Do you develop writing ideas by hand, or electronically?
I was thinking about this, as I have recently gone back to writing ideas down in a notebook, rather than putting them in a document or as notes on my phone. Why?
I’ve found that on electronic platforms I am more likely to try to start writing something coherent and well-formed, whereas if it is handwritten I can work on the idea in a much more free-form manner.
In my case I might restate the idea, or expand on it, and the advantage of a paper process to me is that I can see the development of the idea. It is easy to backtrack or take things from earlier iterations as needed. But when working electronically, the tendency is to replace.
Once in a while a writing idea might just comes out in one go, like my post “Was the abuse systemic?” which was triggered after a I heard social development Minister Anne Tolley being interviewed on Morning Report.
Other times I’ve written from notes, such as my book review of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.
What I have now realised is that personally, I need to default to paper.
What is your process for writing?