Pen and Paper - Or Other Creative Writing Techniques

Today I had to have some blood work done. Since I didn't know how long the wait would be and by laptop battery is dead i took along a pad and wrote by hand. Got almost 300 words written while waiting. But that was more than if I'd just brought along my tablet and read while I waited.

So has anyone else used a creative or non-traditional means of writing this Nano? Anyone trying to go the 50k hand writing? Anyone using a cell phone? An antique typewriter? Calligraphy? Who knows maybe your idea will inspire someone and help them make there goal this year.

Above all remember: WRITE EARLY; WRITE OFTEN

Dave
AKA TRRDEDEAN

I'm hand-writing again this year, which is why I started my day today by icing my poor shoulder.

Benefits of hand-writing:

-Personally, I usually think better with a pen in my hand.

-Less eye strain--something I forgot to consider when I sat down to type 10,000 words on November 30th last year...

-No computer! No distracting internet or Minesweeper or Solitaire, and no reliance on my horribly pathetic battery life.

-Portability. My notebook goes with me EVERYWHERE. One minute in a waiting room? I write. Thirty seconds at work before I can do the next thing that needs doing? I write. Being a passenger in a car? I write. And I try to keep a small reading light with me so I can even write in the car when it's dark out, without disturbing the driver. In fact, if I'm driving around town during the day, I sometimes keep my notebook open in my lap and a pen within reach so I can write at stoplights, which works really well as long as you're willing to STOP writing in the middle of a word--or even in the middle of a letter.

The good news is that I seem to have gotten faster at hand writing in the past year. The bad news is that my shoulder never recovered from hand-writing LAST year's NaNo... I see lots of stretching and icing in my future!

Lately, I've just been dictacting my words. Too tired to come home after work to bang out a couple thousand words, so I just let my mouth do the work.

My wrists and eyes have been thanking me this past week.

I have been doing little bits with handwriting here and there when it is easiest to just grab some paper to bang out a quick idea.

I have also done probably about 1500 words on my cell phone. I have been carpooling to work with my husband the last couple days so while he drives I just type away. It has been working out pretty well, except for the fact that I always, always get car sick when I read or apparently write.

Another method I have used if I am driving and an idea comes to me is voice memos on my phone so I can remember it and then expand on it when I get home.

Another bonus to keeping a notebook on hand at all times? I went to Walgreens today to fill some prescriptions. When I said I was going to wait in the store for them, the girl behind the counter winced. "Our computers were down all morning, and we're REALLY behind. It's going to be about half an hour..." And I was like, "THAT'S GREAT!" because it meant I could do twice as much writing as I was expecting to. I ended up waiting for probably closer to an hour, but I wrote three and a half pages in that time--which should come out to about 658 words. Nice!