Comments on: The Mighty Pen

By: LizA

LizA — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:18:28 +0000

Love fountain pens! I have several inexpensive ones scattered around my home, handbags, whereever they are needed. I never use ball point pens as they hurt my writsts after a while….
Writing by hand is definitly a different process from writing with a keyboard. I find it easier to jot down notes in a note pad (using one of my fountain pens!) but I am not able to write proper long pieces by hand, except for letters (incidentiallly there is a subculture of snail mail fans out there, who write real letters still…. bliss). I am a language teacher for adults and I am always curious to see how my students take notes. Only a few use laptops as they are not flexible enough – it is pretty difficult to draw a little picture (showing the meaning of a word) on a laptop…

By: Elizabeth Rolls

Elizabeth Rolls — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:53:43 +0000

Interesting, Jean. I wrote my first books straight to the computer after scribbling notes and outlines. But around the fifth book I found that I was starting to freeze in front of the computer. Bit by bit I discovered that drafting a scene in a notebook first broke the ice. So I scribble down the scene including the dialogue and find that when I type it up I edit then. I’ve no idea what changed my process. I’ve tried using an alphasmart, but hated it. I like my notebooks. If I’m just scribbling then I don’t expect it to be perfect the first time, and I can’t highlight and delete if it isn’t perfect. Since confessing to this process at a conference I’ve found several other authors who do the scribble thing when they get stuck. I thought about a digital pen, but realised that the editing as I type is a major part of the whole deal. So I buy my pens from the Kids With Cancer Foundation and the Guide Dogs Society and the RSPCA and feel as though I’m doing a good deed! Also I don’t feel hypocritical in telling my kids they don’t have to use the computer for everything!

Elizabeth

By: LeeB.

LeeB. — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:24:37 +0000

I still like using pens to write but I do agree that it is way easier to communicate thoughts via computer because, at least for me, fingers don’t even have to think of what keys they are tapping. On the other hand, it is fun to write letters and cards if one has a nice, artistic handwriting.