Writing - When do you use\not use computers?

[Sigurd]

I'm finding that the computer desktop is a little cold for inspiration when writing adventures.

I was wondering what other DM's\Writers do when they want to put a game together so I thought I'd start this thread.

How do you use computers and plain old paper when you write an adventure and prepare for a game?


S

 

[Mark CMG]

In the early Seventies I didn't use computers hardly at all, as they became more available and more powerful, as well as more flexible, that changed and now I use computers almost all the time. I have three different mobile devices, a laptop, a netbook, and a smart phone, which serve my needs for computing anywhere and anytime. Sometimes the ability to interface with those devices can feel limiting or less than ideal, so I utilize a Wacom tablet, a 12 mp camera, a Digital Voice Recorder, a Web Cam, and a scanner, when a keyboard and mouse are insufficient. I can't recall when I would have written something longhand more lengthy than a few notes, though I'd imagine it may have been the early Eighties. If I can avoid printing something out and just use my laptop for running a game then I do.


I also use power tools whenever possible though sometimes resorting to a hammer is necessary.

 

[El Mahdi]

...I also use power tools whenever possible though sometimes resorting to a hammer is necessary.

I'm the opposite. I tend to just use the hammer...and then only use the power tools when necessary.

 

[Haltherrion]

I find a good walk in the woods helps a lot, especially since I'm very close to a park that strikes me as very Lothlorien-ish

As for where to compose, I almost always write my adventure notes on the computer but my adventure maps are handdrawn. I have campaign cartographer and use it for the setting maps but when it comes to time to work up a scenario, I'd rather just sketch something out quickly.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

90% of my writing is done on some kind if electronic device: my iMac, iTouch or my Palm PDA (before I bought my iTouch).

Before I upgraded my computer earlier this year, I had all kinds if graphics programs, some dating back to the 1980s, but I didn't use them for gaming, preferring physical art supplies. Now I don't have the option: all my programs are obsolete and won't run on my iMac.

 

[C_M2008]

I work it out on pencil & paper then transcribe it electronically later, it just seems right.

 

[MatthewJHanson]

I use a computer beforehand for everything except maps. Then a print it out and write on the paper while I'm running the adventures.

I have multiple chesex battle maps, so I usually just predraw my battle maps and roll them up.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Most of my adventures are notes on pieces of paper. I think best that way. For me, writingthe outline is the most important part, and that needs to be away from a computer. Wehn I start fleshing tings out, I move tothe computer, and get encounters and such designed online.

 

[Umbran]

At the moment, in my game prep I do very little actual writing. Most of the "writing" gets done in my head, largely during my commutes to and from work. If there's enough little details that I might forget something, I take some notes - a few sentences and sentence fragments.

Not counting the monster and NPC writeups, it fits on less than a page, typically. I certainly don't need the power of a computer to do it, and only use a computer about half the time to jot down what I need.

 

[Relique du Madde]

Since I only do pbp games everything ends up on the computer. I do sometimes write/doodle some notes down in a notebook. If I had a tablet computer that accepts stylus input I'd use that... however the apples, microsofts,and googles of the world don't believe people like writing or drawing and enjoyed using their fingers for everything.