Are you a scribbler, a typer or both?

I’m a bit of both...

I remember in my first weeks at university, one of my tutors laughing at those of us who still handwrote their work before word processing it.  ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be putting it straight onto the computer by the end of the term.’  She was right.  It was great for academic work.  It saved me lots of precious time before deadlines with its nifty shortcuts and made navigating around longer pieces of work simpler.  

Ever since then, when I work straight onto a computer, I edit on the spot a lot more than when I handwrite.  I have to remember to take my editing hat off otherwise I don’t finish a sentence without trying out all of its other permutations.  The writing and editing stages tangle themselves together.  I think it’s because typing straight onto the computer feels like more of a commitment.  It’s one step closer to having an audience and it looks like it will look in a reader’s hands.  I find this useful for writing poems sometimes.  The layout of a poem is part of its uniqueness and seeing it take shape on a word document early on in the drafting process can be valuable.

With handwritten work, there’s no getting away from my own scrawl.  It’s a slower process.  The thought has to linger that tiny bit longer as I get down the last word of the sentence, something which helps to stop the editing voice popping up too soon.  And there’s the ache: that post-exam ache and calloused middle finger.  The pain feedback that lets me know I’ve done a good few pages (and, if I’m lucky, a few good pages). 

After writing something by hand, the editing process is much more fun and dramatic than just holding down the delete key.  I can cross out a whole page with a swooping X, or scratch a word out until it’s black and gone right through the paper.  If more drastic measures are needed, I already have an actual piece of paper to rip, scrunch and/or throw across the room.  Like at school when a paper aeroplane floats onto your desk as the teacher’s back is turned: you unfold its wings to read the insult or proposition, laugh or squirm accordingly and then scrunch up the evidence.  A text message tapped out from under a desk just isn’t quite the same.   

What do you think? 

Do you prefer one method of writing? 

Does it depend on what stage of writing it is? Or which genre?