(no subject)

[stinglikeabee]

I don't know why I'm only owning up to this now but writing -- the thought/the act itself -- is scaring me shitless.

Cause: Around 2.30am, finished reading a damn good series of fanfic. Hated the characters yet sympathised, all the while envying like mad the way the author skillfully built them up and tore them down to expose their freaky little lives.

Result: Type. Delete. Type. Pause. Delete. If I were doing it longhand there would be deep slashes in the pages where I've twisted the pen into my words and destroyed their existence.

Comments

[darlingfreak.livejournal.com]

You know what though? That's why for me personally anyway that writing in pen and paper helps. When you have a word processor, if you hit delete it's gone. (barring "undo" and alternate drafts and stuff) But, when you're writing with a pen, just put a strike through it then even if you don't use it you still have it.

That has saved my ass so many times. :)

I hope that helps.

[fictionalknight.livejournal.com]

I agree -- some of what I'd written longhand and hated ended up being salvaged later. I often use my notebook when I'm going through awful writer's block, actually... because staring at a blank page on the computer just leads me to open browser windows, check email and...never work on the story at all, whereas staring at a blank page in my notebook, I'm less likely to be distracted and I start actually thinking about things to write on the page.

Otherwise, you know... even if you're typing and deleting over and over again, you're still trying - and that's a great thing already. :) You'll eventually end up typing something you like, I've no doubt about it. :)

[scififanatic.livejournal.com]

The one thing I can't stand about typing on a computer in a word processor is how the cursor blinks over and over when it's just idle. Ugh.

Handwriting definitely puts me back in a rhythm when I get blocked at the desktop.

[stinglikeabee.livejournal.com]

Thankfully I no longer have MS Word. Remember that annoying little animated paperclip?

One of these days we ought to have another write-in. I definitely could use a little push :D

[stinglikeabee.livejournal.com]

You're so right! It's easy to be distracted on the computer, or procrastinate even further. I'm definitely heading back to pen and paper... my dream would be a typewriter like the one in your icon though!

Thanks, I definitely ought to take a chance and just try :D

You guys are awesome!

[stinglikeabee.livejournal.com]

I have tendonitis in both hands, which worsens when I write with a pen. Truthfully I can manage it if I try, but it's such a convenient excuse to use to avoid writing. No more, I'm going to go back to long hand.

Thanks :D

[cold-nostalgia.livejournal.com]

I'm very familar with that feeling...

[stinglikeabee.livejournal.com]

*sighs* Isn't it though? I wish there was a button or switch that would let me flip to 'writing mode'.

[22by7.livejournal.com]

This has caused me more misery than possibly every other fact of my existence piled together. The entire process you outline? Exactly what happens to me on most days.

Still, I suggest you do this in longhand. It can be very satisfying to make those destructive gestures and the words are still ultimately there to be saved later.

[stinglikeabee.livejournal.com]

Feh, I can believe that the writer's ego is a fragile, temperamental beast at times like this. Those writers who claim never to have had writer's block? Evil, unfeeling, lucky gits.

Ah yup, back to longhand I go. Another advantage: crumpling up a piece of wasted ink and throwing it at a despised someone. Instant stress reliever!