Q. Do You Ever Write on Paper?

Computer Folder for Book 3

A. If I’m 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.  I keep a notebook in my purse for such occasions, though at times I’ve been reduced to using sticky notes.  Normally, however, I do all my writing on my computer, including brainstorming, lists, notes, first drafts, and revisions.  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.

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.  That’s what I spend most of my time doing, so the flexibility there is key.

Yet even with first drafts, there’s a difference.

My Current Notebook

When I write entire scenes on paper, I notice the process involves a slower, more deliberate kind of thinking.  “Deliberate” is not an especially good thing for first drafts, at least for me, but it can work.  Pen on paper makes me more conscious of making raw progress and going forward because I’m 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.  On paper, if I’m tempted to adjust a phrase mid-stream, it’s 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.  So I’m more inclined to say it badly just so I advance to where my next idea already is.  It is not wordsmithing, but then, it’s a first draft, so that’s okay.

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

So, I do write on paper, now and then, when it’s my only option.  It certainly beats not writing at all.  Later, I can type the draft into my computer where my ideas will feel fluid and alive again, the way they’re supposed to be.