2 ms·

I think more before writing when it's on paper. The medium has more friction. But I haven't written anything for publication on paper since 1991, when I finis

by pg 18y ago

I think more before writing when it's on paper. The medium has more friction. But I haven't written anything for publication on paper since 1991, when I finished writing On Lisp on a stack of legal pads.

izaidi 18y ago
That's interesting. I'm the opposite way: I find I think less before writing and edit a lot more when I write on paper. Words on a screen look as flawlessly rendered as words in print, and to me that makes them seem more permanent; I feel like I have to really think hard before I can tell these perfect letters what to do. Stuff written in my own hand feels more tentative and more malleable.
Xichekolas 18y ago
You wrote an entire book on legal pads?! I mean, I guess people wrote books before there were computers, so I shouldn't be that surprised, but I just realized I can't imagine writing anything longer than a couple pages on paper. I remember arguing with English teachers in middle school that I thought better while typing. They insisted that I hand write my rough draft anyway, and I hated it.
- bockris 18y ago
  > You wrote an entire book on legal pads?! How about an entire trilogy of books. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=495491 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=495491
- shader 18y ago
  J. K. Rowling did most of her draft work on lined paper: "There is only one thing that annoys me about living in Edinburgh - well, two, but I'm pretty much resigned to the weather now. Why is it so difficult to buy paper in the middle of town? What is a writer who likes to write longhand supposed to do when she hits her stride and then realises, to her horror, that she has covered every bit of blank paper in her bag? Forty-five minutes it took me, this morning, to find somewhere that would sell me some normal, lined paper. And there's a university here! What do the students use? Don't tell me laptops, it makes me feel like something out of the eighteenth century." -J. K. Rowling Source: http://www.writerswrite.com/wblog.php?wblog=410061 http://www.writerswrite.com/wblog.php?wblog=410061 According to Wikipedia, she did the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone on a manual typewriter.

by pg 18y ago

izaidi 18y ago

That's interesting. I'm the opposite way: I find I think less before writing and edit a lot more when I write on paper. Words on a screen look as flawlessly rendered as words in print, and to me that makes them seem more permanent; I feel like I have to really think hard before I can tell these perfect letters what to do. Stuff written in my own hand feels more tentative and more malleable.

Xichekolas 18y ago

You wrote an entire book on legal pads?! I mean, I guess people wrote books before there were computers, so I shouldn't be that surprised, but I just realized I can't imagine writing anything longer than a couple pages on paper. I remember arguing with English teachers in middle school that I thought better while typing. They insisted that I hand write my rough draft anyway, and I hated it.

bockris 18y ago
> You wrote an entire book on legal pads?! How about an entire trilogy of books. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=495491 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=495491
shader 18y ago
J. K. Rowling did most of her draft work on lined paper: "There is only one thing that annoys me about living in Edinburgh - well, two, but I'm pretty much resigned to the weather now. Why is it so difficult to buy paper in the middle of town? What is a writer who likes to write longhand supposed to do when she hits her stride and then realises, to her horror, that she has covered every bit of blank paper in her bag? Forty-five minutes it took me, this morning, to find somewhere that would sell me some normal, lined paper. And there's a university here! What do the students use? Don't tell me laptops, it makes me feel like something out of the eighteenth century." -J. K. Rowling Source: http://www.writerswrite.com/wblog.php?wblog=410061 http://www.writerswrite.com/wblog.php?wblog=410061 According to Wikipedia, she did the manuscript for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone on a manual typewriter.