# Your Writing Station



## Kaellpae (Jul 3, 2011)

Where is it that you do your writing? What machine do you primarily use? Desktop? Laptop? Typewriter (Those still exist, right?)

I ask because I have a desktop, but no desk to put it on. I've been wanting to start writing again, but I have nowhere to write except on notepads and my phone. Neither of those are my best friend when it comes to longer writings. I've been thinking of selling my desktop and getting a laptop. That way when I get a desk I can set the laptop there for my primary writing station and still be able to pack it up. I really like the idea of taking a laptop everywhere in case I get a sudden burst of inspiration. 

Anyway.. That's my answer to my question. I have no good place to write, but I want to invest in one. As an added bonus I can see what other writers use for their primary tools of the trade.


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## Waltershores (Jul 3, 2011)

I used to write on my desktop, but recently invested in a mid range laptop so I could be more mobile in regards to finding a comfortable quiet space to write.  No longer will I be caged to my room!!!  It has been the best investment for me in regards to writing and because of it I have written more in the last couple months than I have in about 4 years.


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## Kaellpae (Jul 3, 2011)

That's what I thought would be nice about a laptop. Take it somewhere quiet, with a view or both and just write. I don't really know what to look for as far as good laptops for writing goes. Bigger or smaller screen? I know I don't want one with too many distractions. Internet connection would be nice for fact checking while you write I'm sure.


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## Ravana (Jul 3, 2011)

Desktop for me, definitely. I can't find a comfortable position to type in unless I have the keyboard at a certain height and distance, which means even if I were using a laptop, I'd still be using it at my desk. Also, I find the full-size keyboard easier to use, and a separate mouse _far_ easier to use than a touchpad. 

When unable to sit at my desk, for whatever reason, I revert to an obscure and clearly obsolete technology known as a "pen," in conjunction with this thing called a "notebook."  (I actually find typing anywhere else _so_ uncomfortable that, even though I have a computer hooked to my television, I only use it to open files so I can refer to them; any changes get made when I'm back at my desk.)


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## Kaellpae (Jul 3, 2011)

I use pen and paper for world building. But for the actual story I can't write with a pen fast enough to keep up with my brain,


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## fcbkid15 (Jul 3, 2011)

I type up my stories on my netbook labtop. I can take it anywhere, its fairly small. I highly suggest getting a labtop if your writing. If you don't like sitting at a desk to write and had a place you wrote with pen and paper, bring your labtop there, you don't need internet to typer in word. I use paper and what not when drawing maps of my world, coming up with characters, etc.


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## J. Rosemary Moss (Jul 4, 2011)

I use a small laptop too--I need to be mobile. I will consider switching to a tablet if I find one that works for me . . .


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## Ophiucha (Jul 4, 2011)

I moved out of my parents' house a couple of years ago, to go to university, and got a laptop for space and travel reasons (taking it to classes, and just getting it out to Vancouver from New York). I've had an apartment for about a year, but I just don't have room for a desktop computer, so I still only have a laptop. It works well enough - I like having everything close, and I don't like wearing my glasses while looking at a screen, so a monitor that's too far back on a desk is just a pain for me. And I tend to just be on my bed. It's a nice bed - rather new, king size.


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## BeigePalladin (Jul 5, 2011)

> And I tend to just be on my bed. It's a nice bed - rather new, king size.


 - that there is why you can't fit a desktop in your house 

I too, use a laptop, for everything in my life.


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## Joe the Gnarled (Jul 9, 2011)

I converted to laptop a few years ago and will never go back.  To address your problem of not having a desk for desktop I had that same problem before I got my laptop.  My solution was to sit in front of my computer screen with my keyboard in my lap.  If you find a comfortable position it can work beautifully until you get your laptop.


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## sashamerideth (Jul 9, 2011)

I actually use my smartphone most of the time. I have it with me all the time, and can just write when the urge takes me. Sure, I am slow, but with dropbox sync, when I get home I can go faster on the same work, but mtof my typing does happen on my phone. Weird, aren't I?


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## Kaellpae (Jul 9, 2011)

What is dropbox sync?


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## Dante Sawyer (Jul 9, 2011)

I use a desktop for now, but I'm still in high school and live at home.  When my folks finally ship me off to college, I'll switch to a laptop which, I think at least, will be far better.


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## sashamerideth (Jul 9, 2011)

Dropbox is cool, install it on a bunch of computers or smartphones, it connects to a server, uploads anything you put in special folders and it gets copied to all your other devices. 

I work on my story on my phone, save it, and the copy on my laptop gets updated, so it is the same as what is on my phone. I can then work on my laptop, save it, and the one on my phone gets updated.


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## Kaellpae (Jul 9, 2011)

Is there an app for it on Droids?


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## sashamerideth (Jul 10, 2011)

I am using an android phone, so yes.


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## kismacska (Jul 19, 2011)

Dropbox is fantastic!  I have a desktop, but I use an inexpensive netbook for the bulk of my writing.  Dropbox syncs my writing files between the two computers (and my phone, though I can't stand doing any actual writing on my phone).


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## Kaellpae (Jul 21, 2011)

I might just use dropbox on my phone for brainstorming. I don't think I could write a whole lot on my phone.


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## Argentum (Jul 29, 2011)

I moved out recently overseas, so I bought a laptop to take with me. But it is pretty heavy and a bit big so it's a pain to take to cafes and things. I use it more for my desktop. The good thing about Korea is they have all manner of electronics. I may have to look into getting those tiny laptops/notebooks/whatchamahcallits. But for plot idesa and world creation, I use notebooks and loose leaf paper. So, aside from the electronics, my writing is stationed near my ever-present horde of paper and writing utensils.


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## Kelise (Jul 30, 2011)

Desktop (mostly) at home and always at work. Then I also have a laptop and iPad if I'm on the move, or just have the need to go outside or to the library or something instead. 

Basically, all different things work for me depending on my mood. Sometimes I'm almost tempted to get an alphasmart so I have utterly no distractions... but iA Writer for the iPad is pretty darn close to that anyhow.


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## Jenna St. Hilaire (Aug 2, 2011)

I have a laptop, a little Dell, and Scrivener's beta for Windows (the full release is due out this month, I think. The Mac version has been around for a couple of years, and I believe a Linux version is also in development.) I am so spoiled. Pen and notebook just hardly work for me anymore. 

The laptop-on-the-lap thing was hard on both computer and me, as I usually just sit on my couch, so I bought a little lapdesk for about $12 in some department store. It lets the computer fan do its job and gives my wrists a decent angle.


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## Sevvie (Aug 2, 2011)

I used to use my desktop, until it started to fail on me. So now that my data isn't safe on this system any more, I use my dad's laptop that he isn't using. When I'm back in Australia I have a beast machine waiting for me to write on 

I hope to one day get a laptop of my own, because I enjoy knowing my writing is mobile then. ^^


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## Lavender (Aug 2, 2011)

A few years ago when I first started my novel, I used a desktop computer. I then got a latop and decided it would be much more comfortable to write on my bed. (I suffered lots of backache sitting for hours in a chair!)
I've since bought another laptop and am still sitting on my bed, using a tray with beanbag filling on the underside. The laptop tends to overheat so I keep the laptop placed so the fan on the underside is not blocked by the tray and use the edge of the tray for items such as my phone and my blue glass 70's style ashtray and rolling tobacco. I smoke an inordinate amount when writing (I'm planning to give up, however!)


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## Misusscarlet (Sep 10, 2011)

I have a laptop, but whenever I try to write I get some blockage, all the blinking lights on the laptop, finished download notices, random noises. I write while I am at work on a 20 cent notebook, sticky pads for random notes that I stick on a page I might need to go back to and of course the trusty ballpoint black pen with a comfort grip. I enjoy writing while at work, due to the fact that I work graveyard and there is no soul around to watch me giggle and twitch with glee while I scribble away. I also sadly can not type as fast as I think, even after typing classes bah! So I scratch it down, it may be sloppy handwriting, but I remember everything I read and write. I am very proud of that skill .


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## Allyssianne (Sep 11, 2011)

I mainly use my laptop for writing, especially for storing the pieces I've written.  I'm really bad at keeping all my bits of paper together.  Unfortunately, since I spend 8-12 hours at school everyday and 6 hours on a Saturday, (stupid French education system), pen and paper seems to be my best friend.  This leads to me spending hours during school holidays typing up the 20+ pages I manage to write between them.  I use everything and anything I can get my hands on to write on normally: loose leaf, post-it notes for things I need to remember to add/write about, my class folders, notebooks...  My pens change depending on my mood though: brightly coloured when I'm on a sugar high, (the only way to get through my classes), ballpoint black on the train, badly smudged blue fountain pen when I'm writing in class and trying not to let on to the teacher that I'm not actually taking notes, and black ink the rest of the time.

As for my workstation at home, It's kinda cluttered with notes, homework, school books, post-its reminding me to do things, (I get distracted too easily and never remember to do things my parents have asked me to), as well as being littered with chocolate bar wrappers and crisp packets from when I'm writing at 4 in the morning and get a wicked case of the munchies.  For some odd reason, there's also a sizable pile of dog biscuits...  I have no idea why, apart from the fact that I have a dog, but he never comes up here since the day he tried to 'type' on my laptop and deleted 30 000 words from my story.


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## Xanados (Sep 11, 2011)

I, believe it or not, use a high powered gaming PC. I'm a gamer. My desk is decorated with LOTR Trilogy Special Edition Box Sets and books. I have a few fantasy posters for inspiration, too. Oh, I've also just recently nailed up a board right above my desk area where I can pin down peices of paper. It's being used for the world I'm building.


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## HÃ«radÃ¯n (Sep 11, 2011)

I need a new smaller laptop, this one is getting slow and clunky, I've had it for nearly 3 years. but it still serves well enough I suppose. whenever I'm near my laptop I'll write notes in note pad and save them to my writing folder, I draw maps by hand and scan them and I sometimes write notes in my notebook if I'm not near my laptop.


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## Shadoe (Sep 12, 2011)

I have a laptop that moves from room to room with me. It's one of the bigger laptops, though, that's not actually intended to be portable. I refuse to lug it through airports anymore. I also have one of those tiny little computers - a netbook - that I use when I travel. I keep all my writing files on a microdrive so I can swap computers at will. I always keep a notebook with me too, because you never know when a good idea will pop up.


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## iskavele (Sep 16, 2011)

I use my labtop and keep pen and paper next to me when trying to write or come up with ideas for my story. Most of the time i will use the pen and paper for either idea's, world building, and rough drafts. Then i type it to see how the story looks(bad handwriting). Idk thats the system i came up with.


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## EParadise (Sep 25, 2011)

I have both desktop and laptop. Prefer the laptop for portability. Sometimes finding a quiet happy place gets difficult.


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## Emeria (Oct 3, 2011)

For when I am out and about, I always keep a notebook and pen (or pencil) handy.  The composition notebook I'm currently using, I bought for less than a couple dollars and it has nice graph-ruled paper, which is good because I write notoriously small.

When I am not doing other stuff, I have an older laptop computer that I set up at the kitchen table.  It's about five years old and the battery is pretty bad, so I need to keep it plugged into the wall.  I have a portable mouse that I attach and it connects to the internet (though I often turn the internet off while I'm writing).  Most of what I do is in Open Office Writer and Paint (for maps).  When I do serious writing, I need to be at a keyboard, as I write with my eyes closed so I can see the world better.

I also currently keep a lot of foodstuffs around my laptop, including usually having a (sealable) mug with tea.


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## darthbuttchin (Oct 3, 2011)

For me? I cant help but use pen and paper. I often scrub things out and like jotting out mind-map type things and I've never got on with mind-mapping software. I also get a bit OCD about leaving things I dislike in a word doc (or similar) just in-case I come back to it. Once Ive worked out roughly what I want to write and have the basics, I transfer to the laptop (the worlds greatest invention, although it tends to get too hot to actually use on my lap) to write it up and flesh it out. My main problem is that I lose concentration easily on the laptop and cant look at the screen too long, whereas with the pen and paper I can write solidly for hours. I also just like to watch the pen flash across the page and see my spidery writing on it - theres something almost magical about it ha ha.

db


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## Metalfist (Oct 6, 2011)

I used to also use a gaming PC in conjunction with pencil and paper. I now use paper along with a laptop. It allows me to roam to different areas of the house as I see fit, and I usually play an MMORPG while I write. Up to this point I'm still a short story writer and have the luxury of not having to maintain long lists of characters and complex plotlines.


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## Xavorn (Oct 7, 2011)

Hello,

So far I have been using my old PC to write, but anytime soon I'm going to write with my new laptop as well. The place where one should take it and go write doesn't have to as silent as possible, as long as inspiration flows on.

-Xavorn


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## Elishimar (Oct 7, 2011)

I LOVE taking my laptop on the metro rail in DC. I have an hour commute each way everyday, so I actually get quite a bit done while riding the train. I also have to be listening to music usually so the head phones come along for the trip. When I am back at the apartment, I am usually in my bed, and it actually isn't that comfortable for writing, so I do research and browse the forums. If I am really into writing while I am at home, I sit in the lazy boy and type away with the TV on.


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## Qfantasy (Oct 7, 2011)

I use a desktop mostly but occasionally use a laptop if I fancy a change of scenery or I'm struggling to get comfortable for some reason. My ideal writing conditions are at night and in solitude. Music helps too, different music depending on the scene I am writing. I put headphones on to completely immerse myself in what I'm writing.


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## Nyx (Nov 27, 2011)

I'm on the other side of the fence in that I prefer a desktop. I am on my second failing laptop, both have been Sony Vaio's that have always been on my desk with an external fan under them. I always write at my desk which is in the living room right by the window. I keep my notebooks and "snack stash" there too. I always have to have Japanese Anime music on for my current project.


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## writeshiek33 (Nov 27, 2011)

i use ,y laptop because i have the organisation software i require i also write thing on paper to get me started


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## ellianbaker (Nov 27, 2011)

Usually I write on my laptop and reserve the desktop for gaming and mapmaking. Here lately, though, the muse has only responded to pen and paper. I go through more pens and notebooks than my schoolage kids.

Ellian


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## Shadoe (Nov 27, 2011)

I just got a new iPad with a keyboard case. (Though the case is Really Heavy - I may have to get a different one.) Now I'm shopping for an app that will let me write. I tried out a couple of them that have handwriting apps, but I don't think the ones I looked at are going to work. What I really need is something like Notepad or Word. Anyone know of anything suitable for the iPad?


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