Writing tools

What are your most favorite writing tools? Do you use a laptop? How about the traditional use of just a pencil/pen and paper?

For me, I use my iPad. It's much easier on my wrist, which aches if I write traditionally. I write my stories with a special writing app too. I do my planning with another app separately. I also have Evernote for personal journaling too as well. I can also transfer my chapters to the writing site I go on everyday too, instead of emailing them to myself and doing it that way.

I do all of my planning on paper. It gets kind of ridiculous when all of my walls are filled with sticky notes of events, character maps, and just pictures of my characters, haha. I also have a notebook I keep at work so I can work out my ideas while I'm on my lunch break. It's pretty useful, although I seem to have misplaced it and now I can't find it...

As far as actual writing goes, I like to write on my laptop. It's just easier for me to fix mistakes, edit, and all of that good stuff. I did write in a notebook for a few writing projects, and it does have a better feel for me, but I just like the convenience of a laptop.

Hey, somebody else started a topic! :D

The way I usually write would be typing. It's just far easier for a perfectionist like myself who writes, and rewrites, and rewrites... it's also much less wasteful of paper.

My two preferred methods of writing would be with a pen for short notes, or a typewriter for long scripts and, or novels.

I write on laptop mostly because it's much easier when I get to the editing phase. I then make backups through several means (Dropbox, email, Google Docs, Microsoft's OneDrive).

As for planning, it's a bit more complicated. I write ideas and outlines in a notebook, which I would then expand/refine online either in Google Docs or Microsoft One Note. I prefer One Note as I can have one document and have all of my plot, character, and research notes in one place/tab while with Google Docs I have to do several separate docs/tabs if I want to keep looking over different notes.

Depending on the story, I either write it out longhand first or type it first. When editing, I do the other method that I didn't use the first time around. I mostly type on my desktop, though I have done some work using my tablet and its wireless keyboard, making use of Google Drive. Writing in longhand is always done in pen, and I'm particularly fond of the BIC Crystal pens. They write so smooth and rarely smudge.

As for planning, that all stays in my head.

For quick notes, pen and paper. Also for diagrams and charts as well, then those are scanned (when I can; I don't have access to good scanning hardware and I'd rather not have to postprocess the stuff).

For the actual writing, my laptop. LibreOffice + a mastering app for the chapters and stuff; for documentation, planning and worlbuilding, a local wiki using DokuWiki. Libreoffice tools also take care of the publishing. Spellchecker software and a browser with stored searches for reference, too, of course.

Actual writing is done on my laptop, usually in either WordPad or MS Word, depending on which I feel like using. The planning is done on paper, that way I can have that next to me while I write.

Planning is usually done either on one of my computers or on my phone depending on when the idea spontaneously pops into my head, but the writing itself is done on my desktop computer with OpenOffice. I type pretty fast on this keyboard - much better than I write or type on any other device - and there's just generally something I like about typing on my mechanical keyboard.

Usually a word document, often the same as the one I write the chapter/story in. But I've also used pen and paper for notes (e.g. while playing Colosseum for my parody of it), as well as my phone. Once I plotted out part of a chapter on a word document on my phone while waiting in a long line to buy tickets for a match, haha.

I find that typing really brings out my inner perfectionist, so for me it's easier to get all of my ideas out with pen and paper and then expand/tidy up on my laptop. But I don't have a great system worked out, really, I usually just use whatever is most convenient at that moment.

I use LibreOffice Writer on my latop for most if not all of my writing. It's easier for me and provides a change of pace since when I draw I usually start out with paper and a pencil. Plus, less waste. No crumpled up paper thrown in the corner due to an abandoned plot. :)