This week I’m posing a quick question to my fellow writers – do you prefer to capture your stories on paper, or on your computer?
Personally I use different mediums for different kinds of writing. Years ago, like many teenagers who came of age in those heady early years of the internet era, I kept a Livejournal, where I poured out my heart and soul for all to read, while describing my current mood using a series of emojis. Years later I still record my life in journal form, only this time I prefer to use spiral-bound notebooks and blue fine-tipped ballpoint pens. I do much of my journaling while lying in bed at the end of the day, and I don’t want to stare at a brightly lit computer screen minutes before trying to nod off to sleep. Nor is it particularly comfortable to balance my antique laptop on my lap while propping myself up with pillows. In this instance, paper resoundingly trumps technology.
When it comes to creative writing, however, I tend to rely pretty heavily on technology. I write on both my geriatric laptop (which weighs about a metric ton) and my smartphone (hence my very sore thumbs). Writing is a pursuit that I fit in around the rest of my busy life, so I need to take advantage of every scrap of writing time I can find, and my phone allows me to jot down ideas while standing in line at the grocery store or waiting for the bus. I use Google drive to record my writing as I’m just not organized enough to keep my work anywhere else, and I have had the unfortunate experience of writing a great idea on a scrap piece of paper only to lose it in the unfathomable wasteland that is my work backpack. I don’t find a blank computer screen particularly intimidating, and I enjoy the ease of being able to email copies of my work off to my critique partners.
Still, when I’m lugging my tank of a laptop to the local coffee shop for a writing session, the idea of carrying only a notebook and a pen with me does seem pretty appealing…
So, where do you fall on the paper-vs-keyboard debate? Do you prefer to craft your stories with a pen, or with a swipe of your finger on the touch screen?