Anybody else use a pen? - Page 2

idraw22 · 02-21-2010, 02:21 AM

Since you mentioned conversions, does anyone know what I can use to convert from an old Brother word processor? I had fewof stories and journals on it that I would love to get back, I have the disk, but I don't know what to do to convert those files! All I can do is hope I find an old one on ebay and print the files out.Some of my first finished stories...

kennyc · 02-21-2010, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by idraw22

Since you mentioned conversions, does anyone know what I can use to convert from an old Brother word processor? I had fewof stories and journals on it that I would love to get back, I have the disk, but I don't know what to do to convert those files! All I can do is hope I find an old one on ebay and print the files out.Some of my first finished stories...

Did a google on "convert from Brother word processor"

and ran across this:

http://answers.google.com/answers/th.../id/50632.html

and
http://www.cometdocs.com/indexWord.htm

nomesque · 02-21-2010, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plumboz

Might be a strange question here on the MR MB, but I was wondering if any of my fellow writers still use a pen at any point during the writing process. I find that what works best for me is fountain pen and composition book with nice paper for the first draft and then after that it's all word processor. But when I try to do first draft on the computer I just end up constantly refining each blasted sentence as I go and it takes longer than forever to get a chapter done.

So, are there any pen, Sharpie or Ticonderoga #2 devotees out there?

Nuh-uh. I can use a pen and paper, but somehow it trips me up a couple of times every page - feels like running a race in clown shoes. I have a little notebook-sized laptop which goes everywhere with me, much like many authors keep a paper notepad. Somehow typing just 'works' for me, whereas pen & paper never really did, even when I had no electronic alternative.

Funny, huh? I wonder if people's preferences are sometimes related to hand-eye co-ordination, thought-to-hand pathways*, typing/writing speeds...

* I've known children who can't pen-write a straight sentence, but can type it perfectly - different pathways from thought to hand action, apparently

Chriskander · 02-26-2010, 03:32 PM

Oh. the nostalgia for Wordstar and CP/M.
How many of you still have a CP/M machine? I have an Osborne upstairs in the (sorta) attic. Haven't tried it for many years. The last time, the A drive wouldn't work and I couldn't remember the key strokes to make it start on drive B.
More usefully -- I recall that I had something...Star software that converted Wordstar files to early Word Perfect. Probably still hiding somewhere in the darker recesses of my den. If someone asks I could maybe look for it -- after a few deadlines are met by early April.
Christopher Hoare
The Iskander series – Arrival, Deadly Enterprise, The Wildcat’s Victory, The Wildcat's Burden
see links to all at –
http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/...topher%20Hoare
http://www.freewebs.com/chriskander/
http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com

J. Dean · 03-01-2010, 11:59 AM

I write the outline of the story by hand, but the actual writing process is all via computer. Too long and drawn out for me to do it by hand; it's faster to put the thoughts down via typing.

Funny enough: I remember watching a video bio on Ayn Rand, and in all of the pictures I saw of her writing, she always had a pencil in one hand and an eraser in the other, and the eraser always hovered near the pencil. I thought it looked cool, but I don't have the concentration to do that, because she appeared to erase as she wrote-more coordination than I have.

TC Beacham · 03-01-2010, 02:37 PM

For a long time I wrote out entire manuscripts using a pen and paper, but recently switched to computer almost all the way. I still use a pen and notebook for plotting, character descriptions, location info, photographs, etc. and keep that notebook beside me when writing.

HistoryWes · 03-01-2010, 10:31 PM

A pen! They still make those?
I haven't written anything by hand longer than the amount line on my checks in years. If I can't type it, I may throw down a few notes, but I'm not writing until I get in front of a keyboard.

Billjr13 · 03-02-2010, 01:43 AM

I write on the computer and will print it out to mark it up with a pen. Editing the printed page works for me and that was how we used to do it when I was in newspaper.

DrZoidberg · 03-02-2010, 08:18 AM

I've never really written by hand. I started out writing on a keyboard from a very young age. I started on the type-writer. I used to look up to typists and was hell bent on mastering it around the same time I learned to read and write. The result is that my hand writing skills are awful. It's exhausting to write by hand, and few things I write are legible. So I avoid it if possible.

Joebill · 03-02-2010, 04:58 PM

My hand writing skills are incredibly bad. At least with a computer what I write is legible.

Spoon Man · 03-02-2010, 06:17 PM

I write with a .5 mechanical pencil on 3"x5" notecards for for my initial drafts. When available however, I do like to write poetry in blue ink in small notebooks.

ShortNCuddlyAm · 03-02-2010, 07:39 PM

I often write with pen on paper - almost always a fountain pen (I have too many), and usually in a moleskine (again, I have too many). But I also write on my laptop (well, type), on my iPhone, and on and with anything else that comes to hand when inspiration strikes.

Logseman · 03-02-2010, 07:54 PM

I am a pen guy. From school I wrote with a pen, and now in Germany I've discovered I should have been using a pen as well from the beginning. It's so great to feel the trace of the pen, once again...

I've just given up to an impulse and I've bought a cheap Lamy.

Lemurion · 03-02-2010, 08:28 PM

I use a pen (preferably Tul) and a notebook (preferably Moleskine) for outlining and notes - all the pre-draft stuff.

I can't use one to write seriously though. A couple of paragraphs and my hand starts to hurt (I hold the pen weird because I learned to write with my arm in a cast so the barrel rests on the bone in my finger.)

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02-21-2010, 02:21 AM	#16
idraw22 Zealot Posts: 115 Karma: 1094380 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: arkansas Device: Jetbook Lite, Kindle 3, jetbook mini, sony clie, sony prs-T1	Since you mentioned conversions, does anyone know what I can use to convert from an old Brother word processor? I had fewof stories and journals on it that I would love to get back, I have the disk, but I don't know what to do to convert those files! All I can do is hope I find an old one on ebay and print the files out.Some of my first finished stories...

02-26-2010, 03:32 PM	#19
Chriskander writer Posts: 15 Karma: 46 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Alberta, Canada Device: ebookwise 1150	Oh. the nostalgia for Wordstar and CP/M. How many of you still have a CP/M machine? I have an Osborne upstairs in the (sorta) attic. Haven't tried it for many years. The last time, the A drive wouldn't work and I couldn't remember the key strokes to make it start on drive B. More usefully -- I recall that I had something...Star software that converted Wordstar files to early Word Perfect. Probably still hiding somewhere in the darker recesses of my den. If someone asks I could maybe look for it -- after a few deadlines are met by early April. Christopher Hoare The Iskander series – Arrival, Deadly Enterprise, The Wildcat’s Victory, The Wildcat's Burden see links to all at – http://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/...topher%20Hoare http://www.freewebs.com/chriskander/ http://thewildcatsvictory.wordpress.com

03-01-2010, 11:59 AM	#20
J. Dean Author: Clade Josso Posts: 80 Karma: 500474 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Michigan Device: none	I write the outline of the story by hand, but the actual writing process is all via computer. Too long and drawn out for me to do it by hand; it's faster to put the thoughts down via typing. Funny enough: I remember watching a video bio on Ayn Rand, and in all of the pictures I saw of her writing, she always had a pencil in one hand and an eraser in the other, and the eraser always hovered near the pencil. I thought it looked cool, but I don't have the concentration to do that, because she appeared to erase as she wrote-more coordination than I have.

03-01-2010, 02:37 PM	#21
TC Beacham Great Beach Reads! Posts: 202 Karma: 300000 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Kindle 2	For a long time I wrote out entire manuscripts using a pen and paper, but recently switched to computer almost all the way. I still use a pen and notebook for plotting, character descriptions, location info, photographs, etc. and keep that notebook beside me when writing.

03-01-2010, 10:31 PM	#22
HistoryWes Teacher/Novelist Posts: 632 Karma: 2274466 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Nevada Device: Nook STR, iPad	A pen! They still make those? I haven't written anything by hand longer than the amount line on my checks in years. If I can't type it, I may throw down a few notes, but I'm not writing until I get in front of a keyboard.

03-02-2010, 01:43 AM	#23
Billjr13 Addict Posts: 357 Karma: 550002 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Colorado Device: Sony PRS 700 & 650	I write on the computer and will print it out to mark it up with a pen. Editing the printed page works for me and that was how we used to do it when I was in newspaper.

03-02-2010, 08:18 AM	#24
DrZoidberg Connoisseur Posts: 72 Karma: 345846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Sony PRS-600	I've never really written by hand. I started out writing on a keyboard from a very young age. I started on the type-writer. I used to look up to typists and was hell bent on mastering it around the same time I learned to read and write. The result is that my hand writing skills are awful. It's exhausting to write by hand, and few things I write are legible. So I avoid it if possible.

03-02-2010, 04:58 PM	#25
Joebill Fanatic Posts: 517 Karma: 459442 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Alpha Centauri's Library of Alexandria Device: Pandigital Novel	My hand writing skills are incredibly bad. At least with a computer what I write is legible.

03-02-2010, 06:17 PM	#26
Spoon Man Groupie Posts: 188 Karma: 3002 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: Kindle 1	I write with a .5 mechanical pencil on 3"x5" notecards for for my initial drafts. When available however, I do like to write poetry in blue ink in small notebooks.

03-02-2010, 07:39 PM	#27
ShortNCuddlyAm WWHALD Posts: 7,879 Karma: 337114 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK Device: iPad. Selling my silver 505 here	I often write with pen on paper - almost always a fountain pen (I have too many), and usually in a moleskine (again, I have too many). But I also write on my laptop (well, type), on my iPhone, and on and with anything else that comes to hand when inspiration strikes.

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03-02-2010, 07:54 PM	#28
Logseman Orisa Posts: 2,001 Karma: 1035571 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Ireland Device: Onyx Poke 5	I am a pen guy. From school I wrote with a pen, and now in Germany I've discovered I should have been using a pen as well from the beginning. It's so great to feel the trace of the pen, once again... I've just given up to an impulse and I've bought a cheap Lamy.

03-02-2010, 08:28 PM	#29
Lemurion eReader Posts: 2,750 Karma: 4968470 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Note 5; PW3; Nook HD+; ChuWi Hi12; iPad	I use a pen (preferably Tul) and a notebook (preferably Moleskine) for outlining and notes - all the pre-draft stuff. I can't use one to write seriously though. A couple of paragraphs and my hand starts to hurt (I hold the pen weird because I learned to write with my arm in a cast so the barrel rests on the bone in my finger.)