Is the Pen Mightier than the Word Processor

"you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will."
— Stephen King (On Writing)

Ever since I first started writing I have had a constant argument over whether to write a first draft with the old fashioned pen and paper or to just go right for the trusty computer.  My first several stories were all written my hand and I still have the notebooks that contain them, I always get a nice sense of nostalgia when I look back through my first forays into writing..  It is somewhat grueling at times but I think it helps me feel closer to the piece if I write it out by hand, and I do enjoy the tactile sensation of writing.  Writing something by hand has its down sides as well, hand cramps, illegible hand writing, ink stains on your fingers, etc.  It also uses up a lot of paper which might be a detraction to a serious environmentalist, but I do use recycled paper notebooks for all of my writing.  I think the thing that I enjoy the most about writing a first draft with pen and paper is having a physical copy of all the hard work, I like being able to look back in all my notebooks and seeing exactly how my project started and how far it has come. 
 My absolute favorite author Stephen King is a big advocate of writing all first drafts by hand and in fact is a big reason that I came back to writing on paper.  He spoke about it in his book "On Writing" and I thought that many of his insights were close to what I myself hold true.  After writing my first several stories on paper I got lazy and began writing all my work on the computer which even I have to admit is easier and has a lot of convenience.  I like the the spell check and the word count and the fact that you can type a lot faster than you can write is also a plus.  Then about a year and a half ago I had an event that sealed the deal for me.  I had been doing all of my writing on my computer for several years at this point and so I had a considerable body of work saved on my machine, when it bit the big one and died.  Now admittedly I should haven been more diligent with backing up my files, and while I didn't loose everything I lost some very important work and it took a lot of time and energy to recover and in some cases was completely destroyed.  I was pretty pissed and it made me think about going back to my old method so that I would always have a hard copy of all my work to fall back on should technology fail me again.
I now have a plan where I am writing all first drafts on paper and then once editing is completely finished I am printing out a hard copy of the finished product as well.  The word processor I am using is Google Docs now as well so that they have all my work saved and it is not dependent on my computer to keep it all together. I fact writing by hand has encouraged me to pursue more writing hobbies such  as calligraphy which I am loving.  I enjoy writing by hand and it is something I think I will continue to do to bring me closer to my work and help me feel a deeper connection to language itself.  I encourage all writers to try writing a first draft the old fashioned way with pen and paper, it may not be something you stick with but I think the experience is definitely worth having. 
Here is a a link to a website that shows some examples of some truly beautiful handwriting and how it can be an expressive art form all on its own. 
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/04/07/beautiful-handwriting-lettering-and-calligraphy/

Post-Apocalyptic

"We all love after-the-bomb stories. If we didn't, why would there be so many of them? There's something attractive about all those people being gone, about wandering in a depopulated world, scrounging cans of Campbell's pork and beans, defending one's family from marauders. But some secret part of us thinks it would be good to survive. All those other folks will die. That's what after-the-bomb stories are all about." 
— John Varley

A while back I read a book that was a collection of short stories about the end of the world and post-apocalyptic scenarios.  It was called Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse and I absolutely fell in love, not only with the book, but with the idea itself.  I can't imagine a more freeing experience as a writer than completely wiping out society and starting over, for better or for worse, the way you want things to be.  In this anthology there were several writers that I am a fan of including, Stephen King (my all time favorite!), Orson Scott Card and George R.R. Martin. I recommend that anyone who is interested in the subject matter pick it up as the book was amazing.
 I was hooked and I decided then and there to write my own version of the end of the world.  As I was writing this story it became more about the event, particularly the woman who caused the event than the fallout.  I became fascinated with the idea of a person who sealed the deal for all of us, of what her thought process would have been.  Would it be intentional, would she be evil or sympathetic, is she sorry, does she survive, is she ever caught.  All of these questions helped me build the character that this story revolves around. I feel very attached to her, more than I have to most of my short story characters.  I also decided to create a character that balances her out that gives the reader a different set of emotions to identify with in the aftermath. I also feel this helps because there is a perspective change at the end of the story and I wanted the readers to look at my main characters objectives from an outside perspective, to see some of the lives she had affected.  I am happy with the results, well as happy as I am with anything I write.  I am a perfectionist and I always think my writing can be better.  I guess that is a common ailment amongst creative people.
I took a big step for me and have started putting some of my original fiction online, for the masses to view if they so choose.  I will be editing and uploading my short stories to http://www.writerscafe.org/Pinkizzygirl0728/writing/

I will also post links to all my short stories to this blog as they are uploaded.  I am hoping that by taking this step outside my comfort zone I can grow and become more confident in my own work.  I am fiercely protective of my work and I feel that this has been a detriment to me because if I never let anyone read it how will I ever know if anyone but me thinks it is good. 

A Creator of Planets

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live. "-Mark Twain 

 I am currently in the process of doing the ground work for my first novel, and I must admit that I am having some trouble not getting lost in the minutia.  I am a firm believer that to tell a good story you must have a solid foundation to draw from, I think this is especially true for science fiction and fantasy pieces where even more of the stories foundation is created by the writer.  Since my current story is science fiction and I am responsible for creating not only a believable back story but also the entire planet that the story takes place on I want to make sure that I am doing it right. I was trolling the internet for world building advice and possibly some worksheets to help me organize my thoughts and as I was reading I realized how easy it would be to spend the next six months or longer designing the world in which my story will take place.  I am sure that at the end I would have a completely immersive world for my characters to prance around in, but I am not sure that it would be the best use of my time.


 I am always trying to follow the example of the authors that I myself admire and I got to thinking about J.R.R Tolkien (one of my personal favorites) now talk about a man who built and expansive world for his stories to take place in,  hell he even created new languages and maps for Middle Earth.  I admire the effort and I know that all that hard work is the reason why there is so much to draw from, it has given birth to novels, movies, video games, card games, fanfiction and all kinds of creative expression.  Tolkien made it his life's work to create that world and it shows. I loved everything about reading Lord of the Rings and I always felt very connected to the world that he took so much time to build. I get a particular power trip when I think about creating worlds and entire societies and I wonder if Mr. Tolkien himself felt that same sense of pride in his own creations. I want to create a place where my readers could lose themselves but I don't want the creation of the setting to keep me from writing the story I have to tell so I have to reign myself in from falling into that particular creative abyss and remember " All things in moderation".


 I did however find several websites that helped get the juices flowing and brought up many questions I hadn't ever imagined I would need to answer.  Now I am not saying that every story or every author would need to answer all these questions, but they definitely gave me some food for thought. 
http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/ truly an in depth guide to building a world from the bottom up
http://basilicus.wikia.com/wiki/Help:Building_Worlds more of an informative read on aspects of world creation but they do have some good question and they look at world building from a more scientific perspective than a purely creative one.