Laptop? Desktop? Tablet? Stone And Chisel? In an office? On the kitchen counter? Back corner of the local coffeehouse? Where do you write, and what do you use?
Tell Us About Your Writing Set Up
- Thread starter That Guy Named Aaron
- Start date
I'll start. I now have two laptops. I've got a spot on the dining room table where I write from at home. On breaks at work, I use a wireless keyboard with my iPhone.
Software: Open Office, Google Doc, and iPages.
Software: Open Office, Google Doc, and iPages.
I write in two locations. My single room apartment in one city, infront of a laptop on my kitchen table. And then at my girlfriends place infront of a laptop on a desk in the livingroom.
I consider myself very fortunate for all that.
Software: Open Office, WordWeb offline, and Wikipedia offline.
I consider myself very fortunate for all that.
Software: Open Office, WordWeb offline, and Wikipedia offline.
I have infinite monkeys chained in the basement.
And one desktop as backup. My laptop is not great for writing.
And one desktop as backup. My laptop is not great for writing.
Lemme know when they've written Shakespeare.
At home a desktop with 2 x 28 in monitors and an external mike for when my hands don't want to cooperate.
When out and about a laptop with a riser and external keyboard + mouse, so I don't kill my neck.
RSI is no fun!
Oh and electronic notes on my phone for if I have an idea when I am away from a computer.
When out and about a laptop with a riser and external keyboard + mouse, so I don't kill my neck.
RSI is no fun!
Oh and electronic notes on my phone for if I have an idea when I am away from a computer.
Darkthought
New Member
I'm using a gameboy color with that little printer attachment.
I always write on my laptop, in MS Word. Always have.
Where I write - in bad weather or winter it's my dining room table or my sewing room table. In winter always the dining room, as that's where the wood stove is, and I live in front of it in winter.
In warmer, good weather, I usually take my laptop outside. I live on a small lake, which I can see from my front porch, so often I write there. Sometimes I write on the back porch, gazebo, even in the garage with the doors open. Wherever I feel like going that day and where the nicest breeze is.
Where I write - in bad weather or winter it's my dining room table or my sewing room table. In winter always the dining room, as that's where the wood stove is, and I live in front of it in winter.
In warmer, good weather, I usually take my laptop outside. I live on a small lake, which I can see from my front porch, so often I write there. Sometimes I write on the back porch, gazebo, even in the garage with the doors open. Wherever I feel like going that day and where the nicest breeze is.
For my chapters (each of which is also a short story):
Stage 1: Map out the structure (the main plot points) in my planning notebook.
Stage 2: In between the plot points on the structure plan, write down all the things that need to happen to get my characters from one plot point to the next.
Stage 3: Use the structure plan to write out short descriptions of what needs to happen in each scene and whose perspective each scene needs to be told from on index cards and tape the index cards together so they can't get mixed up.
Stage 4: Back in the planning notebook, write a detailed plan of exactly what happens in each scene, changing the scene order and/or perspective of scenes when necessary.
Stage 5: Write the actual first draft in my draft notebook.
Stage 6: Type the first draft in Word, tweaking the wording and stuff as I go.
I do all the typing either in the living room or my bedroom, but the rest I sometimes do outside on the garden if the weather is nice, and when they eventually finish refurbishing the library I'll probably do some of the work there as well, like I used to.
Stage 1: Map out the structure (the main plot points) in my planning notebook.
Stage 2: In between the plot points on the structure plan, write down all the things that need to happen to get my characters from one plot point to the next.
Stage 3: Use the structure plan to write out short descriptions of what needs to happen in each scene and whose perspective each scene needs to be told from on index cards and tape the index cards together so they can't get mixed up.
Stage 4: Back in the planning notebook, write a detailed plan of exactly what happens in each scene, changing the scene order and/or perspective of scenes when necessary.
Stage 5: Write the actual first draft in my draft notebook.
Stage 6: Type the first draft in Word, tweaking the wording and stuff as I go.
I do all the typing either in the living room or my bedroom, but the rest I sometimes do outside on the garden if the weather is nice, and when they eventually finish refurbishing the library I'll probably do some of the work there as well, like I used to.
I write almost exclusively on my phone. Above all else, I hate switching devices. My phone enables the toilet, the bus, the park bench, the sofa, and the bed to each be a consistent writing location.
I'll occasionally use a laptop, but I mostly reserve that for doing study/academic stuff.
I'll occasionally use a laptop, but I mostly reserve that for doing study/academic stuff.
I write in Mellel because I'm nutty for industrial strength style support. Notes and outlining are done in Devonthink. Obsidian would work fine. I keep thinking my inner nerd would like to use Aeon Timeline but it never enters my workflow. I've found Aeon useful for tracking group correspondence, so I do use it, just not for writing.
Here's a recent Mellel trick.
I needed to write to some folks who probably wouldn't read a five page letter, but that's what it took to cover the points everyone (should) have an interest in. A bullet list, though, they would at least see that.
Mellel builds tables of contents from headings called auto-titles, which govern how headings appear in the MS, in the TOC, page footer mentions, cross references — all those different places a chapter title might appear.
The MS appearance of auto-titles was set how I wanted to put a subject heading in my letter. The TOC appearance was set to look like a bulleted list, no need for page numbers.
I wrote my screed, peppering it with auto-title subject headings and subheadings. It was a thing of beauty.
The letter started with a one-liner, something about the burr under my saddle, and then I inserted a table of contents.
Instant bullet list of subjects covered in my letter. Yeah, I could have done it by hand, but I kept adjusting what I wanted in the letter. This let the bullet list conform to my ravings.
Here's a recent Mellel trick.
I needed to write to some folks who probably wouldn't read a five page letter, but that's what it took to cover the points everyone (should) have an interest in. A bullet list, though, they would at least see that.
Mellel builds tables of contents from headings called auto-titles, which govern how headings appear in the MS, in the TOC, page footer mentions, cross references — all those different places a chapter title might appear.
The MS appearance of auto-titles was set how I wanted to put a subject heading in my letter. The TOC appearance was set to look like a bulleted list, no need for page numbers.
I wrote my screed, peppering it with auto-title subject headings and subheadings. It was a thing of beauty.
The letter started with a one-liner, something about the burr under my saddle, and then I inserted a table of contents.
Instant bullet list of subjects covered in my letter. Yeah, I could have done it by hand, but I kept adjusting what I wanted in the letter. This let the bullet list conform to my ravings.
I just use a laptop with LibreOffice. I used to have a desktop computer with a nice mechanical keyboard from the 90s but my time spent between countries made that rather impractical. So, I got a good laptop two years ago and it's all I've been using. Portability is hard to beat in my case.
google docs on my laptop.
I actually made my self a home office in the guest room (a desk that can roll around on wheels, that can be raised and lowered and converted into an easel from Target, and a big retro yellow chair... also from Target).
i decorated it with a nice throw rug and matching shelves for my research materials.....
.....aaaaaaand then i stopped using the room.
I'm writing this from my living room. Which is my second go-to writing spot.
I actually made my self a home office in the guest room (a desk that can roll around on wheels, that can be raised and lowered and converted into an easel from Target, and a big retro yellow chair... also from Target).
i decorated it with a nice throw rug and matching shelves for my research materials.....
.....aaaaaaand then i stopped using the room.
I'm writing this from my living room. Which is my second go-to writing spot.
I must be alone in this - I really enjoy writing first drafts by hand. I have a luxury leather notebook which I take with me everywhere. Sometimes I get round to typing up in my digital MSS, but sometimes I don't. When I find half-an-hour at the start of the day at work, when work for the day is sorted, when porridge is cooling next to my coffee on my admittedly untidy desk, I like nothing better than to put pen to paper.
I wish I could say my handwriting has improved with time. It has not.
I wish I could say my handwriting has improved with time. It has not.
I handwrite mine and then type it up (see my earlier answer), you're definitely not alone.
