January 2, 2008
Ultimately, all manuscripts must get into electronic form and I suspect that 99% of today’s authors do that themselves. (Before turning it over to editors, page designers, and printers.) I’m also confident that many have questioned whether or not there is some tactile or even spiritual benefit to working without a brightly lit electronic device in front of them.
Personally, I find that writing by hand is a superior technique. I find that I am not as concerned with how many words I write as I am by how much pleasure those words provided me. I find myself crossing out and rewriting five times more often than I do during a keyboard draft, which makes me wonder if the speed of it all caused me to accept what I would not accept at a more thoughtful pace.
Then, when I sit down to transcribe my scrawl, I have a second chance to improve upon the first draft. And lastly, I think as writers we sometimes wait for those perfect moments which, if married to the keyboard, can only come when the keyboard is present. Better, I think, to be ready to write at anytime and any place that a pen and scrap of paper are found.
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Ultimately, all manuscripts must get into electronic form and I suspect that 99% of today’s authors do that themselves. (Before turning it over to editors, page designers, and printers.) I’m also confident that many have questioned whether or not there is some tactile or even spiritual benefit to working without a brightly lit electronic device in front of them.
Personally, I find that writing by hand is a superior technique. I find that I am not as concerned with how many words I write as I am by how much pleasure those words provided me. I find myself crossing out and rewriting five times more often than I do during a keyboard draft, which makes me wonder if the speed of it all caused me to accept what I would not accept at a more thoughtful pace.
Then, when I sit down to transcribe my scrawl, I have a second chance to improve upon the first draft. And lastly, I think as writers we sometimes wait for those perfect moments which, if married to the keyboard, can only come when the keyboard is present. Better, I think, to be ready to write at anytime and any place that a pen and scrap of paper are found.
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I agree that there is something special present when it comes to putting pen to paper. Typing is all right and good, but I don’t feel the same as I do when I have a notebook or my writing binder on my lap.
Thanks for the post!
Comment by D.S. Ryelle — January 2, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
Hey, I found you through the facebook group “Aspiring Novelists”.
I am quite torn at this question. I feel that there is something beautiful and romantic about writing on paper, and it is nice to be able to write a novel when you having nothing but paper and a writing utensil. But yet, I am one of those people who need the computer because I am an exceptionally fast typer, and I am also one of the people who need to check every few seconds how many words I am at. I feel like I write much better WITH the screen, because if I have paper and writing utensil, it seems like I have some sort of limitation. That probably comes from the idea that eventually, my hand will hurt so I have to choose my words carefully, and also I will eventually run out of time b/c, unlike my typing speed, I am an exceptionally slow writer. I also like typing it, because it’s easier for me to edit it. You can change it as much as you want, by hilighting and then just deleting with the push of a button. Also, when you want to add in a few words here and there, it doesn’t become such a headache as, say, a handwritten manuscript.
And you can print as many copies as you want! At, once again, the push of a button!
It could be the fact that I’m an aspiring author who’s only 15 so I’ve grown up around all this technology. But I still enjoy writing by hand, it’s just that it’s much easier and I seem to write better at the computer.
Comment by Nina — January 10, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
ashley scott memphis…
Man i just love your blog, keep the cool posts comin…..
Trackback by ashley scott memphis — March 7, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
There’s two points this post sparks to mind…
One is… what most writers call writing is really just typing anyway. 50% of a story is story development (in Hollywood & Games we call this pre-production). The other 50% is the actual writing itself — or what I like to call the production of writing. This is your butt in chair typing away or scribbling of actual prose in a notebook. So writing vs. typing - writing IS typing unfortunately for most writers.
Two is…
I agree with the writing long hand — you get to think and play with words more deliberatly, which is nice. Another angle on this kind of thing is talking yourself through your moment to moment action, and saying your dialogue out loud to make sure it doesn’t verbalize too cheesy. I can always tell when a writer has failed to do this (more so in movies) because I immediately think, “Nobody talks like that!”
Usually it’s melodrama, but… orating your story is a great way to get it right, similar to the feel you get from writing long-hand vs. typing.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. Just got me musing.
Comment by Eric — April 3, 2008 @ 9:22 pm