Writing Fiction Longhand

[cmenice]

I'm also a longhand writer. Though, I can get very frustrated at times because it's not fast enough. Right now my writing hand is covered with a poison ivy like rash. So I'm on a forced writing vacation. Thankfully I can still type!

[Fernan]

According to this academic (not a swear word in my vocabulary), there are two types of writers :

• The Planners
• The Discoverers

It seems there are a lot of discoverers among us.

 

Read this article, the Phenomenology of Writing by Hand, by David Chandler : it helps understand why we feel the way we feel.

 

(A word of caution : it is not lightweight reading. It actually makes you think, and it is well researched.)

 

 

Fernan

[henrico]

Thanks for the link Fernan.............as usual and whenever I read almost anything, I scan read the front page, the middle page and the last page to assess whether or not the article or book is of interest to me. In this instance, the last paragraph tells me everything about the contents of the article and all I can say is that I saved myself a lenghty and tedious read.

 

Henrico

[Tricia]

I've tried writing fiction in longhand, but by about half-way down the page, my fingers are itching to type because I can type so much faster than I can write by hand.

 

Love to write notes and musings and story ideas and such in longhand, of course, but that's a different beast.

 

My Neo is still best for non-distracted typing, though I use the 'typewriter' apps out there - WriteRoom for my Macs, Q10 and JDarkroom on my little Acer Aspire One - when I have a chance to sit down and write when I'm out and about.

[Writer44]

Sure, I can type much faster than I can write longhand. But it's about the journey, not the destination.

 

Enjoy.

 

44

[Deirdre]

I've timed it: in flow, I can write 1000 words an hour either longhand or by typing. That seems to be about my cap.

 

I can read much more quickly, so it's the speed of organizing the thoughts, not the medium, that's the limitation.

[tompiercy]

According to this academic (not a swear word in my vocabulary), there are two types of writers :

• The Planners
• The Discoverers

It seems there are a lot of discoverers among us.

 

Read this article, the Phenomenology of Writing by Hand, by David Chandler : it helps understand why we feel the way we feel.

 

(A word of caution : it is not lightweight reading. It actually makes you think, and it is well researched.)

 

 

Fernan

Well, I found that article absolutely fascinating. Thanks for pointing it out. It's a pity the four figures are omitted as I suspect that they would have shone further light on the subject.

 

You say 'it helps understand why we feel the way we feel' when we are writing; it also helped explain how I think what I think when I am writing, and why I do what I do when I am writing.

 

Contrary to your guess about most members of FPN, I am a Planner (though I certainly don't feel an outsider among all you Discoverers). I am much better at writing about things and actions than about feelings. So very British!. Almost always when I write I start off with a list or a mindmap; the text comes afterwards. Finally, editing to make sure that there are no ambiguities. Ann, on the other hand, sits down and just writes. Her writing is a pleasure to read; mine can be useful.

 

I discovered FPN from Usenet's ACPP and it has been great to bump into so many ACPP posters here. I had been trying to find a pen or two, or a nib or two, to resuscitate my italic hand which I had learnt in my teens in the '50s; the ACPP members were brilliantly supportive and pointed me towards John Mottishaw. I now have one or two Pels with his italic nibs and my handwriting has shown some improvement, though it has a long way to go to reach the standards of some of the Penmanship Forum members. :embarrassed_smile:

 

Now here's the nub. With an outliner (free with Word; even more free with OpenOffice ) or a mind mapper (I use MindManager) I can bash out the words of a piece of procedural writing, or a quick bed-time story for the grand children. On the other hand I have almost felt that the need to write a good italic hand has been an obstacle to the actual composition process. I smile when I see others writing about longhand drafts followed by typing it into the word processor. I would be more likely to do it the other way round.

 

So now we come to the questions.

 

Do I look for ways to build my 'Discoverer' skills, or do I stick at the 'Planner' end of the spectrum?

 

If the former, how do I develop 'Discoverer' skills?

 

Do I continue to develop my italic hand, although it may affect the spontaneity of my hand writing?

 

I'm sure I'll get lots of useful ideas from all you 'Discoverers' out there!

[Deirdre]

So a question: would this be more like the T-F axis on Myers-Briggs or the J-P?

Or both? I'm an ENTP, which is why I'm wondering.

[kuragari389]

I can never seem to finish any single piece of fiction if I start it on the computer. I always get distracted by the internet or I lose interest because I'm focusing on too many things at once - like writing, proofreading, revising all at the same time. And I always do find myself reverting back to the good ol' pen and paper. Most of the progress I've ever made on my stories and novels has been done by longhand in a notebook or journal. Besides, that way, once I am ready to take it to the computer, I can add in any missing details, links, or fix any inconsistencies using the word processor.

[ExcaliburZ]

The computer always points out how bad my spelling is and it slows me down because I become concerned about spelling everything correctly.

[Marko Kloos]

I switched from the keyboard to fountain pen and paper a few months ago, and my writing output hasn't suffered in the least.

 

Writing first drafts longhand has numerous advantages.

 

--You don't need an outlet nearby.

--Your "word processor" is highly portable and robust, even more so than a netbook or an Alphasmart.

--You're not distracted by email/Facebook/Twitter/web browsing.

--You have an automatic revision when you type up the handwritten material.

--You write forward, without constantly revising and noodling with sentences and words.

--You think just a little more about what you're going to write down, rather than just dashing off what's on the tip of your brain, knowing that you can't just backspace and fix things constantly. (See above.) As a result, my writing has gotten tighter, and less wordy.

--Ink and paper will be readable in fifty years, provided you store your drafts in a dry place. My wife has a ton of documents related to her academic career on now-obsolete Jaz disks, in now-obsolete file formats. Her notes from the same period, collected in notebooks and store in boxes, are still perfectly readable, and will remain so for a long time.

 

In addition, writing with a fountain pen gives me pleasure. Typing on a keyboard does not. I also enjoy having a physical thing to show for my efforts--a notebook filled with ink is a much more satisfying and tangible proof of the work I've done than a file name and a bunch of pixels on a screen. If I can get the same result, but get more enjoyment from writing longhand than on a computer, why wouldn't I opt for longhand? I spend several hours a day writing, and it seems much less of a chore when I pick up a pen and put ink onto paper. For pure enjoyment, a smooth nib on good paper beats a keyboard just about every time.

 

I find that speed of production is not really an issue. Yes, I can type faster than I can write by hand, but the difference is irrelevant when we're talking about fiction writing, which is not just getting stuff down as fast as you can write. My word counts are about the same whether I write in longhand or on a computer, in the same amount of time.

 

Just ask Neal Stephenson or Neil Gaiman whether that whole "longhand with a fountain pen" thing is holding them back. (Stephenson wrote the entire Baroque Cycle in longhand. I've seen the picture of the stack of sheet paper making up the first draft manuscript...it's like the Empire State Building.)

There are plenty of well-known writers other than Gaiman and Stephenson who still write longhand first. (Joe Haldeman and Paul Auster are two that come to mind, but there are plenty more.)

 

Lastly, it's a good excuse to have lots of pens filled with lots of different inks. My pens are all heavy-use tools that get to stretch their legs on a regular basis, rather than spending their time flushed, and tucked into a felt-lined case, only to be taken out and looked at every once in a while.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I can never seem to finish any single piece of fiction if I start it on the computer. I always get distracted by the internet or I lose interest because I'm focusing on too many things at once - like writing, proofreading, revising all at the same time. And I always do find myself reverting back to the good ol' pen and paper. Most of the progress I've ever made on my stories and novels has been done by longhand in a notebook or journal. Besides, that way, once I am ready to take it to the computer, I can add in any missing details, links, or fix any inconsistencies using the word processor.

 

 

Yup. Pretty much what you said.

 

Although I think I wrote in longhand before I got back into fountain pens, but the same reasons applied (even without innerwebs). I think 'slower' and maybe better. I can use margins for notes and sketches.

 

BTW, I like your collection of pens.

[kuragari389]

I can never seem to finish any single piece of fiction if I start it on the computer. I always get distracted by the internet or I lose interest because I'm focusing on too many things at once - like writing, proofreading, revising all at the same time. And I always do find myself reverting back to the good ol' pen and paper. Most of the progress I've ever made on my stories and novels has been done by longhand in a notebook or journal. Besides, that way, once I am ready to take it to the computer, I can add in any missing details, links, or fix any inconsistencies using the word processor.

 

 

Yup. Pretty much what you said.

 

Although I think I wrote in longhand before I got back into fountain pens, but the same reasons applied (even without innerwebs). I think 'slower' and maybe better. I can use margins for notes and sketches.

 

BTW, I like your collection of pens.

 

 

Yea, I've always preferred writing in pen (and pencil before that), even before the discovery of fountain pens. And exactly what you said about margins notes. I always have a million little notes and edits in the margins, or a sketch of a piece of jewelry or idea.

 

And thank you, it's a good little everyday writer's collection. Cheap and very functional :3

[cmenice]

Just ask Neal Stephenson or Neil Gaiman whether that whole "longhand with a fountain pen" thing is holding them back. (Stephenson wrote the entire Baroque Cycle in longhand. I've seen the picture of the stack of sheet paper making up the first draft manuscript...it's like the Empire State Building.)

 

Stephenson wrote his newest novel Anathem "longhand with a fountain pen" as well. It's about 900 pages.

 

BTW, if you haven't read Anathem and you like Neal Stephenson read it ASAP. I personally think it's his best book.

Edited March 30, 2009 by cmenice

[Sailor Kenshin]

Yea, I've always preferred writing in pen (and pencil before that), even before the discovery of fountain pens. And exactly what you said about margins notes. I always have a million little notes and edits in the margins, or a sketch of a piece of jewelry or idea.

 

And thank you, it's a good little everyday writer's collection. Cheap and very functional :3

 

 

Many of which I own as well. I have more fun with my Preppys and Heros than my 'better' pens.

[Slush99]

I've discovered why I write fiction better longhand.

 

The prose isn't any better, true.

 

But I can take it anywhere and not feel self-conscious about writing. It seems less like ignoring the people around you than taking out a computer does. I can write in smaller increments as it's less of a pain to get pen and ink out.

 

Last night, I wrote a page while waiting for my husband, a page while we were in our seats waiting for the comedy show we were going to to start, a page after the show while we were eating ice cream. Those three pages totalled 715 words.

 

That's how I write, as well. I seem to write my stuff better when I write them all out in long hand with an awful BIC ballpoint. Then I type everything into the computer after editing with a red (or purple) pen. The words just seem to flow better when I'm writing everything out by hand, and not when I'm typing stuff into the computer.

[LedZepGirl]

I do the same thing for the same reason. Notebooks are way more portable than my laptop and they don't require a power cord or outlet. I also write a lot of my papers for class the same way, that way I can work on them on the bus or in between classes, plus I can scribble all over them and add notes where ever I like. It just makes a lot more sense to me.

[CraigR]

When I write something on the computer, I am tempted to edit and correct as I write. This interrupts my creative flow. I like to write the first draft in longhand with pen and ink. I simply cross out a word or line that offends. I have decided to be a writer instead of an editor, so I ask my wife, who is a very good typist, to transcribe my pages onto the computer. I prefer to have her space the lines at 2 or 3 so that when they are printed, I have room to make hand written additions or notes. Karen is excellent at making my thoughts and words fit the grammar and spelling rules. I do insist on maintaining my literary license though. /Craig

[mucephei]

Interesting thread. Today I wrote a very short little story, the first fiction I've written for years. Just took me 15 minutes with a Clairefontaine notebook and a Lamy Safari in the park. I'm sure it won't be the last; I'm building up to writing my novel later this year by starting off with some short stories.

[ZeissIkon]

--Ink and paper will be readable in fifty years, provided you store your drafts in a dry place. My wife has a ton of documents related to her academic career on now-obsolete Jaz disks, in now-obsolete file formats. Her notes from the same period, collected in notebooks and store in boxes, are still perfectly readable, and will remain so for a long time.

 

This is the same argument I keep getting into relative to film vs. digital photography -- my negatives, assuming they don't get soaked for a long period of time or eaten by mold, will still be "eyeball readable" as containing photographs in a century, while my burned CDs will be just slightly crazed and surface-oxidized plastic disks with no retrievable information in twenty or thirty years.

 

Which is only part of why I've started doing a lot of my own writing in longhand, not coincidental with my recent purchase of my first fountain pen in almost thirty years.

 

The other part is that, like many others here, I find I can write about as much (or more, when I would have gotten stuck in continuous revision) with pen and paper as I do at the keyboard, but in a more relaxing environment, even by lamplight during a power failure if necessary. And a $15 fountain pen plus a $3 notebook are a no-brainer compared to a $700 notebook in this economy (and far less attractive to thieves).

 

Just to point to a fine example of where longhand composition can take you, all seven Harry Potter novels were composed longhand in spiral bound notebooks (though J.K. Rowling is a fink -- she used a ball point pen!). Let's see, that's almost a billion dollars earned from a few years of scribbling with pen on paper. What am I doing getting up every day to go to work? (oh, yeah, maintaining an income to pay the rent...)

Edited April 17, 2009 by ZeissIkon