Writing Versus Typing

I had a lovely break from the computer on Tuesday and Wednesday as I was speaking at a very nice writing group down in Dumfries (near the Scottish borders) and staying overnight. So I took the train for a more relaxed journey, partly because I love travelling that way, as does my husband. One of my lovely writing friends down there was putting me up for the night and she picked me up from the station, then we had a great meal with some other friends before the meeting.

Anyway, since I was on the train, I took a pen and notebook so I could try and get a move on with my next novel. And you know what? I got far more writing done on the outward and return journey than I usually manage at home. I suspected that might happen, as I try to write for half an hour while having a coffee at Costa one morning a week at a nearby mall (conveniently near all the shops!), and I always seem to get on better that way. Yet, I used to think I preferred writing straight to computer, apart from poetry which I need to write by hand first.

So the question I have to ask is: do I write more because I'm using a pen and paper? Or is it because I'm out of the study and in amongst people (in my own little space in that larger environment). Maybe it's a bit of both. And it's great to come home and have something to put on to the computer, which in turn gets me writing even more. I wonder if I could justify having more than one coffee out a week!

Rosemary