The "Write" Tech (part two)

Ok, my turn now. How do I write best, and how do I feel technology impacts my writing and the creative process?

First off, I'm lucky. I've pretty much always been surrounded by technology. My mom always had a typewriter or two in the house, so I've played with a keyboard my whole life. My friend’s dad had one of the first Apple computers ever and I bought my own first computer (a good old Commodore 64) with my babysitting money. So I've never been particularly intimidated by technology and I've been exposed to it far longer than most adults my age.

That being said, I did still go through elementary and high school handwriting virtually everything, so there are sentimental and habitual components to handwriting for me - the sort of things you don't necessarily veer from that easily. My (very sporadically kept) diaries are handwritten - messier, but more personal - and so is most of my poetry. If I am mind mapping or outlining or making notes, a blank paper and pen or pencil are my first choice too. I feel freer on paper, more connected to my words, and I think my poetry is best composed on paper too. (If I'm just transcribing a poem I've already thought out, though, any media will do.) I don't really do any other type of creative writing like stories or plays, but for longer work, I think I'd probably be fine with the computer; it would certainly be more practical.

The assorted essays I wrote for university, my thesis, my work assignments, and my blog are all digital products. Despite my background though, it actually did take me some time to adjust to the computer as a primary writing tool. Yes I love the features of a word processor, although I really don't use them that extensively when you get right down to it. But I still feel just a little ... distanced from my words with a computer. They're a lot easier to read and to edit, which I appreciate, and the end result is probably as good as - quite likely better than - a handwritten piece because of that, but I don't feel quite as close to my writing. There is a bit of a lack of intimacy, and the writing process feels a bit more like a job.

My new best friend when it comes to writing is actually Pandora, my iPad. That's what I'm using now (yesterday I used Word on the computer, but that was unusual; Pandora is definitely my tool of choice for blogging) and I do feel more comfortable. It's a nice combination of the advantages of technology and the intimacy of pen and paper because it's just sitting on my lap like a notebook and I'm tapping away right on the page, feeling a physical connection similar to what I'd feel with a pen on paper. Yes I make a few more typos, and sometimes the spellcheck suggestions are a little odd, but when I started using an iPad I was very pleasantly surprised with the fluency I feel and the speed I can go. I’m really not that much slower than with a regular keyboard - and I do have an external keyboard I can use if speed (or screen real estate) is of the essence. I wouldn't want an eight-hour-a-day job as a writer no matter what the technology, but for my hobby, writing on the iPad is about as perfect as it gets.