Saturday, August 21: Mississippi Mud
ZAPPED
by John M. Floyd
Like Leigh and Rob and JLW, I’ve had computer problems recently, and was even reduced to typing and sending in my last two columns via my wife’s laptop. In my case, though, it was more of a disaster than a problem: my main computer was so ill it was in the repair shop for a total of ten days (!?!).
A baked Apple
What happened was, one of our midsummer pop-up thunderstorms popped up one afternoon a couple weeks ago while I was merrily typing away on a story, and POW, a bolt of lightning dimmed the lamp in my home office and my screen went blank. When I tried to power the computer up again, well, you guessed it: it was dead as a squirrel on the interstate. Turned out the surge protector hadn’t protected squat (in all fairness, this was more of a strike than a surge), and the next day I carted my electrocuted iMac in to the local Apple store for a diagnosis.
As luck would have it, repair wasn’t an option: my poor machine, as I had suspected, was pretty much DOA. After ordering and trying several different parts (including a power supply), the technicians solemnly laid it to rest and even more solemnly informed me that I needed a new computer, which I purchased a few days ago. The only positive news is that (1) we had household-goods insurance coverage, (2) the replacement machine is a bit more spiffy in terms of graphics and memory, and (3) the folks at the Apple store (none of whom looked older than thirteen or so) were able to successfully retrieve and transfer all the files from my old hard drive to the new one.
Back to the future
So here I am, set up and motoring once again down the information superhighway, no worse off except for the deductible I had to pay the insurance folks. But I must admit to you, I was lost without my computer during that week and a half. I wasn’t exactly out of touch with the rest of the world — my iPad allowed me to check and answer my e-mails and to access the Internet — but I sure didn’t get a lot of writing done. I have confessed on this blog in the past that I sometimes jot down story ideas on a yellow legal pad, or on whatever happens to be at hand, but I had forgotten just how fond I was of just plopping down in front of the computer and typing a story (or a Criminal Brief column) whenever I wanted to, or whenever one occurred to me. The word processing program I’m familiar with isn’t installed on either my wife’s laptop or my iPad.
Don’t misunderstand; it’s not that I don’t like writing things down longhand. I sort of enjoy it. What bothers me is having to later enter what I’ve written into the computer. I can think of few things more boring than transcribing my handwritten narrative into an electronic file. There’s no creativity and certainly no fun associated with that, unless maybe you think of it as an opportunity to polish and rewrite your original text. More and more, I’ve evolved to just typing everything into the computer from scratch, and rewriting onscreen as well — and when that convenience is suddenly unavailable, life is tough. Word processors, like good health, are often taken for granted.
Which brings up a few questions:
For those of you who are writers, do you always write at the computer, or do you write in longhand or on an intermediate device and then transcribe or transfer what you’ve written? Does it matter how long the story is, or do you do it a certain way regardless? If you create the story onscreen with either a desktop or laptop, do you work from a written (or mental) summary or outline, or do you just sit down and start typing? If you write in longhand, do you use a pen? A pencil? A Sharpie? A crayon? (Just kidding.) If you’re not a writer, what method do you think you’d prefer if you were?
I’m guessing that more and more of us are moving to the direct-from-the-brain-to-the-keyboard approach. I’m not saying that’s good or bad — but I bet it’s a fact. We live in a world that’s increasingly online and automated and paperless, and that encompasses work, play, and everything in between.
Okay, Bud, put down that pen and step away from the notepad
I once heard progress described as a train that, when it comes roaring through, will either find you ready to hop on or find you standing in its way and trying to stop it — and since it’s coming through no matter what you do, it’s better to jump aboard than to get squashed. For writers, computers are no longer an aid, they’re a requirement, and I predict that most of us will eventually adapt to using them as not only a vehicle for submitting stories but as part of the creative process.
Meanwhile, I think I’ll end this column and switch mine off for a while. I think I heard a rumble of thunder . . .
For those of you who are writers, do you always write at the computer, or do you write in longhand or on an intermediate device and then transcribe or transfer what you’ve written? Does it matter how long the story is, or do you do it a certain way regardless? If you create the story onscreen with either a desktop or laptop, do you work from a written (or mental) summary or outline, or do you just sit down and start typing? If you write in longhand, do you use a pen? A pencil? A Sharpie? A crayon?
Regardless of story length, I begin with rather extensive longhand notes (you might call them an outline of sorts) scribbled on a yellow pad with a pen. Sometimes these notes go through a couple drafts or so before I even begin to type.
Always enjoy your columns, John. Same goes for Midnight, which I’m reading right now. Looking forward to Clockwork!
I may be the only one here (and I am not saying this with any pride), but I still write many drafts on my electric Brother typewriter:
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-SX-4000-Electronic-Typewriter/dp/B0000636X8/ref=pd_cp_e_1
I do own a computer too, of course, but writing on a typewriter seems to me more personal, somehow, and I feel like am more in touch with the words, if that makes any sense. And, oh yeah, I also like the noise a typewriter makes: rat-tatatata… tattatata. Listening to it, I feel like, “Yeah, here I am, writing my next masterpiece, and everybody within a certain radius should know!” In comparison, the absolute nothing I get from a computer keyboard is almost distracting. In fact, it’s insulting!
However, I do most of the editing on my computer (or my laptop). So I might work like this:
1st draft: invariably on my typewriter
2nd – 4th draft: rewrites on my computer
5th draft: once again on my typewriter, to get “in touch with the words” again
6th and final draft: on my computer
Thanks, Hamilton, for your kind words–glad to hear you like the book. And I too write from an outline, even though it might only be mental, that I’ve created ahead of time. Usually, the shorter the story the less likely I am to jot the outline (or plot summary, or synopsis, I suppose) down before I begin typing–often it’s only in my head.
Josh, I salute you for continuing the tradition. Personally, I don’t even know where my old typewriter is, though I think it’s somewhere in one of our back closets. I do know what you mean, about the sound and feel of a typewriter–there’s nothing else like it.
I prefer to sit down at the keyboard (primarily my laptop) to write BUT … it sometimes seems I have more ‘success’ (as in completion) when I first write in pencil on a yellow legal pad. Strange.
And, John, I always disconnect both desktop and DSL modem at the first rumble of thunder. I have little faith in a surge protector.
Actually, I still use a manual typewriter on occasion, usually when I’m stymied and cannot get anything going. The rhythmic clack of the keys slapping onto actual paper one letter at a time is often enough to get me going again.
Mind you, that’s for first drafts. This being the electronic age, I am kind of required to do the finished product on a computer. *sigh*
Believe me, Larry, I’ve learned my lesson. In my defense, I didn’t hear even a murmur of thunder before my “incident” the other day. It was raining, though, so I probably have no excuse.
Joseph, the old habits die hard, don’t they? But imagine having to edit and rewrite on the typewriter, the way we used to. I’m counting my blessings . . .
Hi, John. I live dangerously. Thunder. Lightning. I type away. But I also have a surge protector for my computer and a second one covering my whole house. It would have to be a super strong zap to get through both lines of defense and fry my computer. You might want to consider the surge protector for your house. I tend to have really bad luck with stereos. Can’t tell you how many I’d lost to power surges before I protected my electrical box.
Moving on to writing, sometimes a great first sentence or paragraph will come to me from nowhere. And I’ll write that down on whatever paper I can find and copy it into my computer later.
I tend to hand-write a page of ideas for a story before I begin writing the actual story on the computer. I’ll have arrows as I have one idea that sounds great, and then another one that goes with it, and oh, wait, then idea 1 needs to morph, etc. And when it’s all done, the page is a mess. But it’s helped me figure out where I want to go. I usually don’t even consult the “outline” once I start writing. But I like to know it’s there if I need it.
Glad to hear you’re back online and writing. Have a good night.
Just another day in Paradise.
In L.A., thunderstorms are, to be euphemistic, rare. The last thing I worry about is whether my computer is protected against a lightning strike.
But computers are vulnerable to other things than the weather, as Rob and Leigh and I have all to our respective horrors recently found out. A reliable backup is not merely a good idea, it is a prudential act.
As I have heretofore written, it has been many years since I relied on anything but a word processor for creative writing. Not to be disrespectful of contrary opinions expressed in response to John’s post, I firmly believe that creativity in fiction is independent of any means of scribbling things down. Creativity takes place in the mind. How it gets transcribed is irrelevant.
I’ll sum it up, JLW: Different keystrokes for different folks.
I envy you your good weather, by the way. We’ve been having so many steamy afternoon showers lately I feel like I’m in south Florida.
Barb, you make a good point. We have in fact been looking at purchasing a whole-house surge protector. And keep up the good writing!
The withdrawal symptoms were awful. Once, I used to like writing my first draft by hand, but not so much now. And good for Yoshinori!
John, I think you’ve given me a seed for my next article on power protection.
Yoshi–very cool.
John–I write on a PC.
I usually start without notes. Sometimes after the story gets going, I jot a note or two by hand. More likely, I write notes about six spaces after the last part of the story that I have written. Then the notes just scroll along ahead of me until I hit revision stage.
Terrie
JLW: Hmmm, you know, in theory you are right, of course, but I think where human beings are concerned, nothing is that obvious. How you write–or how you feel, or how you think, for matter that–is dependent on so many outside factors, and I am convinced that the means by which you put your creative thoughts down on paper (i.e. longhand, on a typewriter, on a PC, etc.) can, and oftentimes will, have a subtle influence on the finished product. For example, you might feel particularly comfortable working on your new state-of-the-art Apple MacBook. Or you might feel a bit annoyed writing longhand, because your hand is starting to ache, and you’re not able to write as fast as you’d like to. These little things can manifest themselves in many different ways, I am sure, including in your creative output.
I certainly agree that environmental factors influence artistic endeavors insofar as they contribute to an atmosphere conducive to working well — it would be very foolish to deny such a point. That’s why so many writers listen to music as they work. (I’m not one of them. Silence is golden as far as I’m concerned.)
But this is like saying that a romantic candle-lit dinner for two with your favorite song being played softly in the background is conducive to love. It unquestionably is — but if your love depends on romantic candle-lit dinners to survive, it’s a very inferior kind of love.
Likewise with creative activities like writing. If I don’t have a computer, I’ll use a typewriter. If I don’t have a typewriter, I’ll use a pen. I don’t have a pen, I’ll use a pencil. If I don’t have a pencil, I’ll use a crayon. But be assured that I’ll use something to get the job done, and that whatever travails I have to endure to get the job done will be invisible to the reader.
Well said, JLW. I especially like the fact that what we do as writers, and the way we go about doing it, is invisible to the reader. I would hate for anyone but me to know how many gyrations I go through, and how many rewrites, to get that final draft done. And even while my computer was kaput, I came up with several storylines in my head (though I admit I did not write them down on paper) that I’m now typing into Word. (And I too require silence when I’m creating a story, though not so much when I’m editing and rewriting–go figure.)
Terrie, I also type notes just a few spaces past the end of my manuscript on the computer as I progress through a story, moving them down farther and farther as I work and finally incorporating them. Good to find out that you do that as well.
I jot notes as they tumble around in my head. Then I get my Toshiba net book out and start typing.
I gave up typewriters the very minute I could!
So John, give up baked apples! Get a cute little PC net book!
JLW: Well, yes, I certainly don’t question the passion and commitment of some of the writers. All I am saying is that the story might look (slightly) different depending on whether it was written longhand, on a typewriter, or on a PC. At least, with some writers, that is.
John, regarding your word processing software, if I may ask, what do you use? If it’s WORD, you can import WORD files into PAGES for editing on your iPad. PAGES for the iPad is only $10.00.
You might want to use a real keyboard instead of the virtual one on there if you’re going to do a lot of writing, and if you just got a new Mac, you can use the wireless keyboard that came with it.
I have an iPad as well, and one of the reasons I did was that I could put PDFs of the comics work I do on it, and be able to show people pages in color. I read books on it too, though I’m certainly not going to stop buying actual books.
Johnny
alisa, I’m an old IBM guy, but I think I’m done with PCs. I’d been threatening to climb the fence into the Apple orchard for years, and last October I finally did it. There are/were definitely things about PCs and Windows that I like(d), but I’m now a convert!!
Johnny, my W.P. software is MS Office:mac, Home Edition, and so far, although I could move it over as you mentioned, I’ve limited it to the iMac rather than the iPad. I can see how it would be handy though, especially if you use a bigger keyboard than the virtual one thats built in. What I LOVE about the iPad is some of the tailored apps.