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Paqper drafts
Paqper drafts
Just curious...how do you guys do your writing? Do you type it out straight onto the CB, or onto Word then to the CB?
Do you ever do paper drafts?
Lately I haven't been able to be on the computer for a long period of time, so I've been writing my Ski Lodge drafts onto paper, then typing it out on the CB.
My drafts are written with extremely messy handwriting. Superbly messy. My normal handwriting is much better, but when I'm writing drafts, I'm writing very fast, so I don't care.
I rarely use the eraser unless I have to erase a WHOLE lot of lines. I just scratch the words out messily with my pencil.
Most of the time there is something I want to add between sentences, but since I don't have enough room, I do footnotes. You can see in the pictures below, I have circled numbers within the writng that coordinate with circled numbers in the margins.
I underline things I want to italicize.
If there's something I want to remember, I'll write it in at the top.
Or if there's something I need to check the CB for, like a CBer's gender, I'll circle it.
Also, when I'm having a blank, I let my pencil doodle aimlessly in the margins, so if you see any random shapes or drawings....
Below are two pages (they don't go together) of a draft of a day of my Ski Lodge:
submitted by Owlgirl
(July 1, 2016 - 5:38 pm)
(July 1, 2016 - 5:38 pm)
I love that you have found a system that works well with you. Yes, that is a verry messy draft, BUT it is extremely good. Because if you are making mistakes, you are doing it right. Now personally, I am a very, very, very organized person when it comes to things like school or writing. And on writing, I often do an outline first. Sometimes on paper, sometimes not. This outline helps me see what I will be doing throughout the book. But this does not frame you down to that only thing. Last time I did an outline, I had everything. But I changed scenes slightly as I went along, even added new scenes to improve the scenario. Although I don't use outlines much anymore.
Secondly, I write on Word or Word Online. Always. Because on CB, due to the topic of my books (YA sci-fi and fantasy), I always have the chance of my work being deleted by admins. So I put in all that time. And poof. It is gone. Not that it ever happened to me, but it could. Also, I prefer Word due to the numerous options it gives you. Special headings, fonts and sizes, margin control, and the likes.
Also to note, I use pencil and paper for most - if not all - poetry or short stories. Both which I have not written in two or three years. But when I did, that was my go to. As I think back, I actaully wrote full books on paper. I still have these novels, but I like the professional, clean look of Word. And I am a very, very fast typer. My handwriitting is pretty bad and slow, and cursive is too new to me. Therefore, being even slower and larger.
So, in conclusion, I recommend you do whatever is best for you. Determine it off how you best keep your notes and edits, whether on paper, Word, or CB. Also determine your typing and writing speeds. If you don't know your WPM (Words per Minute) look up typing tests and take a few 1 minutes. If you type way faster than you write, I suggest doing your work on CB or Word. But really, the choice is up to you. Just keep writing in whatever way you find easiest to control.
(July 2, 2016 - 10:47 am)
I have this notebook where I do all of my writing and doodling and NaNoWriMo stuff. Unfortunately, I can't write my NaNo on paper because then it takes FOREVER to count up all of the words. So, I have to type it out, even if I prefer writing on paper. I don't like typing long posts directly onto the CB either~ there has been more than one instance where the page has reloaded and all my writing has disappeared forever. Copying my writing is the short-term answer- if the page reloads, I can paste it back in. But if I am leaving the computer for a while, someone else might use the copy/paste function, and then my writing is still in danger.
Recently though, I have found an interesting compromise- typing my writing in the Notes app on my phone and then copying/pasting it into the CB. This has worked pretty well thus far, especially for things like Charrie sheets.
(July 2, 2016 - 11:00 am)
Jarvis, your writing ways sound very useful! I did NaNoWriMo one year (2014, I think) and I also used a notebook for notes, Charrie interviews, my outline, etc. But, like you, I typed it out for word count reasons. I agree, having it on the copy/paste function is very risky. And so is just writing it on here. And for notes, is that like Word or Sticky Notes? Just recently I had a bunch of super important stuff on a PC sticky note. I was trying to move it out of the way to see something underneath and... Gone. I accidentally pressed the X button. So yeah, I only use Word and notebooks. But your Notes program is probably different.
(July 2, 2016 - 5:16 pm)
I do outlines too, when I'm doing an individual short story or a ski lodge. (Not for RPs though.) I have an outline for the Ski Lodge, but I didn't post it or talk about it because...you know, spoilers.
(July 2, 2016 - 4:09 pm)
I have a notebook where I sometimes write drafts, but usually I write on pages with my trusty Bluetooth keyboard. Anyone who's been in an rp with me knows that my writing is usually kinda cramped. Curse you, pages. XD
(July 2, 2016 - 5:03 pm)
l rarely write anything in length on paper, because one, my handwritting is horrible and nearly impossible to read in either print or cursive, and two, it's hard for me to get it all in order.
l write everything on either Google Docs or LibreOffice Writer, the latter being what l use nowadays because it doesn't require wifi and isn't too fancy. l'm not picky about the word processer, though for some reason it really annoys me if the font size isn't 12. l want to print out my writing to edit it, but seeing that all of my drafts are 50k+ word count, that isn't going to happen.
l type very fast, about 100 WPM, but it's very messy and hardly readable.
Also, Owlgirl, your handwritting is pretty neat compared to mine. At least it's readable. Mine, on the other hand, is not.
(July 2, 2016 - 6:21 pm)
When I don't have access to a computer and I'm writing a story online, I write it in notebooks. I rarely edit the hard copy, however. I always edit as I type it. Here's a page from my Warriors story, Starfire.
(July 2, 2016 - 10:57 pm)
No, I don't.
The reason why?
Because I type as the thoughts come out of my head. That's part of the reason I usually don't outline my plot for books. I write, and wait for the plot to outline itself. This did not work with Nambia, my NaNo book which I wrote. However, it is working quite splendidly with my Charrie Sheet book.
(July 3, 2016 - 6:14 am)