more notes for a number of reasons.

- My laptop doesn't leave adequate desk space on the small desks we use at my college.

- My laptop doesn't allow me to quickly underline, circle, or add in points without moving my hands.

- My laptop does not allow me to arrange notes in different styles I've come to use over the years.

The only time I use my laptop for note taking is when I'm creating my own notes on specific subjects when studying for a midterm. Hell, even when I was programming I did a majority of my note taking on pen and paper.

[Govinda]

I make notes on paper in class, and usually write letters by hand too. Most everything else I type, because sometimes even I can't read my handwriting.

Sometimes I feel kind of like I should use paper more, like it's a forgotten art or something, but my handwriting really has always been horrible.

[Martin]

I think the art of using a pen in now lost on me. My hands hurt too much if I write more than a couple of sides in a lecture, and being the quick typist that I seem to be it makes more sense to use a keyboard. For my assignments though I use a typewriter, the problem with laptops is I find myself easily distracted so I just have a little room where I type up.

And I do still use pen and paper for important notes and documentation.

[Halie]

I prefer to wrte with pen and paper. There's a bigger risk of losing me work if I type it up... which is why I hate emailing it to my teachers. I hdon't have a printer either, so I can't print my work off.

I write on paper everyday. Well, almost >.> haha. I quite like my handwriting, though. Although, I remember not so long ago it used to be really small and not very legible, but now I've started to write a bit bigger. My handwriting always changes after the summer holidays, due to me not writing much during them, so I suspect that's why .

Writing on paper is always a lot quicker, too. Just pick up a pen and paper, and get started. Computer? Push start button. Wait for it to load. Type in my pasword. Wait for it to load. Open 'Word'. Go.

=P.

[DragonHeart]

I do most of my writing on the computer. Saves trees and makes it easier to keep track of. My handwriting is very readable, but my hand tends to cramp up if I write more than a page or two anyway. I do most of my handwriting at work, for obvious reasons. Got a little notebook where I keep important information as well as jot down anything that comes to me during my shift.

I also make sure I triple back-up everything I do, so I'm not as worried about random meltdowns as I used to be. Learned my lesson after the last computer died for no reason. Not that pen and paper is much better, I've lost quite a few notebooks over the years, mainly from all the moving and resettling and all that. That more than anything convinced me to use the computer for my fiction. Files can be recovered, but a lost notebook can't be recreated. Even my memory isn't that good. (Though I do have an easier time remembering things once I write them down, this ability does have limitations.)

~DragonHeart~

[Dead Angel]

I love typing and I love writing (no idea why), but I spend a lot of time on my PC or laptop, so i mostly type things.

But when I was at college studying I.T software, almost every single thing was done on a computer, including assignments, so after quite a while I went to write something and found that my handwriting was suddenly appalling! It was almost as though I'd forgotten how to write! lol

Nowadays I find I make a lot of notes and it's just easier writing notes onto paper, so I do a bit of both. At least with typing, you're less likely to get hand cramps.

[Totakeke777]

I used to write things out a lot. Nowadays, since I got my new laptop, I type for leisure. It is simply easier. Sometimes, however, when my brain feels......uh....itchy-ish, I write. The "itch" seems to go away. (I couldn't find any other word besides itchy.)

[Furore]

I tend to type pretty much everything up.
I think the only common exception to the rule is when working some jobs only provide paper and pens/pencils.

And I love how typing makes things look rather nice whereas my horrible handwriting looks really nasty even if it is more or less legible.

I don't really care too much in general. People should communicate their ideas however they please. Unless they suck at writing in which case I feel it's only fair to type it up if others are expected to read it.