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musings, thoughts, and writings of Barbara W. Klaser


March 1, 2005

Lost in my computer

My biggest pet peeve about writing on a computer is how I get lost in the stream of prose. This doesn’t happen with a stack of paper. At least I don’t think it did, but I’ve been writing on a computer for so many years it’s possible my memory of typewriter writing is faulty. I remember revisions involved a lot more retyping back then. I wouldn’t want to return to that, but eventually, in fact a few times in the course of writing a book, I reach a point where I must print and read my work on real paper, in order to get my bearings.

Then I discover the other ways in which I’ve been lost, besides just feeling that I need to reconnect with my sense of direction rather than continue drifting in cybersea. I plan to read straight through, but I wind up with a red pen in my hand, because I find the most annoying things that were somehow invisible or got lost on the screen, things that make me shudder, like—

X I’ve repeated, in two or three places, a piece of information that should only appear once. The miracle is when these repeated bits of information actually match each other, word for word, when I’ve been consistent with the information itself, yet completely forgot that I already wrote it and didn’t need to say it again ten pages later.

X I’ve repeated, in two or three places, a piece of information that should only appear once. They don’t match, they contradict each other, they claim a character doesn’t know something he in fact learned two chapters ago. At the same time he developed amnesia his eyes somehow changed color.

X All the places I forgot to switch from first person to third person, when I changed my mind about point of view, and then changed it back again.

X I find a name mentioned and I (the author!) don’t know who the hell that character is.

XXXX…The list goes on. I end with a stack of paper full of red scribbles, things I need to fix before I continue. Has anyone in history written a novel entirely on the computer and gotten it right before ever printing it out? Been able to swim happily with the current of the scroll bar?

I like to imagine there are people born after a particular year who would get lost in paper.

— Barbara @ 1:46 pm PST, 03/01/05

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5 Comments

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  1. 1.

    You ask: “Has anyone in history written a novel entirely on the computer and gotten it right before ever printing it out? Been able to swim happily with the current of the scroll bar?”

    Well, we’ve tried…but, no, it doesn’t seem to work. The repeated word for word stuff always happens. I will rewrite and realize I need to add a sentence, than, a paragraph later, I come upon the sentence I thought I needed to add

    However, I couldn’t go back to correction fluid and carbon paper. My spelling is awful and I’m a three finger typist so the word processor is a wonder for me.

    Comment by Eric Mayer — March 1, 2005 @ 5:13 pm

  2. 2.

    What a delightful journal entry! Your musings on writing always get me going.

    My recall of using a typewriter is hazy – perhaps an indicator of my age? Or denial it ever existed? I do recall I dragged it around for years and years and years, but rarely used it. My best friend, Candy, got a spanking new GTO for high school graduation. I got my typewriter. The last time it was used, my David was 10-years old (he’s in college now) and thought it was pretty keen as he pounded away. But it was only a toy to him – not a gateway to greatness.

    I had about as much patience with my typewriter as using pinking shears to cut out a pattern on cloth – a creative urge I never succeeded at. It was a wonderful multi-layered ritual, which started with the pattern book at our small town dime store. Once home, I’d hum a gay tune as I attached the straight pins with little colored nubs to the tissue pattern I had carefully ironed with my hands, and the cloth I had spent hours selecting. I rarely got beyond the cutting stage because I always failed miserably – like cutting out two right sleeves. There is a point to this silly story.

    A few days ago I dusted off my first brilliant manuscript (an agent has shown an interest in it and I had mailed a partial and thought I should re-read it in entirety). Arghhhhh. Much to my horror, and mind you, three trusted, intelligent people have line-edited and critiqued my manuscript. One was even paid. To my horror, I discovered a MAJOR gaffe, which, thank God, had not been included in the package sent to the agent. My antagonist has a severe stutter. I discovered 2 small scenes in the book where I forgot to stutter his w-w-w-ords. I have this character discovering at a young age that alcohol quiets his stuttering, but in the 2 scenes I erred, he was very young and had not made the alcohol discovery yet. Am I making garbled sense? Anyway, I took the high road and laughed like a crazy lady – tempted to get a drink to quiet my mounting hysteria, but it wasn’t even the cocktail hour in NYC. I ate lots of carbs that day.

    I don’t have the repetition problem. I don’t have the repetition problem. It’s continuity of logic that sometimes trips me up – unintentionally losing the integrity that knits a book together – keeping ages straight regarding the time line of a story is a mind-bender. I find myself drawing charts like genealogist.

    The other thing that trips me up is my propensity to get side tracked, i.e., the crap above about my pinking shears and cloth. My thoughts get so excited they jump all over the place and cloud the view of my original intent. And perhaps that’s the lost beauty of my typewriter. Using it was labor intense, a slower pace. Cut and paste has made me cavalier – my mantra is ‘just get it down.’ Spellcheck has nearly made my dictionary extinct. Though it’s still my favorite book, these days I only toss it wistful side glances. Research on the Web has eliminated forays at the library. Everything is so fast, fast, fast – in the blur of my flying fingers, I sometimes lose my bearings, get lost.

    Oh, and Eric, I love your 3 finger reference. I studied at the same school.

    We are all so spoiled, but not ruined. Though my best pal these days is the ‘save’ icon.

    Comment by Reenie — March 2, 2005 @ 8:19 am

  3. 3.

    It’s a paradox. I switched to a computer when I could no longer produce decent mss. with a typewriter. I really bought a printer with a computer attached. I still cannot edit well enough on screen, so I must print it all out. “Paperless office” my ass!

    Comment by Georganna Hancock — March 2, 2005 @ 8:43 am

  4. 4.

    This is going to sound hysterically funny, I know, but I never learned how to use a typewriter. I went straight from writing in longhand to using a Wang word processor, and from there to a real computer. I’m a technical writer by profession, and I never edit on-screen; it’s too hard on the eyeballs. My editor also prints out my books to edit. She probably notices more when her eyes aren’t straining at the screen. (Hm… maybe I should encourage her to read the screen more!)

    Comment by blogdog — March 3, 2005 @ 2:01 pm

  5. 5.

    Even when I used a typewriter I had some (or maybe most?) of the same problems you have all mentioned. I’m a whiz typist-90 words a minute plus, but that doesn’t mean I’m infallible. I have to see a hardcopy of my manuscript to pick out those last few pesky problems. The last time I submitted pages for critiquing, I found a real howler after I had already emailed the chapters-the man threatening my heroine had one arm around her throat, one arm around her waist, and his THIRD hand brandishing a knife.

    By the way, Nora Roberts had a Wang she named Bruce.

    Comment by Heather Ames — March 10, 2005 @ 8:50 pm

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