It all started with an article in The Wall Street Journal about writing using the “old fashioned” tools of pen and paper: The Powers That Flow from a Pen. Writer Paul Theroux argues that in writing by hand, more of who one is gets into the work, that there is a deeper connection to the words.
I’m attempting to discover if this is true. Over the years, I’ve written bits and pieces using pen and paper – due to necessity mostly if a computer wasn’t available. But, now I am actually trying to write a novel totally by hand in a notebook.
More honestly, I’m revising a story I finished back in 2010. I had it edited and the editor came back with a bunch of helpful comments which, due to personal circumstances as well as a non-fiction book that I wrote in the interim, I had no opportunity to do anything with until now. So, I am dusting off an old story and discovering that I pretty much need to rewrite the entire thing. I’ve changed in the past two years. My knowledge of the craft of writing has increased. I’m looking at this story with a very different perspective and with a different tool of writing in my hand. Instead of tapping away at my keyboard (as I am obviously doing now), I am scribbling in an old notebook, trying to get it all out.
While still rather early in this process, here are a few things I have learned so far:
1) This is messy. I am writing on only one side of each sheet of paper, but it is still a mess. When I want to add/ change things, I put in arrows pointing to the reverse side and the margins where I have made my corrections. I can only hope I will be able to make sense of this!
2) I can’t count my words. While an average written page offers an approximate number of words, I have a jumbled mess (see #1). I can’t check my word count every fifteen minutes or mark my day by saying the exact number of words I completed. I can only write the story. That is liberating . . . somewhat.
3) There is no way to save. There is one copy and only one copy of this work. If it is lost, there is no way to recover it. I don’t get to obsessively email myself a copy of my work-in-progress every night before going to bed. I don’t think I would ever choose this manner of writing if I were under contract.
4) This process will definitely facilitate revision. At some point, I will have to type each of these words into my computer. Unlike looking at a computer file where one is more inclined to just leave what is there, I will no doubt change many things as I type.
This is an adventure – something new for me! I will see how it progresses and will keep you posted. How about you? Do you ever write things by hand? Which method do you prefer?
AnneFaye
Anne Faye writes from Western Massachusetts and is the author of The Rose Ring and Through the Open Window, and blogs at http://www.annefaye.blogspot.com/. You can follow her on Twitter at @AnneMFaye
Having returned to very active writing of poetry I find, for me, it is not at all true that more of myself enters the work if I write long-hand. I keep a little notebook with me at all times to jot down ideas or phrase that land in my head/heart but the work/play of writing a piece is done entirely in a zenware (minimalist) text-editor where I am able to “hear” tempo, write quickly without distraction and make changes on the fly while still keeping my ‘page’ clean.
I use the same zenware to keep my daily journal. Again, the process is exactly as above. I’ve never been a consistent diary keeper but that is fast changing.
I started out writing longhand, and I still do it in a pinch. But my handwriting’s atrocious, and writing legibly is sooooo slooooow. Even writing illegibly is too slow. I can type much more quickly, and be confident I’ll be able to read it later. Also, I tend to write it and forget it if I use pen and paper. Something typed directly into the final work location (blog, combox, manuscript draft, etc.) is more likely to see light of day.
I do write up 98% of my teaching and presentation notes longhand, though. And planning, to-do lists, all that stuff.
Personally, I prefer to write in longhand first. Precisely because it’s so messy that I find it conveys a personal touch. Then I let the writings ‘ferment’ sometimes overnight, before I transcribe them into the computer for an editing job. Just a matter of personal preference. God Bless, -ej
I’m thinking of doing the same thing. There really is a lot to be said about/for/against writing “old school”. It’s such a romantic and reliable option.
Reading and writing spring from the physical nature of human beings; so we make marks with the hand and make sense of them via the eyes. But they are just means to an end, which is communication. Typing isn’t better than handwriting in every respect; but it doesn’t have to be.