Why?

[Chuck58]

Yep, the 3 hole notebook paper and, before that, I used Big Chief tablets. I wonder if they're still around? I still use notebook paper, but mostly legal pads now and a Parker pen. Got to be a Parker. Don't Ask Me.

I remember WordStar. The keyboard commands used to drive me nutty. WordPerfect for DOS was, and probably always will be, my favorite. I loved that blue screen. I have Word 2002 but use OpenOffice for my novels and stories, saved in Word format since that's what those who accept attachments want.

I've got Final Draft 7 build 42 and Celtx, and have tried Cinergy and Page2Stage, but almost exclusively use MMS2000. I can save to Final Draft and import if PDF is needed. There really isn't much difference in looks between the two, I just like Movie Magic. I'd like to get my hands on the new version, but just can't justify putting out the kind of bread they want for it, and their chintzy 2 day trial just isn't worth the trouble.

[tzpilot]

I write because it's addicting, challenging, and rewarding... all at the same time.
I write because it allows me to explore the deepest parts of my inner self.
I write because whatever I create is truly mine.
I write because I have so many stories to tell.
I write because I enjoy entertaining others.
I write because it helps me develop my craft, my style, and my mind.
I write because I love to.

There..... it's finally out.

[uncle_al]

I wrote as a kid, on the standard three-hole notebook filler paper, until I learned to type back in 7th grade.  (The school I was in mandated typing classes for 7th and 8th grades.)  Then I began using my mother's typer at home, until I got a Smith-Corona electric back around 1971.
*sigh*
That was a machine.
I started writing on computer as soon as I was enrolled in a job training course back in '85, and I've used most of the word processors out there - WordStar, XyWrite, MultiMate, WordPerfect, MS Word (which I use for most of my correspondence), and many of the formatters that work as Word macros: ScreenForge, ScreenStyle (the single-purpose version of the ScriptWright program), and several others.
The dedicated programs I've used are Hollywood Screenwriter (also by Write Brothers), Sophocles, Celtx, Cinergy, Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000, and Final Draft.  Currently, I'm trying both MMS2K and FD, going back and forth between the two to see which one I like better.

I usually compose directly on the computer; I only use pad and paper if I'm not where there's power.  (It helps with those idea doodles, as well.)

For what it's worth...

Cheers!

Al B.

[Shindig]

I used to really enjoy writing as a kid.  I seemed really good at it and it got me some attention.  Then I went down the IT route in education and botched it.

Now I'm back on the wagon because I've got a lot of time to kill.

[Chuck58]

"Chuck58, I share the same malady as you.  If I could write directly in Final Draft, it would be time-saving.  Guess I just need the organic feel of pen on notebook.  But hey, it could be worse!  You could be stuck only with the ability to type on a 1958 Smith-Corona. "

Write or Wrong. Yeah, I don't use a 1958 Smith-Corona. I've got a 1941 Royal that my folks found in a pawn shop in the early 60's, when I was in high school. Wonderful, heavy, boat anchor that still works beautifully. After I've handwritten a few pages and corrected them, I type them onto real paper using it. Unformatted, left aligned, since I'm too lazy to set the margins. Then, when I can see it on white typing paper, I make corrections and put it in the computer.

My kids, both grown now, laugh when they come around and see how I work. I'm not sure either of them remembers how to write. Everything is done on computer or via one of those little hand held things when they're away from home. They DO understand the typewriter keyboard - once I remind them how to roll in the paper.

I've been hooked on writing since 3rd grade. Sister Mary Martina (rest her soul) told us to write a paragraph about something in our classroom. I chose my pencil. My paragraph took two pages. She chose my story over all 32 in the class to read. That did it. I've been writing ever since.

I didn't have the guts to starve while working at it, and my regular job (law enforcement) had such erratic hours with rotating shifts and all, that I put writing aside until I retired in 1988. I've managed a few novel sales, a number of short stories, and now I'm after Hollywood.

[Write Or Wrong]

Don, I'm sorry to hear about your loss. 

My parents tell me I've been a story teller since I was three years old -- given the circumstances I'm not sure if that was necessarily a good thing!  But this aspect is certainly fundamental to my being.  I've never not wanted to tell stories.

When I was nine years old, upon riding my first roller coaster, I told my father that someday I would write a book about an amusement park.  I wasn't entirely correct; it ended up being a screenplay, but it's sufficient enough for me to call it prophetic self-fulfillment.

I simply don't fell well when I'm not writing for more than a few days.  And now that I'm on the cusp of making a small amount of money (the operative term being SMALL)  off one of my scripts, it only heightens my desire to continue with my addiction.

Chuck58, I share the same malady as you.  If I could write directly in Final Draft, it would be time-saving.  Guess I just need the organic feel of pen on notebook.  But hey, it could be worse!  You could be stuck only with the ability to type on a 1958 Smith-Corona. 

[ScriptNurse]

As a dear friend who passed away this week always said:

"You can't fail if you keep on trying."

[Chuck58]

Daysleeper, have you tried marketing it? I can't speak for screenplays, but I know of a novel about a little murder that was turned down by 17 publishers. The 18th bought A Time to Kill, and John Grisham hasn't looked back since.

I had 9 turn down my first novel. The 10th might be sorry they bought it, but it got me started. I'll never be Grisham, or King, or Clancy, or anybody famous. The point though is that unless you try, you won't know.

Set yourself a goal - say 20 agents and/or production companies. If all 20 agents or all 20 production companies turn it down, then decide whether to stick it in a drawer or go for 21.

Part of the business of writing is rejection. I don't look forward to the form letter rejection notices, or not even form letters. Sometimes, it's just a scribble on the first page telling me it doesn't "fit their current needs." Neither do I let it stop me, and I'd sure never spend months building something just to figure nobody would want it.

[ScriptNurse]

There are lots of movies about "a little murder." It didn't hurt Truman Capote any.

[Daysleeper]

I've seen a zillion movies. Every genre. A lot of great ones, but mostly garbage.

I wrote one screenplay. It ain't great, but it ain't garbage, either. Nobody would ever write it if I didn't write it myself. It's just a little movie about a little murder. It can't possibly sell. If it were the greatest screenplay ever written, it still wouldn't sell. Someone would buy a teen raunch screenplay instead. I can't write that ... more power to those who can.

I'm going to suffer the indignity of sending out query letters and collecting rejections. I'm not looking forward to going through the process, but I need to make sure that Hollywood has a fair shot at making the picture. I need to make sure it's not my fault the picture doesn't get made.

Maybe I'll hit the lottery for $200 million, and I can drop 20 on making the darn thing myself.
   


 

[Chuck58]

The keyboard. I wish I could write on a computer. It would save many trees.

I do everything in longhand on a yellow legal pad. From there it goes onto my old pre WW2 Royal typewriter - unformatted, so everything is left aligned, and edited as I type. Then, it's pencil edited and hammered out again. Then, more pencil editing and sometimes it makes another trip through the typewriter, or I open Movie Magic and it goes into the computer - with more changes.

I've tried writing on the computer. The results are down below in the Showcase forum. You'll see why I'm back to my old method. What I presented in the Showcase forum is vastly different now. I've picked up a huge number of tips right here that have helped enormously in cutting verbiage.

[robogabs]

I began writing to fill a void left from working for a living (I'm retired). I enjoyed it as a young man and I've rediscovered it  again.
I've been doing it for about ten years. With or without the money, it's therapeutic, although a big payday would justify my spending so much time tapping away on my keyboard.     I escape from the humdrum of everyday life by turning on my computer.

[uncle_al]

The question being, "Why?", the obvious answer is "Because.";
Another answer that applies is the one about climbing Everest:  "Because it's there."

As for me, I tell stories; I write because I don't know how not to write.

Oh, well.

Cheers!

Al B.

[padnar]

Hi ,
I was working as an Associate Editor  for
a shipping newspaper , and used to
 attend office daily but still i enjoyed writing there
padma

[Chuck58]

Stories to be told is also why I do it. There are very good hobby writers, just as there are superb hobby painters et al.

But I'm of the opinion there's a difference between writing something because you enjoy the act of writing, and writing for (hopefully) payment. Writing for publication is not fun, although I'll certainly grant that it's more pleasant than having to show up at a workplace every day.

Again, a quote from a noted author when asked what was the most frightening thing he ever experienced. Ernest Hemingway replied, "A blank piece of paper in my typewriter."

I kind of feel the same way when I open my word processor and see a blank white screen. It means I'm about to begin a journey that has a good chance of turning out to be nothing but many months of labor for nothing.

I can cite an example. I'm a gun nut. I shoot for fun, and I shoot in competition. When I'm just blasting away for fun, I'm not nearly as diligent as when I begin practicing for a match. Suddenly, the act of punching holes in paper stops being fun and turns into serious mental and physical work. There's money and/or trophies on the line.