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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46366
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/46366
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I remember what a huge deal it was when I graduated from elementary school (6th grade, age 12) and got my first typewriter as a gift. It was even an electric one! I already knew how to type because, when I was in 3rd grade, there had been an experimental program to see if teaching kids young how to touch type was worthwhile (I've retained all those skills for decades).

So I grew up in an era where anything important was typewritten but all the basics were done by hand. All my school assignments were neatly (ha!) printed. This is where we get the idea of drafts, because each draft was a freshly written (or typed) copy to hand in.

It wasn't until college applications that I was required to type essays (though I wrote articles and stories in high school and typed them for submission to publications...thinking back, I might have needed to type term papers, but I think it was optional). Even in grad school, our first year exams were handwritten (4 of us in the class of 15+ chose to do it on a computer, one that was of course stripped of files and internet).

**Fast forward to today and I've got an Apple laptop attached to a large monitor and real keyboard/mouse, on a desk with a comfy chair. Where do I write?**

Honestly, I almost always write at my computer.

I used to write tons of poetry but haven't much in the last couple of decades. When I do, it's usually with a pen and paper. I enjoy sitting outside to do it. Or when I'm out and have time to kill (usually I read books but not always). Sometimes I'll outline an idea on paper. A couple years ago I used the time of sitting in lawn chairs at the fairgrounds waiting for it to get dark enough for fireworks to hash out my story outline with my spouse on some scratch paper. For anything longer though, I always use the computer.

**Pros of paper:**

- You can do it anywhere.
- You don't have to haul any equipment with you (at most, a journal and your favorite pen).
- Nothing has to charge up.
- It's quiet and easy to put down or away.
- You're not distracted by other aspects of your device.
- It's socially acceptable to do during downtime with other people (like picking up a book).
- You can draw diagrams, doodle, or sketch out artwork.
- It can be very satisfying to circle bits you like, cross out what you don't, and use arrows to move it all around.

**Pros of typing (typewriter or computer):**

- Older hands that haven't used a pen much lately cramp up when writing and typing overall is a lot easier with arthritis.
- You can read what you wrote.
- Other people can read what you wrote.
- If it's on paper, you get the same joy of marking up your page, with the benefit that it's easy to tell the original from the markup.
- Though it's easy for paper to get damaged or lost, it can last centuries. No computer disk will.

**Pros of a computer:**

- You don't have to retype drafts; revisions are a piece of cake.
- Once saved, you can't lose your work (assuming basic care and backups).
- All your previous chapters are there for you to refer to.
- All your notes are well organized and there for you to refer to.
- If you are stuck on something you need to research, you can do it quickly (if you have internet access or you have reference books saved) even if you're not home or in a library.
- Computers are pretty portable these days and you have a wide choice of where to write.

So, yes, how you were raised and what you did as a young adult does make a difference. But it's not everything. I hated manual typewriters even as a child and electric ones were not much better. I embraced computers from the beginning, even when they couldn't do much (anyone remember dot matrix printers instead of monitors?). The way my brain processes my writing flow, computers are a much better fit for me. They probably are for most people. I also have horrible handwriting but am a pretty fast and accurate typist.

Original score: 21