“Men are nuts. Young men are crazy. We all love toys. I'm toy oriented. I write about toys. I've got a lot of toys. Hundreds of things. But computers are toys, and men like to mess around with smart dumb things. They feel creative.” MenFeelsWritingYoungCreativeCrazyComputerSmartMessDumbYoung ManNutsToysDumb Things Author:Ray Bradbury
“I did a couple of writing seminars in Canada with high school kids. These were the bright kids; they all have computers, but they can't spell. Because spell-check won't [help] you if you don't know through from threw. I told them, "If you can read in the 21st century, you own the world." Because you learn to write from reading.” IfsKnowsWorldWritingHelpingKidsSchoolReadingCenturyCoupleComputerHigh SchoolChecksCanadaSpells21st CenturySeminarsSpell Check Author:Stephen King
“I use an IBM Thinkpad. I just use it like a typewriter, but when I started using it in 1987, I thought I won't be able to write anymore, so I thought I'd go back to the typewriter. But you couldn't go back to the typewriter after using the computer.” WritingUseAbleComputerTypewritersIbm Author:Joan Didion
“Before I started working on a computer, writing a piece would be like making something up every day, taking the material and never quite knowing where you were going to go next with the material. With a computer it was less like painting and more like sculpture, where you start with a block of something and then start shaping it.” WritingWould BeNextKnowingPiecesPaintingMaterialsComputerBlockSculptureNever Quit Author:Joan Didion
“I write fiction longhand. That's not so much about rejecting technology as being unable to write fiction on a computer for some reason. I don't think I would write it on a typewriter either. I write in a very blind gut instinctive way. It just doesn't feel right. There's a physical connection. And then in nonfiction that's not the case at all. I can't even imagine writing nonfiction by hand.” ThinkingWayFeelsWritingI CanReasonHandsFictionCasesTechnologyImagineComputerConnectionsBlindGutsNonfictionTypewritersFeels RightRejectingWriting Nonfiction Author:Jennifer Egan
“I often write from memory by walking around and talking to myself. Even when I'm working at a computer I write out loud, so that I can hear the poem's rhythm.” WritingI CanMemoriesTalkingWalkingComputerRhythmLoud Author:James Arthur
“I'm usually a panster and throw ideas down on computer the second they hit my brain. I even had to get off the treadmill to write down my ideas. It's a great place to 'zone out' and think about my plots and characters.” ThinkingWritingIdeasCharacterBrainComputerZonePlotTreadmills Author:Franny Armstrong
“I don't really like to just sit down at a computer and write because that tends to be a little forced. Sometimes the funniest ideas just happen in the moment, when you're talking to people, or you notice something.” PeopleWritingLittlesIdeasSometimesMomentsHappensTalkingComputer Author:Tom Green
“If a context and a goal is defined I could say if it's good or bad. But overall I don't view things as good or bad. So I'm like a robot or computer in that sense. So maybe that's why people don't think they know me when they read my writing.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWritingGoalViewsComputerDefinedKnow MeRobots Author:Tao Lin
“Writing can be a very solitary business. It's you sat at a desk typing words into a computer. It can get lonely sometimes and lots of writers live quite isolated lives.” WritingSometimesComputerLonelySatIsolatedSolitaryDesksTyping Author:Paul Kane
“I always wrote. I've written stories since I was 9. We didn't have a computer at home, but my aunt Magda had one. Whenever I'd go to her place, I was in the basement working on her computer, writing stories.” WritingStoriesHomeWrittenComputerAuntBasementsWriting Stories Author:Xavier Dolan
“I write exclusively using computers. Pens and typewriters can fsck right off - I wrote my first half million words in my teens on a manual typewriter (had to trade it for a new one due to keys snapping from metal fatigue) so I am not a pen or typewriter fetishist.” WritingFirstsHalfMillionsKeysComputerTradeDuesPensMetalsTeensFatigueTypewritersManualsSnapping Author:Charles Stross
“I don't have a cellphone or a computer. I deliberately circumscribe my mental life within the periods that I write about, and the power of Perfidia is that it's the result of complete immersion. I was there for the two years that it took me to write that book.” WritingYearsTwoBookResultsPeriodsComputerTwo YearsCellphoneImmersion Author:James Ellroy
“I think that computer programming shows in my writing. Often when I write about computer programmers I'll write about the way that they see the world and they structure the world.” ThinkingWorldWayWritingShowsComputerStructureProgrammingProgrammersComputer ProgrammingComputer Programmers Author:Walter Mosley
“Computer programming is really a lot like writing a recipe. If you've read a recipe, you know what the structure of a recipe is, it's got some things up at the top that are your ingredients, and below that, the directions for how to deal with those ingredients.” IfsKnowsWritingDealsComputerStructureProgrammingIngredientsRecipesComputer Programming Author:Larry Wall
“I can write anything and just put it in a zine, and then it's out there. It is like blogging but on paper. It is what I started to do before the computers were all popular.” WritingI CanPaperComputerBloggingZines Author:Mark Gonzales
“Writing is a lot like making soup. My subconscious cooks the idea, but I have to sit down at the computer to pour it out.” WritingIdeasComputerCooksSubconsciousSoup Author:Robin Wells
“Learning how to code and program computers when I was a kid was one of the best choices I made growing up. By writing code, I learned how to bring my dreams to life, how to budget, and how to build stuff. Whatever path you choose in life - being an artist, an engineer, a lawyer, a teacher, or even a politician, you will give yourself a huge leg up if you learn how to code.” IfsGivingWritingMadeDreamKidsArtistChoicesStuffGrowing UpPathTeacherGrowingHugePoliticianComputerProgramLegsLawyerCodeBudgetsYou ChooseEngineersBeing An ArtistWriting Code Author:Robert Glaser
“We shall have a race of men who are strong on telemetry and space communications but who cannot read anything but a blueprint or write anything but a computer program.” MenWritingStrongSpaceRaceCommunicationComputerProgramBlueprints Author:John Kenneth Galbraith
“We need to make sure that every child in America goes to a school every day that is safe, will teach them how to read and write, do arithmetic and gain the computer skills necessary to allow them to compete in the global marketplace. If we can get that through the public schools, fine. If we can't, I'm all for parental choice in education to allow that parent to take his/her/their child to a school that is safe and teaches them, even if it is a faith-based school!” IfsNeedsWritingChildrenSchoolAmericaChoicesParentTeachFineSkillsSafeComputerGainsPublic SchoolMarketplaceParentalArithmeticFaith Based Author:J. C. Watts
“If you're into writing and making people laugh, or just want to video blog something, you should get a simple digital video camera. And all computers now come with an easy video editing software program. Just mess around with that for a little bit, try to figure it out, then just put stuff online and have fun. Never give up!” PeopleIfsWantGivingShouldWritingTryingLittlesFunEasyStuffBitsSimpleLaughingFiguresGiving UpComputerLittle BitProgramCamerasVideoMessHaving FunDigitalOnlineSoftwareEditingNever Giving UpBlogsMaking People LaughVideo CamerasEditing SoftwareVideo Editing Author:Lucas Cruikshank
“Writing a computer virus program is child's play. Any fool can do it, which is why the silly little twerps who do have nothing to be proud of.” WritingChildrenLittlesPlayCan DoFoolProudComputerProgramSillyBe ProudVirusesSilly LittleComputer Viruses Author:Richard Dawkins
“Writing let me escape... It let me escape the insistent tug of my family, and its ongoing misery. Sitting in front of the computer, with the screen blank and the cursor blinking, was the best escape I knew. And there was plenty to escape from.” WritingFrontsComputerSittingMy FamilyLet MeMiseryScreensPlentyBlankOngoing Author:Jennifer Weiner
“I write my lyrics into the computer and I hum my music into the dictaphone.” WritingComputer Author:Sebastian Bach
“Most composers and arrangers these days use computer programs and keyboards, but I'm one of those dinosaurs that still writes it down on score paper and still dreams it up in his ear first.” WritingFirstsStillsUseDreamPaperComputerProgramEarsThese DaysScoreComposerDinosaursKeyboards Author:Phil Coulter
“Often kids in a computer lab learn about word-processing, but if they want to write an essay, they write it by hand. This is exactly the opposite of what you want them to learn. They're approaching the computer as just another abstract school subject.” IfsWantWritingHandsKidsSchoolSubjectsComputerOppositesWhat You WantAbstractEssaysLabsProcessing Author:Seymour Papert
“I've had a lot of typewriters that I've had relationships with; one still has a piece of masking tape that says "$8" on it. I love working on them. I can't fix a computer or a car, but I can fix a typewriter. I like them because you can write on them late at night, depending on what you're fortifying yourself with, and the next morning you can still figure what you wrote.” WritingStillsI CanNightNextMorningPiecesCarFiguresComputerLateTapeTypewriters Author:Eddie Vedder
“Whatever job I had, I was always writing like crazy. All I ever liked about offices was being able to type up stories on the computer when no one was looking. I was never paying much attention in meetings because I was usually scribbling bits of my latest stories in the margins of the pad or thinking up names for my characters. This is a problem when you're supposed to be taking minutes of the meeting.” ThinkingWritingCharacterStoriesProblemAbleJobsNamesBitsAttentionCrazyMinutesTypeOfficeComputerMeetingsSupposed To BeMarginsPads Author:J. K. Rowling
“When I write, I lose time. I'm happy in a way that I have a hard time finding in real life. The intimacy between my brain and my fingers and my computer... Yet knowing that that intimacy will find an audience... It's very satisfying. It's like having the safety of being alone with the ego reward of being known.” WayWritingRealHardLosesBrainKnownAudienceKnowingEgoFindingsComputerSafetyFingersRewardsReal LifeIntimacyHard TimesSatisfying Author:Jill Soloway
“Alternating the thoughtful task of writing with the mindless work of laundry or dish washing will give you the breaks you need for new ideas and insights to occur. If you don't know what comes next in the story... clean your toilet. Change the bed sheets. For Christ sakes, dust the computer. A better idea will come.” IfsKnowsNeedsGivingWritingIdeasStoriesNextChristBreakBedComputerTasksCleanSakeInsightDustThoughtfulNew IdeasDishesSheetsToiletsWashingLaundryMindlessBed Sheets Author:Chuck Palahniuk
“It's an incredible privilege to be able to sit in front of a computer and spend a few hours just thinking and writing.” ThinkingWritingAbleHoursFrontsComputerIncrediblesPrivilege Author:Nick Blaemire
“I don't even own a computer. I write by hand then I type it up on an old manual typewriter. But I cross out a lot - I'm not writing in stone tablets, it's just ink on paper. I don't feel comfortable without a pen or a pencil in my hand. I can't think with my fingers on the keyboard. Words are generated for me by gripping the pen, and pressing the point on the paper.” ThinkingFeelsWritingI CanHandsTypePaperComfortableComputerStonesCrossesFingersPensOld ManPencilsInkTypewritersManualsKeyboardsGrippingTablets Author:Paul Auster
“When you develop software, the people who write the software, the developers are the key group but the testers also play an absolutely critical role. They're the ones who ah, write thousands and thousands of examples and make sure that it's going to work on all the different computers and printers and the different amounts of memory or networks that the software'11 be used in. That's a very hard job.” PeopleWritingDifferentHardPlayJobsUsedMemoriesRolesGroupsExampleKeysAmountComputerCriticalSoftwareGoing To WorkDevelopersPrinterTesters Author:Bill Gates
“Song writing is about the male-female relationship. Yes, there are songs of, of brotherhood and politics but very rarely do we write about computers or, there are car songs, cars are cool. But even in the car songs, it's, ah, usually gets down to me and my baby and my car.” WritingSongCarBabyComputerFemaleMalesBrotherhoodMy BabyMale Female Author:Jeff Barry
“The Internet and all its lures are much, much harder than anything I've ever encountered. If you're writing on a computer, the very instrument you're writing on is already tainted by the world out there in all its permutations.” IfsWorldWritingInternetComputerHarderInstrumentsLureTainted Author:Dani Shapiro
“When I was writing my first novel, I smoked cigarettes. And when I think about what it was like to smoke, I remember exactly the feeling of sitting in front of my big old computer in that little room where I wrote my first novel.” ThinkingWritingFirstsLittlesFeelingsBigsRememberRoomsNovelFrontsComputerSittingSmokeCigarette Author:Dani Shapiro
“My tombstone would someday read I died keeled over at my computer writing a screenplay or a business plan.” WritingPlansComputerDiedSomedayScreenplaysTombstoneBusiness Plan Author:Gabriel Campisi
“Ever since high school I've been writing in a spiral notebook, in pencil. Everything looks too polished on a computer when you start writing, and I can't really see it. I feel like the words are much more naked in pencil, on a notebook.” FeelsWritingLooksI CanSchoolComputerHigh SchoolNakedPencilsNotebookPolishedSpirals Author:Lily King
“For me, form is something I locate in the process of writing the poems. What I mean is, I start scribbling, and then try to form the poem - on a typewriter or on my computer - and, by trial and error, try to find the right shape. I just try to keep forming the poem in different ways until it feels right to me.” WayFeelsWritingTryingMeanDifferentFormProcessShapesComputerErrorsTrialsDifferent WaysTypewritersFeels RightTrial And Error Author:Matthew Zapruder
“What I did with my first records was, my writing process was that I didn't touch any instruments to write it, so I was making it all on the computer, and really the arrangements were coming first, the intricate thing.” WritingFirstsProcessRecordsComputerInstrumentsArrangementsWriting ProcessIntricate Author:Annie E. Clark
“I hide my documents in many different places on my computer, because I often write things that I would never want anybody to read, at least unedited, and I'm paranoid that someone might figure out what the password to my computer is and maliciously read my Word documents. So a lot of the time I lose things I've written and/or completely forget about them.” WantWritingDifferentMightLosesForgetWrittenFiguresComputerDocumentsDifferent PlaceParanoidPasswords Author:Chelsea Martin
“It all depends on what I'm working on and if there is a deadline involved. Anything that's headed toward a magazine or newspaper is hacked out on the computer; that's a matter of efficiency. I write longer pieces of prose on a typewriter because the act of retyping it for the computer is a useful tactic for revision. Poems tend to be written longhand.” IfsWritingMatterPiecesWrittenDependsInvolvedComputerNewspapersMagazinesProseEfficiencyTacticsDeadlineTypewritersRevisionHacked Author:Kevin Keck
“The place I write best is at the Angell Hall computer center on the University of Michigan campus, where I went to school. I still go over there and rock it through the night.” WritingStillsSchoolNightRocksComputerUniversityHallsCampusMichiganUniversity Of Michigan Author:Davy Rothbart
“You have weak artificial intelligence, which is a robot or a computer system that follows a list of protocols and it's like yes/no answers that can be as complex as you want, and then you have strong A.I., which is basically like a human, like something that can think up a thought that's never been thought up or paint a painting or write a poem.” ThinkingWantWritingHumansStrongAnswersPaintingComputerWeakComplexesPaintListsArtificial IntelligenceArtificialRobotsLike SomethingProtocolComputer Systems Author:Neill Blomkamp
“I've had a lot of fun writing percussion music. It feels quite similar to writing computer music. But I found myself in the role of choreographer in a way, worrying about physical movement and such.” WayFeelsWritingFoundFunRolesWorryMovementComputerChoreographersPercussion Author:Paul Lansky
“A good day's writing, when I turn off my computer after I know that I've written okay, or as well as I can write, that's a day well spent.” KnowsWritingWellsI CanTurnsWrittenComputerOkayGood DayTurn OffDay Well Spent Author:James Lipton
“I write all the time. The wonderful thing about having a cell phone is that if I get an idea, I knock it out and it's in my phone and I can transfer it to my computer and go into the studio and bring it up.” IfsWritingI CanIdeasWonderfulComputerPhonesStudiosCellsWonderful ThingsCell PhoneTransfers Author:Ian Astbury
“I use a computer, but before I begin each new book I keep a notebook. I write down everything that comes to mind during that period before I actually begin. It might take months or weeks. That notebook is my security blanket so that I never have to face a blank screen (or blank page). But I print out often and my best ideas usually come with a pencil in my hand.” WritingMindBookIdeasUseHandsMightFacesWeekSecurityMonthsPeriodsComputerPagesScreensPrintBlankPencilsBlanketNotebookNew BooksBlank Pages Author:Judy Blume
“When I'm sitting at the desk not being able to write line one, it's silence and despair! It's not so easy to put the pen to the legal pad or type the first sentence on the computer screen.” WritingFirstsAbleEasyLinesSilenceTypeDespairComputerSittingSentencesScreensPensDesksPadsComputer Screen Author:Erica Jong
“I am somebody who usually writes out the rough draft in longhand. Then I type it into the computer, and that is where I do my editing. I find that if I write it on the computer, I go too quick. So I like getting that first draft out and then typing it in; you are less self-conscious about it.” IfsWritingFirstsSelfTypeComputerConsciousRoughEditingSelf ConsciousTypingRough Drafts Author:Barack Obama