Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 31

Thread: What Tools Do You Use To Write?

  1. #1
    Registered User Cat_Brenners's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Pacific NorthWest, USA
    Posts
    89
    Blog Entries
    3

    What Tools Do You Use To Write?

    I find that when I write, I have my dictionary, internet, thesaurus, and pen and paper at hand. What do you use as tools to help you write a more effective poem or short story? I also have poetry help books on hand when I need them. Whats your best source?
    Hugs, Cat
    Cat Brenners

  2. #2
    Wild is the Wind Silas Thorne's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    New Zealand (Mostly)
    Posts
    2,788
    Blog Entries
    94
    Well, for poetry, just a notebook or any paper I can get (or receipts or the back of business cards) and a pen or pencil.

  3. #3
    Registered User Cat_Brenners's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Pacific NorthWest, USA
    Posts
    89
    Blog Entries
    3
    Thanks Silas for answering. It does seem that the best poetry comes in the middle of the night or at a restaurant or some place where we have to forget it or grab a napkin or whatever huh?
    Thanks Cat
    Cat Brenners

  4. #4
    The Poetic Warrior Dark Muse's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Within the winds
    Posts
    8,905
    Blog Entries
    964
    For poetry, whatever is nearest at hand to write with and on. I do keep a journal of a collection of different styles in it, becasue I like to write in a wide varity of different verses.

    For stories, a note book and the computer, sometimes the thesaurus

    Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe

  5. #5
    A FLEECED MONSTROSITY aBIGsheep's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Under your Bed
    Posts
    485
    Energy Drink, Insomnia, Inspiration, some good reading material, computer, dictionary.com, and some discipline.
    The worst feeling in the world isn't loneliness, it's being forgotten by someone you can't forget.

  6. #6
    The Poetic Warrior Dark Muse's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Within the winds
    Posts
    8,905
    Blog Entries
    964
    Haha yes discipline is a good one, and with me these days, time.

    Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. ~ Edgar Allan Poe

  7. #7
    Registered User Zee.'s Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    1,548
    Blog Entries
    1
    A hammer.

    Sometimes a screwdriver - but only sometimes.
    Last edited by Zee.; 01-13-2009 at 03:02 AM.

  8. #8
    Registered User Cat_Brenners's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Pacific NorthWest, USA
    Posts
    89
    Blog Entries
    3
    A hammer sounds scary limajean lol. Hope you don't hit yourself if the right words won't come to you hehe. Maybe that's what I need to add to my arsenal of writing tools. I also like music on when I write but not the tv. Not sure why.
    Hugs, Cat
    Cat Brenners

  9. #9
    Qué Vida La Mía Plumbum's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Illinois
    Posts
    12
    When I write on my computer, which is almost always, I usually need a thesaurus of some sort and food. Sometimes I'll pull up pictures of random things like landscapes, textures, people, to inspire me imagery-wise.
    *waves*

    bumplum.com

  10. #10
    blasphemer DisPater's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Yoknapatawpha
    Posts
    124
    pencil and paper.
    the main idea with the books is that there are too many not worthy to be read.

  11. #11
    Ditsy Pixie Niamh's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Marino, Dublin, Ireland
    Posts
    14,243
    Blog Entries
    118
    Well, obviously a pen and notebook if i'm out and about, but if i'm at home i use my laptop. Other than looking through dictionary.com and pouring through the internet for info, the other main tool i use is my brain.
    "Come away O human child!To the waters of the wild, With a faery hand in hand, For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand."
    W.B.Yeats

    "If it looks like a Dwarf and smells like a Dwarf, then it's probably a Dwarf (or a latrine wearing dungarees)"
    Artemins Fowl and the Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer


    my poems-please comment Forum Rules

  12. #12
    Registered User Cat_Brenners's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Pacific NorthWest, USA
    Posts
    89
    Blog Entries
    3
    Never looked at Dictionary.com. Will have to check it out. Thanks to those who are replying.
    Hugs, Cat
    Cat Brenners

  13. #13
    Bibliophile JBI's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Toronto
    Posts
    6,360
    Pen and paper, then typing, then writing out in pen and paper, then finally typing. I go through 3-4 drafts on most things - drafts not being edited for mistakes and reworking, drafts being first attempt, second attempt, with total rewriting. I also have an Oxford English Dictionary on the computer, and a decent reference collection - Bible, Poetry, classics - plus scholarship, which makes things alright. Really though, for a prewrite, I usually spend a week or two reading critical opinions on my lunch hour in the big university library, then let that sit for a week without touching those books, then put the pen to paper. That's the only way to make sure you have your own ideas, but aren't totally just misreading.

  14. #14
    My laptop, my notebook, pen, lots of cigarettes and lots of either coffee, beer, whiskey or wine. Sometimes all.

  15. #15
    A ist der Affe NickAdams's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Some mesto, or another. Bog knows you wouldn't be able to viddy me from your okno.
    Posts
    1,481
    A pen, a notebook, my workbooks, ear plugs and ... cigarettes. The bulk of the work is done in my workbooks and I use them as a reference.

    "Do you mind if I reel in this fish?" - Dale Harris

    "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." - Ernest Hemingway


    Blog

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. February '05 Book: Lord of the Flies
    By Scheherazade in forum Forum Book Club
    Replies: 90
    Last Post: 11-18-2016, 02:41 AM
  2. how do you write?
    By tedgemon in forum General Writing
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 11-25-2012, 08:24 PM
  3. We Need A Revolution In Literature!
    By WolfLarsen in forum General Writing
    Replies: 251
    Last Post: 01-10-2012, 06:56 PM
  4. Why Write Poetry?
    By AuntShecky in forum Personal Poetry
    Replies: 59
    Last Post: 08-28-2007, 07:16 PM
  5. The Need to Write
    By Aolist in forum General Writing
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 03-05-2006, 10:01 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •