I’m doing my best to eliminate paper from my writing process.
At this point, the only paper that’s still around are the notebooks (and Post It notes) for my car and purse. I need those for writing on the go (because I grab every second I can.)
But at the end of the day, the paper I wrote on is transcribed onto the computer and thrown away.
Why am I doing this? Well, I’ve discovered that as much as I love paper, it’s slowing me down. And I don’t have much time to spare.
I used to do a lot of writing on paper. But then I discovered that A. I frequently lost the paper and B. I had to transcribe everything onto the computer—I was effectively writing the material twice.
My revising? It was all done on paper. I’d print it out (and this would be 270 pages, single sided) and then go through and mark it up like crazy.
Then I’d have to go back and page-by-page make all the corrections…looking back and forth from the printed, marked up text to the computer, finding the right place…
It was just too slow.
Now, if you’re not in any hurry or under any deadlines, then do what works best for you! But if you do want to go paper free, then here are my tips–
How I weaned myself off paper:
Never let myself get too far ahead on paper…maybe 2 pages…before I made myself transcribe it. This kept me from having 20 or 30 pages that needed to be put into Word. And, after a while, I thought how much quicker the process would be if I just wrote on the computer.
Remembered my deadlines—self-imposed and publisher-imposed. That tends to spur me into action.
Learned how to do revisions on the computer with Track Changes (all editors want to work with Track Changes now). Since the editors were using Track Changes, I got more practice doing revisions on my computer.
Practiced brainstorming on the computer (trying to generate new ideas while looking at a blank screen. It wasn’t easy….)
I remembered how much it cost me to print out all those pages I used for revisions…in paper and printer ink.
But, what’s the biggest thing to remember if you do all your writing on the computer?
BACK IT UP!!!!!! Use a thumb drive, USB, external hard drive, or email it to yourself. Just make sure it’s somewhere. Because it won’t be on paper anymore for you to piece together. Now I’m more careful than I used to be (although I still screw up and end up accidentally losing text.)
I’m thinking there’s an age gap with the writing on paper thing. It’s VERY easy for my kids to be creative on the computer, but I had to really work at it. I’m thinking that the younger you are, the easier it might be to make the change (if you haven’t already.)
Which is easier for you—paper or word processing?
In other news–I’ve murdered my comment widget. :) It comes easily to a mystery writer. Too many problems for many of my Blogger friends and when I discovered that several people had tried to comment and couldn’t, it had to go. I’m still looking for the perfect universal commenting system that’s compatible with Blogger…when I find it, I’ll let you know!
A good place to store your backup(s) is https://www.dropbox.com/. The best thing about it is that it’s free :). I’m using it and find it very helpful.
Truer words were never spoken, er written: BACK IT UP!
For me, I have no problem writing/creating directly on-screen. It’s because I’m so lazy!
Alas poor commenting system. It tried real hard.
I still use both paper and computer, even though I am very comfortable composing and editing on the computer. (When I first got a computer, I started a journal to help get used to it, and I also did somehting like SG Relling’s peptalk, but I call it “freewriting” I do it when writing by hand too, though.)
However, I often intentionally use paper, to force myself to re-transcribe the work. This is especially helpful if your writing time is disrupted for a while, or if you are going back to an old manuscript – type it in from scratch.
I have a bad habit of writing things down and then losing the paper. I’ve made myself notes on a story, but when I needed them I couldn’t find them. I’ve have to re-thing come up with something else. Two weeks later I’d find my first notes stuck in a book or some place I had been at the time. Paper can be a problem sometimes.
I like how you set up your tabs across the top, Elizabeth. Looks great! I also do very little with paper. I have a spiral notebook in which I outline the next chapter, scribble my notes for goals, etc. But other than that, I type everything. I’m just a much faster typer than hand-writer.
Elizabeth – I’m completely with you about eliminating paper. I’ve found that if I try to use paper, I end up losing important documents. So I only keep paper docs that are not possibly available in any other way. For my writing, paper doesn’t make sense, at least for me, because it’s too laborious to make revisions. I’ve become a big fan of using highlight features on my word-processing program to mark things I need to change. I also love the “track changes” feature, too, because my beta readers use that to flag things for me.
I would like to echo what you said about backing things up. Just as an example…when I was doing my doctoral thesis, I kept all my data on a hard drive and on a floppy disk (yes, that was back in the days when people used real floppy disks!). One day, the hard drive crashed, meaning there went my data. If it hadn’t been for that disk, I’d have had to start my research all over.
Interesting. I jot notes anywhere – another doc file, a sticky note, a legal pad. I keep meaning to have a binder for all the paper, but so far, I’m only about 25% successful. I put my research in the binder (and per another author’s advice, it could come in handy if you ever had to prove something you wrote was accurate) and maybe my character notes, or any other documents I’ve created because I don’t like having to poke through countless computer applications to find what I need.
But I cannot do effective editing on the screen. I print out my work, preferably in a different font (and for full ms reads, I do it in columns). This fools the eye and brain that it’s something new and all sorts of glitches leap off the page.
I used a tracking board for my last book, which I found very helpful. The more pathways to the brain, the more you can see, and that helps make sure there are no holes.
(I notice you reverted to the basic Google comments too. Easier for me, although the embedded Google ones work well enough, I think, if you wanted a change.)
And for the record, even though editors use it, I hate Track Changes. I prefer “comments” which doesn’t mess up the ms. My editors agree, but are still required to use TC. Ugh.
Oh, I’m glad you murdered the comment widget. It was a bit intimidating.
My new work is demanding that I write it in long-hand for some reason. I’m going to go with it for now, but transcribe onto computer at the end of the day. But you’re right, it’s double the work.
Karen
Thanks Elizabeth! I got worried when I couldn’t comment, because you always leave me wanting to participate in the conversation.
A critique partner of mine mentioned Track Changes. I hope to implement this into my routine soon!
Great post, Elizabeth. I still have my trusty notebook for ideas and worry fests, but all my composing is done on the computer. I can’t quite make that leap for revisions, tho! I just can’t see the same mistakes on screen.
Here’s a tip I gave a friend of mine who simply could not compose on the computer: Before you start your project, open another document. I always call mine “Pep Talk.” Before you write one word on your WIP, do some free form jabbering on the pep talk. Talk about what you’re going to write, how much you don’t want to write, whatever. This opens up the channel between your thoughts and your fingers; you stop thinking about typing and think while typing. For people who compose longhand, this can help.
Now if I could find a tip for the revision thing…
I’m struggling with this also. In fact, today is devoted to taming the piles of paper I tend to accumulate. Thanks for the post.
I started laughing when I read your post. The post I read right before this one, on another blog, talked about printing out a hard copy to edit! To each his own. :)
I like to edit with a hard copy, but as I’m typing the edits in I often keep going and edit more on the computer. I guess I’m a hybrid.
My current method: I print out a draft after I’ve done several revisions/rewrites, on the screen.
The computer is definitely faster and during my onscreen rewrites I highlight new text in green, and highlight text in red that I’m considering deleting.
I’ve used track changes to critique other writers work and have considered using it on my own writing.
Great tips. Thanks. I’ve reduced the number of times I print, but I still do second draft editing on hard copy. I think it’s because I see everything different on the page instead of on the screen. Maybe with the next manuscript I’ll try that onscreen.
I do all my writing on my computer – brainstorming, character sketches – everything. Although that blank screen is terrifying, I type much faster than I write longhand. There’s also the added bonus that I can read my typing, whereas my handwriting turns into a strange version of hieroglyphics in a frighteningly short period of time.
I do at least 90 percent of writing and revising on the computer. However, I do print off a copy right before I send it to the publisher just to help me find goofs that I miss on the screen.
I use Carbonite as an online storage. For a small annual fee they automatically back up everything on your computer from photos to music to writing files. When my computer suddenly died a year or two ago, it was a life saver by fully restoring my nearly completed manuscript with the latest changes.
The only time I use paper is to take notes, then I transfer them to a word doc. I rarely use paper. Such a waste.
Even if I send off a copy of my MS to someone for feedback, I now feel confident to send a PDF attachment (only those with a Kindle or the equivelent thereof gets one). Too expensive to print off and bind 400 pages.
Stephen Tremp
Never separated from my USB drive… and I also have a habit of making notes for upcoming stories as drafts in my webmail account so that I can unobtrusively add to them at work :) (Only in my lunch hour of course – honest! :))
SG–I like that! Pep talk. And so it gives you a chance to MESS UP a blank page with babble, and make the connection between your brain and the computer…very nice~!
Lou–There’s always so much paper, isn’t there? I’m trying harder to eliminate it on the front-end.
Christine–Thanks so much for the tip! I’ll look into it. :)
Alan–There’s definitely some laziness coming into play for me, too! CONGRATULATIONS on your new release! I’m going to the store today.
The Daring Novelist–It did try…but not hard enough! :) I know what you mean about the forced transcription–it is def an editing opportunity, although I don’t like editing until the 2nd draft.
Mason–I don’t know where these little bits of paper go! I’m thinking a malicious elf gets in my house…
Jody–Thanks! And, I’m with you–I type about 50 times faster than I can write by hand.
Jane–Carbonite…I don’t know them. I’ll check into it–thanks for the tip! The idea of losing a manuscript scares me to death…
Margot–Now THAT’S a scary story! Ohhhh….what if you hadn’t had that floppy?!
I like the online highlighter, too. And the comment function on Track Changes is wonderful.
Stephen–I email my book, too. When I was getting blurbs for “Delicious and Suspicious,” I didn’t even offer to print it out for the readers…bulky to mail, expensive to print.
ARGH! I’m jealous! I don’t think I could do a first draft on computer because I JUST CAN’T access those creative pathways there. Revising on a computer is pretty good–the VERY FIRST read through needs to be on paper, because it helps me for the BIG rewrite, and the LAST needs to be hardcopy, because my brain seems more willing to ‘read what it wants’ on a computer, so I miss some word connections (usually typos) but all that middle editing, I am good by computer… It’s just that creative piece that needs both the relaxation of the bath, and the pathway that runs from my creative sign through my right hand via pen.
That’s great advice. I back up my work all over the place, on hard drives, thumb drives, email, other web sites. And I try to use paper as little as I can.
ann
I always write short stories using a fun pencil (I have tons: animal print, Disney princesses, holiday themes…) in a notebook. Then my first revision is when I type it. The first revision is my arch nemesis, so penciling the first draft then typing the first revision helps avoid an ugly confrontation, haha.
When I wrote my first novel during NaNoWriMo last November, the only time I wrote on paper was to brainstorm and outline. Like you said, it would’ve take WAY too long to transcribe a novel!
I like pencil and paper so much better because staring at a computer screen for hours on end makes me feel so lethargic and BLAH. Anyone out there with tips on how to overcome that?
Word processing is so much easier for me than paper! I like being able to keep all of my files neatly in one little folder on the computer, instead of fluttering every which way and littering my desk and bedroom floor. Great tips on how to save paper and why. Thanks, Elizabeth!
Good post!
I guess I’m old-fashioned but I still use paper for the first draft. All subsequent drafts are on the computer – and my USB. ;o)
That’s funny about murdering your widget. It had it’s benefits, but it was a little clunky.
I can write on either the screen or paper. I find comfort in printing. I don’t trust the electronics. There’s also something called mozy.com, I think, but haven’t used it, yet. Tess Hilmo (blogger, writer) suggested it on her blog a while back.
Great post! I compose on the computer. Due to nerve damage from a car accident a couple of years ago, it’s very hard to hold a pen/pencil and write longhand for any period of time over five or ten minutes. So, I use a complicated arrangement of pillows and write in bed on the laptop. I do, however, print out pages for edits. I find I catch more than I would reading on the screen.
Great post. You sound like a great candidate for an iPad or notebook, that way you can eliminate the remaining papers you use!
I still like paper for some things. I can’t have an electronic calendar – I like to see my entire week at a glance, and electronic organizers won’t let you do that (or at least I haven’t found one that does). I do a lot of revisions on the computer, but every once in a while, I need to print everything out and look at it that way. I seem to catch different things when I read it on paper.
I like the idea of using the Track Changes feature on Word, I’m not very familiar with it and it scares the heck out of me because I haven’t used it much, but using it for my own revisions would be a good way to practice.
As always, lots of good food for thought from you!
Kudos to you! I wish I could do my revisions that way. Or the initial writing. But I am so inhibited creative-wise if I try to craft a story on the computer first. And I have to print it out to revise or I miss stuff.
One bookstore owner told me after forty years in the business, he could tell if a book had been edited on the computer by the types of mistakes in the book.
I still use paper, but I can edit on the screen.
I really need to go paperless. I’ve been revising on a printed copy of my MS because it just seemed easier to spread it all out on a table, so I could see it in print (other people swear by this method) but have had tons of revisions to re-enter into the computer.
I’m just finding it cumbersome…and painful — writers cramp, ouch!
How’s this for going more paperless: if you have a voice recording feature on your phone…use that throughout the day when away from your laptop.
I think I’m going to start doing this. Thanks for the kick in the pants!
Cheers!
Lyn
http://lynsouth.com
I’m not young, but I love my laptop. I never write anything by hand. I don’t print things out either. Partially cheap, partially environmentally conscious, partailly messy :)
I’ve never heard of Tracking Changes before.
I write novels straight on the computer, but have to edit on paper. It’s the only way I see it.
I type all my drafts, my handwriting is bad and I type faster than I can hand write. I do some of my notes on paper though (notebooks and index cards), which is handy for on the go.
With being creative on the computer I’ve used most of the Office package of software, depending on what I’m working on. Using Word’s headings in combination with the table of contents feature is handy for an outline (since the TOC is click-able so I can jump to various spots in the document).
I’m working on writing my first mystery novel (been reading them for years) and with the extra level of plotting involved I decided to try something new. I’ve been learning how to use MS Project at work, and am using it for my novel. The whole project time duration is the length time wise that the novel spans. I’m working on adding scenes as tasks within that project time line and setting the task duration time to equal how long in time a scene will span. As I work on it I’ll probably have “off screen” scenes on there so I know what my perp is up to when my detective character is working something out. MS Project also allows for resources to be added to tasks, which I’m thinking about assigning clues to scenes in which they are found.
Well with as many comments as you get, you’d BETTER get “just the right one” lol – great post as usual.
Marvin D Wilson
I prefer to write on the computer–even brainstorming. I type faster than I write by hand, so the ideas flow better. However, I do not always have my laptop warmed up or with me, so there are notebooks and notebooks of ideas scribbled in the dead of night and on the run. I try to go over them when I’m editing, make sure I haven’t forgotten anything, but I don’t transcribe until the book’s done and only the ideas that would be useful for future books.
Terry–It sounds like you might be more organized with your papers than I am! I do round them up at the end of the day, but there’s always one that’s blown off a table that I can’t seem to track down.
A tracking board is a great idea, Terry.
Yes….the commenting widget bugged me. Sigh. I’m not great with change anyway!
Karen–It was, wasn’t it? I think we should be able to design our own commenting system! I know how I’d have it look. :)
Tamika–You weren’t the only one! I got emails, too. That would be so frustrating! I’m sorry you had a problem with it.
Track Changes is very useful. You can learn about it on YouTube.
Hart–I think you’ve got it down to a science, though! If you’ve got a perfect method, don’t mess with success.
Janel–You’re right–everybody does something different! And there’s a lot to be said for printing out…I’d still be doing it if I didn’t have such a time crunch.
Paul–I haven’t used different colored highlighters, but I think that makes a LOT of sense.
Ann–Backing up is key, isn’t it?
Carol–It takes a little while to get used to, I have to admit. I wasn’t a fan for a while….
Laura–Fun pencils! That’s a great idea.
I get sleepy sometimes when I write (I know…doesn’t bode well for the book, does it?) so I get up and move to a different table, chair, etc. I just force myself to keep moving. Or else I’ll go to the coffee shop and I’ll be too embarrassed to nod off. :) And I can get coffee there, too.
Elspeth–I think you’re the first person I’ve heard of that’s totally on the computer! Kudos to you! My handwriting is kind of med-schoolesque, too.
E.–I’m old fashioned, too…just desperate, I think!
Mary–Bless its heart! It WAS clunky. :)
Mozy…hmm. Everyone is giving me some really good ideas here today…thanks!
B.–That would be a real challenge! Sometimes I have the carpal tunnel thing going on, and the pillows do seem to help. And that ergonomic keyboard, too. I messed up certain things a lot more when I went to Word only…that’s for sure. Think I’m getting better at it now, though…catching those errors.
hampshireflyer–That’s a good way to go about it…during your lunch hour. :) Gosh, I wouldn’t get a lick of work done these days at an office…I always daydreamed at work and I can’t imagine how bad I’d be now.
Diane–I can totally believe that, actually! There are things I *definitely* miss. I’ve gotten better at looking for those specific things, though, since I tend to make the same mistakes over and over again.
Alex–That’s where I was for a LONG time. Just recently trying to make it a bigger leap.
Lyn–It’s so tedious, isn’t it? I’ve got astigmatism and jumping back and forth drives me nuts!
I like the voice recording idea! I’ve played around with that a little bit but NOT to eliminate my post-it notes…what a great idea!
Julie–It is easier, isn’t it? I just lose things sooo easily. And losing parts of a book is just not going to work.
Claire–Oh, I with you on the handwriting!
Congratulations on working on your first mystery! That’s really cool. I don’t know MS Project…that’s something else I need to look into. Thanks!
Marvin–Thanks! I think it’ll take some more research. I’m still hoping Blogger will come through for me…maybe.
Ingrid–It’s a little scary. But when an editor sends you something in Track Changes for the first time, you can just make a bazillion copies of it and then practice away!
The only problem with the Ipad and Iphone is that I’m clumsy. :) I’m always dropping things…like my laptop.
Jemi–You’ve trained yourself well!
If you open Word and click on the “review” tab at the top, then you’ll find Track Changes there. You can find tutorials on the web. :)
Kristen–I think you’re definitely in the majority with that! Even people who can write on a computer are having trouble revising on one. I can completely see that…
I used to write little notes on anything I could get a hold of when the moment struck me. As you can imagine, I lost a lot of material that way! Now I carry a notebook and the pages never get removed. It goes everywhere with me. But honestly, I don’t write many notes on it anymore. Most of my notes are on the computer!
You have a wonderful blog..as I am an avid reader I will be back for more…thanks for the tips! Following you now!
I have always written with ink and paper. This last month I have struggled transcribing my wip. I found yWriter for sorting out my chapters, and am gradually getting used to writing on the computer using that. I am backing up to a disc.
I still have a notepad in my bag and one to hand if I struggle with the flow.
I need to speed things up and the computer is the way for me to do it.
Good luck with your transformation. :)
I can write on the computer and with pen and paper. When I have the option of using my computer, I do so, otherwise I scribble on whatever piece of paper I can find.