Ernest Ortiz Writes Now

I’m chaotic when it comes to daily tasks, generating ideas, and writing. It’s a constant battle in a world seeking order. My writing strategies are no different. I’ve used many writing tools and techniques throughout the years with successes and failures. Here are some of them.

Writing Tools:

• Wooden pencils (Blackwing, Musgrave, Tomo 100, USA Gold, and USA Titanium)

• Pens (UniOne, Zebra)

• Notebooks (Decomposition, Mead, and Moleskine)

• Electronics (Laptops, Smartphones, Typewriters, and Freewrite (ugh!))

• Apps (Apple Pages, DeepSeek, iA Writer, LibreOffice, Scrivener, and UpNote)

Writing Strategies:

• Longhand writing first before typing (My go-to)

• Outlining (With AI, it’s easier)

• Pantser (Always have been)

Even though I always prefer writing on paper, the past few years I’ve adopted my writing strategies from writers such as Robert Caro, Scott Scheper, and others and refined my techniques. And it works for me. So, what is my actual writing strategy?

I’ll first write longhand on a notebook (preferably on Decomposition notebooks) with pencil. I can focus solely on writing without any electronic distractions. Then, I’ll type what I’ve written on my laptop (usually on LibreOffice) or phone (UpNote). Writings larger than a blog post (notebook then the WriteFreely app) I’ll print it out, edit and proofread, and type out the final draft before publishing. It sounds simple but the key is consistency.

Is your writing method similar to mine? If not, how do you do your writing? Let me know.

#writing #strategy

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I have another website where I write about being a stay-at-home father, private investigator, and writer. While I enjoy writing these topics, however, as the years go by, the website turned from a personal blog to a professional portfolio. It’s good if I ever go back to the workplace, but my original goal to write about my experiences and provide some wisdom, I have failed.

Instead of writing for myself first I’ve focused on writing for other’s expectations. I ended up self-censoring myself, something most writers fear. Other than writing on notebooks with pencils I need an online space to share myself with others without the risk of holding myself back when something important needs to be said. Also, I need to focus on the writing without too many revisions and second guessing.

This is what this blog is for. Whether I’m talking about writing tips, short-stories, short-form random thoughts, or a long-form essay this is the place for me to post them. And it doesn’t matter whether I make a single cent or not and whether you like or hate my content. The most important thing is I’ll always be truthful to myself and to you, the reader, as best I can.

So let’s see where this journey goes. I do want to thank Write.as for giving me this platform to write on despite the many options out there. So if you happen to stumble onto this blog and like what you’re reading, thank you.

God Bless.

Sincerely,

Ernest Ortiz 12/08/2025

#welcome

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