Word Processor or Legal Pad?

[Henry]

I have become more and more dependent on a word processor to do my game notes. Not only can I cram more and more game-prep notes on a single page, but I can type much faster than I can write. I have little tables of NPC's and their temperaments, some rudimentary stat blocks for big combatants, I have pages of holidays, events, time tables, etc. I used to do some of this on notepads years ago, but nothing to the extent that I can do it using MS Word as I do. Revisions are easier, etc.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

My handwriting is absolutely horrible. Always has been. In fact, I don't even write (cursive); I print. It still stinks. Maybe it's the way I hold a writing implement, but after a few minutes of writing, my hand begins to hurt badly. So a computer is the way to go. Most of what I do, I do in UltraEdit32 in plain text. If I need tables or something fancy I can use Word, or one of the free alternatives available online.

On a PC I can hunt and peck so much faster than I can write it's not even funny. I have chatting with the guys I met playing Quake2 over the past eight years to thank for that.
Using a PC makes it so much easier to go back and change something, add material, move a paragraph, etc. And if I need to make a copy of what I've written (to use as a handout, for an extra hard copy, just in case) it's a snap.
I have a list of close to 500 NPC names I've created specifically for my campaign. Most of those names have background text to go with them and are separated by region. How many sheets of paper would that take up? I also use UE32 to search my campaign folder for any instance of a particular word, phrase or character (a name, a place, a rule, a dollar sign...) and list everything it finds. This is great for checking all of my documents for things. On paper I'd be searching my scribbles for ages to find the pertinent material.
Since I can't draw worth a damn either, pencil and paper aren't very vital to preparing for a game.
If the PC is off, I'm not at home or whatever, I'll scribble down a name or a brief note about something on some scrap paper. As soon as I'm back at the computer I add it to the rest of my stuff.
Of course, I still fill in the blanks on my character sheets myself.

For all you DMs that create your campaign world on your computer; Always ALWAYS keep a backup copy somehwere! Print it out, put it on a floppy, burn it to a CD/DVD, whatever. Just do it. You never know when an accident, old hardware, theft or natural phenomenon could wipe out all your hard work. Thankfully, I've avoided this problem so far. The same could be said for the notebook, binder or loose stack of papers that the pen and pencil crowd use to create their worlds. One fire, hungry/incontinent pet, spilled beverage or stolen backpack later and you're back to square one. Of course, it's usually harder or more expensive (Kinkos) to make backups of paper-based info than to just print out or burn what's on your PC...

 

[Nathal]

These days I'm getting more and more use out of notepads. I've even written outlines for adventures and entire PDFs on notepads. As recently as 6-7 months ago I was entirely computer. Michael Hammes convinced me to start using a notepad and I'm happy that he did.

How did Michael Hammes convince you? Who is he? What were his reasons. I'm curious.

 

[Darkness]

I'm obsessive/compulsive and a computer enables me to get more stuff done, better, in a shorter amount of time, so it's not really a question for me. I write down a lot of notes on paper as well, but if it's NPCs or something similiar, I'll do a complete write-up on the computer when I've figured out the basics.

 

[Ryltar]

Most of the time, inspiration hits me when I'm flatfooted . This leads to me grabbing the first writing utensil available and just scribbling down notes. Thus, I've got stacks of differently sized, colored and whatnot paper lying on my desk, which make up the "framework" of my campaigns. But I do the actual planning on my computer, especially the statblocks which really would be a pain to do without a scanner, word processor & OCR.

 

[der_kluge]

I hate using a writing implement. While I do have pads and pens/pencils, I'll greatly prefer to use a computer. I'm just a slow writer, and my penmanship is horrible, and very small. I can type much, much faster. Plus I can paste in stuff from the SRD!

 

[Nathal]

Well I tend to get "writer's block" or something of the kind quicker when typing in a word processer than when writing in my notebook.

Same applies when I'm on my job. I get most creative with a good pencil and some paper idling away at a another boring meeting than when I'm sitting behind my desk looking at word (or when I'm at home openoffice).

This is exactly the sort of phenomena I'm intrigued by. I wonder how prevalent it is, and if it really does have anything to do with the brain, and how it interacts with different methods of getting your ideas down.

I wonder, to put it simplistically, do Left Brainers use the computer more to create adventures, and Right Brainers use manual writing more often? Is there any neurological basis to these preferences? Fascinating, even if a red herring.

 

[Nathal]

My handwriting is absolutely horrible. Always has been. In fact, I don't even write (cursive); I print. It still stinks. Maybe it's the way I hold a writing implement, but after a few minutes of writing, my hand begins to hurt badly. So a computer is the way to go. Most of what I do, I do in UltraEdit32 in plain text. If I need tables or something fancy I can use Word, or one of the free alternatives available online.

UltraEdit32...never heard of that. I have Word but find it a bit "sterile" as a cyber-environment for creative writing. I touch type, so like you, I am much faster at the keyboard than sitting down with a notepad. But I find whenever I sit down with pen and paper my ideas flow better, especially in a brainstorming phase.

I sometimes wonder if it isn't the software I am using. I was checking out programs like Book Writer, which has hierarchy organizers, but of course, the same thing can be achieved with simple folders set up before creating the main doc.

 

[Henry]

I have one theory: The reflexes involved in each method are very different. Very rarely do you write the wrong letter when writing a word: much more often do you hit the wrong key in typing. Also, manual writing gives you time to think over the entire thought you are formulating as you write it out; if something better comes up in the process, you scratch it out and edit it. When typing, the thoughts come out almost as fast as you type them - in fact I'd hazard that it slows you down, unless you are a VERY reflexive typist. It leaves time only AFTER typing to re-think your thought.

On the positive side, you can edit the devil out of a plot on a processor - move whole paragraphs, interject whole thoughts, etc. Writing it out means you usually draw little "flow arrows" in the margins when you have a major edit.

 

[thalmin]

My creative juices flow best with the pencil & paper, but I never used a computer until after I finished college. (I never saw one, except on TV or at the museum, until senior year.)


No, I didn't have to use a clay tablet!!!! Not even a quill!