# "Computers" and other technological "feats"



## Eiji Tunsinagi (Jun 11, 2010)

I know this has been discussed at some point but --

Does anyone out there find it a lot easier to write when it's by hand?  Not just the fact that without a computer in front of you you are much less likely to go youtube-ing or facebooking or tweeting or the other one, but simply because an electronically displayed screen to type pixels onto is a little too impersonal?

Also, it seems that when I write by hand by writing is increasingly one point, less wordy -- and I make less mistakes because I think more about it before I write it.  

This all leading to the reason why I just purchased a typewriter -- seeing if that increases my economy and style.  Computers, phones, etc -- have made it too easy to write -- and therefore increased the amount of lazy writers out there.


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 11, 2010)

I have gone further, selling my telephone in order to use smoke signals, and ditching my car in favor of a mule cart.  In now watch puppet shows instead of television,  a brace and bit instead of a power drill, and will concel my newspaper subscription as soon as I can find a town crier.


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## JosephB (Jun 11, 2010)

Well, for me, it would only do one thing -- and that's increase my admiration for people who actually had to write novels in longhand, or even on a typewriter, for heavens sake. Pretty amazing.


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 11, 2010)

Exactly.  Everytime I bitch about anything in the writing process, I think of Shakespeare scratching out his plays using a bird feather dipped in ink and feel like a total punk


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## JosephB (Jun 11, 2010)

The other process that's equally amazing to think about -- hand setting an entire book with lead type, character by character. 

Or this guy I used to work with that told me how he used to deal with with type. He'd spec it out by hand on a typed manuscript, send it by courier  to the typesetter, get back gallies, which he'd always have to correct and send back to the typesetter. Then when he got it back, it would still have something wrong with it, so he'd have to cut and paste it with an X-acto knife and rubber cement while he was making it "camera ready" for the printer. Of course, he'd regale us with this scenario every single time we complained about anything to do with the computer.


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## Eiji Tunsinagi (Jun 11, 2010)

JosephB said:


> The other process that's equally amazing to think about -- hand setting an entire book with lead type, character by character.
> 
> Or this guy I used to work with that told me how he used to deal with with type. He'd spec it out by hand on a typed manuscript, send it by courier  to the typesetter, get back gallies, which he'd always have to correct and send back to the typesetter. Then when he got it back, it would still have something wrong with it, so he'd have to cut and paste it with an X-acto knife and rubber cement while he was making it "camera ready" for the printer. Of course, he'd regale us with this scenario every single time we complained about anything to do with the computer.


 
Jeez.  Yeah, maybe we should all complain a little less.  I'm sure Shakespeare never complained -- because for him, what else was there?


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 11, 2010)

I did that for years.  "Have knife, will travel"     
Cutting out a comma and pasting it on copy.   Putting WAX on the paper to stick it down to the layout "boards".  
Each font a little disk of clear letters on black so light could shine through and expose photosensitive paper.   The camer taking negatives twice the size of an open newspaper page, then transferred through more photo emultion to a big sheet of zinc the same size that got put on the press rollers.

Come a long way, baby


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## C.M.C. (Jun 11, 2010)

If I had to write by hand, I wouldn't write.  I gain nothing from the sensation of a pen on paper other than a burning pain in my hand.


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 11, 2010)

I hear you.  Worse yet, I wouldn't be able to read what I wrote. I went from cursive to printing years ago, and now can barely red that.
Embarrassing, but there it is.


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## Ilasir Maroa (Jun 11, 2010)

C.M.C. said:


> If I had to write by hand, I wouldn't write. I gain nothing from the sensation of a pen on paper other than a burning pain in my hand.




I certainly agree on the burning pain thing.

The one thing I do think I gain from longhand writing is that it's a lot harder to edit on the fly.  That means it's easier to plow ahead than start chasing my tail over whether that one sentence that probably won't even make it into the second draft is good enough or not.  On a computer, I've got easy delete, undo, redo, edit options to get caught up with.


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## MrSteve (Jun 11, 2010)

I am far too prolific with a computer in front of me I'm afraid. I don't think I would be able to write without one anymore because I have become too used to it. Having said that, I often find myself being more creative on paper but I have to transfer it to the screen for ease of use.

I didn't do anything for a printer until '94 and the place where I worked (for a short time) had a really early digital printer. I did produce a lot of stuff that we then had to put together and photograph on to metal plates but the smell of ammonia put me off ever doing that again.


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## JosephB (Jun 11, 2010)

I had a job on press earlier this week. 100,000 of a marketing piece I wrote and designed. A pretty nice one, with some beautiful original photography. There's something very gratifying about seeing something of yours coming off a 6 color press the size of a truck. Also a little scary when they hand you that pen to sign off on it. 

I'm doing less and less print these days, for obvious reasons, which is kind of sad for me. I love the tactile experience provided by a really nice printed piece on high quality paper. It's kind of like that good feeling you get when you crack the spine of a new book, and just take in that smell of fresh ink and new paper.


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## Killer Croc (Jun 11, 2010)

Man, you're not kidding about the Burning Hand.  Get only halfway down a page and the Burn has already begun...

When it comes to writing, computers are fantastic (in my opinion of course).  It's easier to keep the flow going and to keep it clean.  Plus you can edit easily, by cutting pasting and moving/replacing entire sentences in seconds, rather than spending ten minutes and trying to get rid of the smudge marks.  While I appreciate the time and effort it takes to write without a PC, I can't imagine writing anything longer than a short story without one.


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## Like a Fox (Jun 11, 2010)

I've had to do a bit of handwriting in the various writing classes I've done over the past two years. The worst bit is having to read it aloud straight after and not knowing what word I was going for. My handwriting is awful. I call it the decadent scrawl. I'm a fast typer and I get used to getting my ideas down that quickly, I can't seem to slow up when I handwrite. Even when I start out good, it deteriorates hideously. My signature is pretty cool though. I get heaps of practice signing contracts all day. 

I can't imagine re-structuring a novel-length work if it were all handwritten. I guess the 'perfect page' editing technique would be the best in that situation.


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## ash somers (Jun 11, 2010)

i tend to write my first draft of anything by hand in a notebook
even if just a few dot points to paper to start with an outline 

i love handwriting, i love pens and i love paper


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## Christopher Brian Gibbon (Jun 11, 2010)

I used to write all my books with a pen/pencil and a binder full of notebook paper. Not only were my average words per day maybe 500 but the ink and smudge from the pencil on my hands was nothing short of a pain.
However for the longest time I never thought of using a computer to write. I couldn't type well for one and it may have also been the fact that I didn't have a computer of my own till about three years ago. When I finally started, it took me a while to get into it. Not to mention Microsoft Word 2003 behaved like Freddy Kruger for the longest time until I ditched it and started using Microsoft Works and Open Office. 
Now a days I can type about 104 words per minute (which isn't bad, I don't think) considering I never really learned how to use proper hand placement. I had about 3 computers, all ended up dying of random hardware failures before I finally took the dive and tried out an Apple computer.
I just wanted to try it because I am always into trying something new, I've used Linux and Windows and now Mac OS X. My computer will be two years old in February next year and it hasn't given me any memorable problems. 
It was actually the first time I was really able to write on a computer without too many distractions, ei. Defragmented HD, Bogged down registry from bad program installers. So I guess it depends on what kind of Operating Environment lets you concentrate on your work the most. It's bound to be different for everyone. 
As for me being distracted, it doesn't happen very much. It's safe to say I've never been a lazy writer. Once I start working I zone out and work till I've got 1k words at the least. Most recently though that's been stretching to 15 hundred to 2k per day.

And yes, I don't miss the hand cramps. I don't get me started on type writers. Especially the electric ones. If you try and type too fast the blasted keys jam up.


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## caelum (Jun 11, 2010)

I've done a few stories long hand, and though I think I've come up with some of my most spontaneous stuff with a pen, it's such a pain.  I think it's just worthwhile to develop good writing habits on the computer, not getting distracted, not jumping back and editing stuff a few pages ago because we're at a hard part.


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## C.M.C. (Jun 12, 2010)

In addition to the pain aspect, there's also the fact that my hand can't keep up with my mind.  I can think much faster than I can write, and typing has brought the gap down to a more manageable chasm.


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## Non Serviam (Jun 12, 2010)

lin said:


> Exactly.  Everytime I bitch about anything in the writing process, I think of Shakespeare scratching out his plays using a bird feather dipped in ink and feel like a total punk



I've written with a properly-cut swan-feather quill, made from the longest flight feather of the swan's left wing, on a piece of properly-prepared vellum, resting on a properly-angled writing desk.  It's pleasant, or even delightful, to write like that.

Mind you, I'm the kind of man who owns several fountain pens, so I'm probably just a handwriting snob.


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## garza (Jun 12, 2010)

Joseph B - 
When the Heidie starts to rumble,
to shake the floor and wall;
When the virgin rolls start turning,
and you hear the pressman call;
When you stand beside the cutter,
and you watch your precious job;
When you see it jammed and mangled,
you can only stand and sob.


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## Julianne (Jun 12, 2010)

I hate writing by hand. I'm a pretty fast typist because my job requires me to be on the computer a lot, and writing by hand is so painfully slow in comparison.

I remember one night during the last Nano when I was teaching a couple of classes, I had forgotten to bring my laptop to write on during the downtime between sessions. I grabbed a few pieces of paper and managed to get some work done, but it was much less than if I had had the computer. It was frustrating.


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## The Prodigy (Jun 12, 2010)

I must admit to being a pen and paper guy. Computers are great but the pen seems to be a more natural extesion of myself. Its fulfilling to turn page after page with notes on the margins that inform where this or that is going. A computer screen is just steril. Ten people typing after an hour produces black lines on on white background that reveal no character at face value. A page of writing can reveal emotion and effort. Call me old. I concede that I may well be.


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## Linton Robinson (Jun 12, 2010)

What I am doing more and more of my writing with is a digital recorder about the size of a big pack of chewing gum.


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## garza (Jun 12, 2010)

I use a digital voice recorder to do interviews. I can go to, say, Punta Gorda, interview two or three NGO people, a farmer or two, and a government extension agent. Back in my hotel room I plug the voice recorder into my Acer notebook and offload the interviews. With Audacity I edit the interivews into programme-length segments. Across the street from the hotel is an Internet cafe where I use yousendit.com to make the interviews available for broadcast. After a night's rest I type up a transcript and write either a report or an article which I send to the people who want it. Along with the text I upload a few photographs, then head back north, job done.


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