z

Young Writers Society


Technology Kills.



User avatar
594 Reviews



Gender: None specified
Points: 6831
Reviews: 594
Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:08 am
Crysi says...



Well, technology can kill writing, anyway.

See, I had this wonderful post. I had carefully chosen every word and even managed to insert a bit of humor into it. It was beautiful! And then... Firefox froze.

Now, I hadn't finished the post yet, and so I just hit Ctrl-c. My shortcut to everything.

Except when I shut down Firefox, opened a new window, and went to paste my post back in... it wasn't there. It didn't copy. And you know what? I don't feel like replicating it. Technology has officially given me writer's block.

See, that never happens with good old-fashioned paper and pencil. The page won't freeze, you never have to refresh it or worry about slow loading times. You can't get a virus from a notebook (although you can certainly get a papercut), and your pencil will never write the letters slower than you input them.

I suppose the downside to the traditional writing materials is that you can't easily share it with others. Online, I can simply type in my post, hit Submit, and BAM! The whole world can see it in a few seconds. Not that I use that for my work - I'd rather not submit my work to hundreds of greedy eyes until it's almost perfect. I'm just that squeamish about criticism of my precious.

For now, I think the old way of writing is the right one for me. Although I suppose I'll have to get over that sooner or later - after all, I can't very well submit this post without overcoming that frustration.

Now, off to battle Windows-induced writer's block...
Love and Light
  





User avatar
863 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Male
Points: 2090
Reviews: 863
Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:24 am
Griffinkeeper says...



A Prarie Home Companion's take on the pencil.
Moderator Emeritus (frozen in carbonite.)
  





User avatar
506 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 9907
Reviews: 506
Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:53 am
Sureal says...



That's why I always write long posts in Word :).
I wrote the above just for you.
  





User avatar
131 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 2834
Reviews: 131
Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:45 pm
smaur says...



Sureal wrote:That's why I always write long posts in Word :).


That's why I always write any entry — long or short — in Notepad. :)

For me, using the computer to write isn't a matter of showing it to other people; I personally think technology brings writing to a whole new level. See, the problem with paper and pencil is that the pencil can only go as fast as I can write. Which isn't very fast at all. Plus, if I try to write for a few hours in a row, chances are that my wrists will be killing me when I'm done.

But the computer? I can type reasonably fast (I think), and so what ends up happening is that I can keep typing at the same rate that my thoughts flow. And when I'm really into a story/poem/whatever, I type faster, and I end up typing a lot of thoughts before I consciously process them. So, basically, I have no conscious idea what I'm writing about. The actual writing becomes a blur — yes, a good blur — and it's kind of like achieving writing nirvana. That's my favourite thing about writing, I think, because that particular experience is so exhilirating, and 98.9% of the time, the writing that I do then is a lot better than my usual writing.

Pen and paper is a LOT more laborious, and that whole writing nirvana thing never happens. Plus, I can only write for so long before my wrists stage a rebellion.
"He yanked himself free and fled to the kitchen where something huddled against the flooded windowpanes. It sighed and wept and tapped continually, and suddenly he was outside, staring in, the rain beating, the wind chilling him, and all the candle darkness inside lost."
  





User avatar
3821 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Female
Points: 3891
Reviews: 3821
Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:29 pm
Snoink says...



Hahaha... I write about the same time I type, so... what is a writing nirvana for you is just me being mindless and/or exhausted. XD

But still! Word has this handy thing that, if there is a blackout, it automatically saves your work, even if you don't save it, and then when you bring it back up, it's there! This is REALLY good for me, because I tend to get writer's block if it dies on me and I have to retype. :)

And notebooks are always good...
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





User avatar
504 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 5890
Reviews: 504
Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:41 pm
Dream Deep says...



Aw, I feel sorry for you, Crysi. I sacrificed Chapter 4 of the Chair to computer heaven not too long ago, stupid electrical outage... -_-
  





User avatar
51 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 563
Reviews: 51
Fri Aug 25, 2006 2:06 am
ZZAP says...



Backups people... Quite simple actually.
Nate, you will eventually resine or trade powers with me:
https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=4
  





User avatar
128 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 890
Reviews: 128
Fri Aug 25, 2006 2:41 am
Galatea says...



I long-hand everything before I even think of inserting it into a machine that has the potential to devour my brilliance.
Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength.
  








Hail Hydra
— Stan Lee