{"id":1053,"date":"2011-08-01T19:13:16","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T23:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.old.caraghobrien.com\/book\/?p=1053"},"modified":"2011-08-01T19:16:07","modified_gmt":"2011-08-01T23:16:07","slug":"q-do-you-ever-write-on-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/writing\/q-do-you-ever-write-on-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Q. Do You Ever Write on Paper?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Computer Folder for Book 3<\/p><\/div>\n

A. If I\u2019m on a plane during take-off, in Starbucks expecting a friend, or in my car waiting for one of my kids, I write on paper.\u00a0 I keep a notebook in my purse for such occasions, though at times I\u2019ve been reduced to using sticky notes.\u00a0 Normally, however, I do all my writing on my computer, including brainstorming, lists, notes, first drafts, and revisions.\u00a0 I have different documents for stages of a book that I keep in one folder, and I have several open at a time so I can work back and forth between them, like the latest draft doc and the “Cuts” doc.<\/p>\n

The truth is, writing on the computer and on paper are two different processes. I can type faster than I can write by hand, which probably accounts for the biggest difference, and of course, revising is much easier on computer.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I spend most of my time doing, so the flexibility there is key.<\/p>\n

Yet even with first drafts, there\u2019s a difference.<\/p>\n

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My Current Notebook<\/p><\/div>\n

When I write entire scenes on paper, I notice the process involves a slower, more deliberate kind of thinking.\u00a0 \u201cDeliberate\u201d is not an especially good thing for first drafts, at least for me, but it can work.\u00a0 Pen on paper makes me more conscious of making raw progress and going forward because I\u2019m filling up a page and flipping to the next, even though it feels slower and my thoughts sometimes have to wait for my hand to catch up.\u00a0 On paper, if I\u2019m tempted to adjust a phrase mid-stream, it\u2019s more awkward to back-track and cross out and go forward than it is on a computer, where I just delete back a couple words and go on again.\u00a0 So I\u2019m more inclined to say it badly just so I advance to where my next idea already is.\u00a0 It is not wordsmithing, but then, it\u2019s a first draft, so that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n

My paper writing looks so exposed to me, so instinctive and stupid, if I may say so.\u00a0 I\u2019d be afraid to let anyone read something I wrote on paper, like I already know it\u2019s wrong, like I need to apologize for how shallow, disorganized, or misspelled it is.\u00a0 On my computer, I know my writing can change and become just what I want it to be before anyone can see it.\u00a0 It\u2019s safer, I suppose, because computer writing has built in room to hide all the false starts.<\/p>\n

So, I do write on paper, now and then, when it\u2019s my only option.\u00a0 It certainly beats not writing at all.\u00a0 Later, I can type the draft into my computer where my ideas will feel fluid and alive again, the way they\u2019re supposed to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. If I\u2019m on a plane during take-off, in Starbucks expecting a friend, or in my car waiting for one of my kids, I write on paper.\u00a0 I keep a notebook in my purse for such occasions, though at times I\u2019ve been reduced to using sticky notes.\u00a0 Normally, however, I do all my writing on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-1053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-writing-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1053"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1057,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053\/revisions\/1057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}