Thursday, February 18, 2010

Time to Print

I wonder if there's anyone out there who writes his/her entire novel on the computer?

I've reached the stage with my latest manuscript where I know I must print myself a copy. It's only about 29,000 words, and there is much more work to be done on it. But, for me, it's time.

I realize that this shows my age, but sometimes it bothers me that my novel is stored inside a computer, where I can't even see it unless I turn on a machine. I'm at the mercy of the hydro company whether or not I'm going to work on it!

Okay, that may be a bit of a stretch. The truth is I want to be able to hold the pages in my hand as I read. I want to spread those 100 pages out, sort through the scenes, make notes in the margins, even cut and tape sections, if necessary. Once I go back to the computer those changes will be easy to input.

I'd never want to go back to the"olden days" when I plunked away on the typewriter, re-typing draft after draft, trying to fit revised chapters in, without having to repaginate. I love the word processor's ability to move whole paragraphs to better positions or delete them altogether.

It all boils down to the fact that I can't see the whole thing on the screen. It's not easy to flip back to see what I said about something in Chapter Three and stay consistent in Chapter Eight.

I'd love to hear what you think.

3 comments:

Willow said...

Good topic--I don't even do rough drafts on the computer. I write a chapter (or for now, whatever version of the outline I'm on)by hand. Frankly, I'm most comfortable writing with pen and paper--it seems the most natural to me. Then I go over it a few times, after which there's all kinds of crossings-out and arrows to new paragraphs or sentences written sideways along the margin. Then I type it into the computer, print it out and go over it again. Whew, sounds like a lot of extra work, but it's what I'm most comfortable with.

I've been having some health problems and haven't been doing much writing, let alone blogging, but my plan is to have my blog on WordPress instead of Blogspot, because I read that Wordpress gets more attention from Google.

Peggy Dymond Leavey said...

Your process is very similar to mine, Willow. It's only when my handwritten drafts get too hard to read that I put it on computer.
I'm interested in what you say about WordPress. Maybe I should take a look at that. Hope you're feeling better soon. Always good to hear from you.

Unknown said...

I can still hear the sound of your typing....it was a comforting kind of background noise in our house.

Love you,
c