For your gaming notes, thoughts, house rules, etc. when do you write, and when do you type?

Also, what are your favorite writing typing tools?

Even now after 20+ years, I mostly write, but I feel like I might be missing something by not taking advantage of some of my niftier widgets, like my tablet and bluetooth keyboard.

I tend to type everything as it means that I will be able to read it in the future. Many times I have read notes and tried to work out what I had written.

On a tablet, I type short notes, as I am not that keen on tablet keyboards. However, I do my normal gaming prep on a laptop with a full-sized keyboard attached, so typing is easier and faster.

I try to type up my hand written notes while I can still remember what the cryptic scrawlings meant.

I write, map and/or draw almost everything in longhand in these big hardbound graph-paper ledgers (easily purchased in Vietnam) and then, if I intend to do something like a book, magazine article, etc. I'll go back and type it all or use Photoshop or something. I've tried using writing/notation software like MyInfo but I just don't really feel the same about it. The only digital tools I consistently enjoy using for the actual creative side are excel spreadsheets for managing tedious calculations and lengthy lists, Tablesmith for testing out random generation schemes and Photoshop or Paint.net for cleaning up and polishing hand drawn maps and other art. Oh, and I really like being able to see that whole section of my bookcase given over to old notebooks full of material.

I use gdocs for prep, and display maps on my chrome book during play (to include my own hexographer images). I take notes during play, then turn them into adventure logs I keep on Obsidian Portal. I update campaign info directly into the Portal wiki as the campaign develops. Don't do a lot of hand-written stuff any more, save for sketching out ideas and diagrams, mainly because my handwriting is just bad.:-/ Thought about plunking down some dough for Realms Works, but decided I don't really need it. I'll never be someone who has a decades-long campaign (though I recycle a lot of ideas, names, organizations and such, just because I know where they'll fit in in the typical milieu). If I want something random at a pinch, I use Wizardawn's resources, then convert as needed.

I type mainly, now.  And Windows Notepad is my tool of choice.

I draw maps (badly) and then type notes (including map keys).

I write my notes for typing up and editing later. I wait until there is a 'back to school' sale and then buy a bunch of spiral notebooks for pennies, I have a crate full of them.

For dungeon and wilderness keys, I usually do it by hand.

For dungeons or adventures I intend to release to the public, I type.

For things like new classes or house rules, it change from time to time. I still have some notebooks with handwritten houserules for AD&D 1e. But these days, I type it. I used to use Emacs for my primary text program, but in the past year, I was using TED Notepad or Stackedit. Lately, I've been using Notepad++.

I've been thinking of switching to speech to text, though, using Google Docs and/or the Android voice input system. Not sure what you'd consider that. Typing with your tongue?

Quote from: talysman;909717... I've been thinking of switching to speech to text, though, using Google Docs and/or the Android voice input system. Not sure what you'd consider that. Typing with your tongue?

Dictation, duh.

Typing all the way, back from when I was using an Amiga for campaign notes and home computers were still the exception, not the rule. I don't necessarily fussy about the software, even I bare-bones but I just addicted to copy & pasting text around, going back and altering what previously entered text. Even when I write by hand, I prefer pencil to pen.

What can I say, I have commitment issues.

Not long ago a friend acquired a old mechanical typewriter (remember those) and was typing his adventure notes on index cards. He said it helped his process. I can't imagine anything more painful.

I write everything.

But thats because Im in love with my own handwriting. In my teen years I developed my own font and its become second nature to me by this point.

Both.

Writing is for immediately getting stuff out of my head and onto paper. It's easier to have a notebook with you and scribble something; safer too, for tickets at stoplights. (In CA, unless your engine is off, you will get a ticket for using your cellphone for any reason. Friend already got a ticket for glancing the time on his phone, while in parked gear, in a parking slot, in a major shopping area parking lot, just because the engine was still on. They gotta fill quotas, so...)

Writing is also great for hashing out visually on a table and doing stochastic tricks. For example, shuffling index cards and displaying them like a Tarot reading to suss out a plausible connection between actors. Sometimes the really rapid brainstorming needs the tactile advantage.

Typing is for when I want to collate ideas and present them cleanly. Sure I also keep it for posterity and have everything at the push of a button. But I don't like bringing much valuable electronics where I go, mainly because I have paranoia about theft, but also because I don't like the temptation of distractions at the table.

I don't find the note-taking software fully replacing the variety of paper. But I recognize its rapid access to duplication and clean presentation. Also, outliving several electronic media, some which is now a pain to re-access with legacy tech, has made it just plain ol' inconvenient if I want to look back at notes some 10+ years ago. (I'm fucking old now...)

Quote from: jeff37923;909702I write my notes for typing up and editing later. I wait until there is a 'back to school' sale and then buy a bunch of spiral notebooks for pennies, I have a crate full of them.

Me too! OMG, Target's big back to school sale is coming up this August-September! I fear I'll go full on Hoarding Cats Lady and buy way too much more than I will ever need, again! I am a Stationary Whore!

I'm still staring at the art supplies I hoarded years ago from Target. WTF am I going to do with boxes of extra crayons and color pencils? I am still struggling to use that shit fast enough. (Ha ha, maybe I'll make play aids of all the art objects PCs discover in treasure piles!)

Quote from: talysman;909717For dungeon and wilderness keys, I usually do it by hand.

For dungeons or adventures I intend to release to the public, I type.

For things like new classes or house rules, it change from time to time. I still have some notebooks with handwritten houserules for AD&D 1e. But these days, I type it. I used to use Emacs for my primary text program, but in the past year, I was using TED Notepad or Stackedit. Lately, I've been using Notepad++.

I've been thinking of switching to speech to text, though, using Google Docs and/or the Android voice input system. Not sure what you'd consider that. Typing with your tongue?

DevOps or old-school codeminer? The Emacs, of course.