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What writing medium do you use?
My MacBook Pro is reaching old age (it's now got a USB mouse as the mousepad has developed Alzheimers); I will have to find a worthy replacement. What do you use to write with/on? Whether it's paper/pen (if you have a favourite) or a modern word processing laptop, and if you have any recommendations, please put them here!
Comments
Most important is process. Once you've developed an effective routine and a method, it really makes no difference how you get the words down.
I bought a mini laptop once for writing on the move, but it felt so claustrophobic.
Of course, if an idea springs to mind when I am out, I'll jot it down on anything...
(not yet succumbed to a tattoo)
For me the process looks something like this: 1) Have idea. 2) Research to flesh out idea. 3) Develop idea into possible story structures – scenes, mid-point etc. 4) Develop story structures into rough plot. 5) Develop rough plot into chapter-by-chapter plan that could stretch to 20 pages with research notes added. 6) Start writing, minimum 1000 words a day, until the book is finished.
Due to the detailed planning process, one draft is enough. It means that I know every day what I need to write in terms of scenes – no time wasted. Steps 1-5 are very difficult, but less difficult than trying to do them at the same time as the writing.
My experience is that many writers approach steps 1-5 in a haphazard manner (if at all) that often results in multiple drafts and then an unfinished or unreadable MS. I used to teach an MA in Creative Writing and all of my writers omitted an effective planning stage, preferring to just "wing it". None wrote a publishable novel.
HI Gerald
I'm a but haphazard I have to say, and do end up with numerous drafts - but more like draft 1, redraft produces draft 2, then edit produces draft 3 then I go for a critique which results in draft 4, then probably a few more versions until I get to the final draft -probably number 8 or 9 which invariably looks very little like the one I started with. I quite like this as it allows me a lot of freedom to change things as I go and I don't worry too much as long as I feel it's getting better.
I produced a plot structure for my latest manuscript which I managed to keep to for about a week before I dropped it as I found it creatively stifling as I was trying to write within a framework rather than let the characters do 'their own thing' to a point.
I guess we're all different, oh and I use a laptop but when editing I print out the manuscript as it's easier to see things that way.
I think the key is to plot loosely so that the novel has a structure that will work whatever the characters do later. I always change things as I write, but I don't get lost or have to start again.
The problem with multiple drafts is that a novel can lose its consistency or focus across drafts. Pace varies. Story may suffer. Often, vestiges of previous drafts linger. It can be easy to spot a novel that's been through multiple drafts.
Ultimately, the best process is the one that works. Multiple drafts are fine if you have unlimited time. My experience is that I need to be efficient to produce stuff to deadline while working on multiple projects at the same time.
I recall reading that Vladimir Nabokov had such a sound sense of structure that he could write his novels out of order and just shuffle scenes later. I think that's a great way to write.
GeraldQ said: