What do you write with? • Lynne Garner

By Lynne Garner -
What's your favourite? 
When I write non-fiction, I tend to type straight onto my laptop, as the ideas come to me. Sometimes I use full sentences, even creating an entire paragraph. When I’m working on my short stories, I tend to use pen and paper to create a list of bullet points of action. These I then flesh out as I type up the story. 

Now, for the last 18 months I’ve been plodding my way through a poetry course. Whilst exploring poetry I’ve found myself returning to writing everything down. This has allowed my ideas to flow. I’ve scribbled my half-baked ideas and half composed lines into one of my many, many note pads. (A writer can never have too note pads, especially if they are really lovely). It’s not until the poem is almost ‘there’ that I go to my laptop and type them up, ready for editing.  

During the process of writing in long hand I’ve discovered I don’t like writing with a biro. Even if it’s the left handed ergonomic one that cost me an arm and a leg. Also, I don’t get on with fountain pens. All that ink. It just jumps out of the pen and onto my hands rather than the paper. What I have found I like to use is a good retractable pencil. When I can’t find that (I’m not very organised) my second favourite is a roller-ball pen with black ink and a 5mm or 7mm nib. I think my preference for these goes back to when I used to teach interior design. When drawing up plans I always used a retraceable pencil for the first draft then would ink in using a roller-ball pen. 

This got me wondering what do other writers prefer. So, let me pose the question. What do you like to write with and why? 
Blatant plug time

Love a short story? Then check out my various collections of short stories (available as ebooks and paperback):

Fox of Moon Meadow Farm (ebook 99p/99¢ - 10 stories)

Hedgehog of Moon Meadow Farm (ebook 99p/99¢ - 10 stories)

Ten Tales of Brer Rabbit (ebook 99p/99¢ - 10 stories)

Ten Tales of Coyote  (ebook 99p/99¢ - 10 stories)

Anansi The Trickster Spider (ebook £1.49/$1.49 - 16 stories)

      

Comments

Bill Kirton said…
Interesting insights into your modus operandi, Linda, and the question calls for far more space than comments are designed for. I’ve been writing for so long that I probably started with a stick and some pigment, but after various ‘phases’ (including using foolscap paper, imagining it had 2 columns and only writing in one of them – to use the other for edits), I bypassed typewriters (I just couldn’t ‘create’ on them), and now delight in having a keyboard where I can type ‘char’ and it automatically becomes ‘character’ onscreen.
8 April 2019 at 10:44
Sandra Horn said…
Oh dear...anything that comes to hand, on any old scrap of paper, I'm afraid. Chaotic and unsatisfactory!
9 April 2019 at 15:18
Umberto Tosi said…
Thanks for bringing this up. Each writing implement seems to impart its own flavor to what I write. I keep lots of No. 2 pencils and 3x5 cards around to note ideas and references. Often they end up in disorganized piles around my desk that I have to sort through to find past notes - but at least they are there. I like my big trusty desktop system the best for all around composition and editing, but I also use a tablet and sometimes even an old typewriter. Nothing works until it does. :)
9 April 2019 at 15:27
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