the magic of writing longhand
I don’t feel it. In this, I am a Muggle.
On the radio this morning a local author was talking about how she loved writing longhand, how it made her feel more connected to the written word upon the page than a blank computer screen ever could. I admit, I don’t get it. Typing on a computer is vastly faster and easier than writing longhand. Plus, you can’t *do* anything with a longhand manuscript – you have to type it into a document before you can post it or sell it or do anything else with it. That has to be a hideous time sink.
The other day I cleaned my bookshelves and found my notebooks from my high school days, the pre-computer days. I did not feel the slightest twinge of nostalgia for pen and paper – if given infinite money and time, I’d still take typing on a computer.
But perhaps I’m missing something. What do you think?
-JM
Ahh, so you think the keyboard is mightier than the pen, do ya? 🙂
This may shock you, but I actually enjoy writing longhand! And I’m even younger than you, so I grew up in this computer age, and I still prefer the pen! Go figure 🙂
I’m not sure what it is, I’m fine with typing, but there is something about longhand…
Maybe it’s because it feels like you have actually WRITTEN something down, rather than just “typed” it, something to do with the whole reality vs. virtual reality thing, I’m not sure. I still type plenty, of course, but when I do get the chance, I do write by hand.
Now if I were writing a story (something I think I would like to do) I have no idea which way I would go, maybe a bit of both?
If longhand works for people, I’m not going to knock it – it can take a while to find a writing process that works. That said, for me it’s an issue of time; I have only so much writing time each day, and I’ve got to squeeze the maximum out of it, and I can type a lot faster than I can write longhand.
Understood, especially when put in the context of time, I too type faster than I write. But like I said, I still enjoy pen and paper 🙂
Longhand is a dynamic of its own.
It’s an activity that gives force and expresssion to writing that allows it become more
physical. Words pour. They are part of the whole mental, physical, emotional process. The pen becomes the sword. Gladiatorial writing!
You can attack the page. Or caress it. You can weave the words, round them out, coax them, bully them, drag them round in brutal scrawl or tease them daintily.
You can’t type like that.