See, I have horrible handwriting. Absolute chicken scratch. Combine that with the fact that my mom was a magazine editor so she had a computer that me and my siblings grew up with, well, I am computer in most things. The exceptions are some notes (if I want to draw images with it, nothing better than a pencil and paper) and such that I use paper for. If it is a few specific lines or just key words I will plug them into the computer if it's nearby, but otherwise paper. Poetry is 50/50. Depends on the poem in question. Some need a more flowy feel, so I will use pencil and paper. Some will be strengthened by the rhythmic tapping and pounding of the keys. I do think some things will be lost in the transfer, but I think there is much to be gained. Ease of editing allows me to experiment more, the rhythm of typing will help me find the rhythm of the story, etc. As for eventually not being able to read the original manuscripts... well, remember, at the time of Bronte most of those were given to a printing press anyway. Unless a person went to the museum or happened to be lucky they wouldn't have seen her original handwriting (unless it was one of those rare special copies with a handwritten note, or etc). Not being able to read it, well... I have trouble reading most people's cursive writing anyway. Writers tend to be sloppy. The romanticism of the words and ink being there are enough, I think, even if someday someone won't be able to read exactly what it says. I know that when I am in the presence of things like the Dead Sea Scrolls or Ancient Egyptian writing I am not bothered by the fact that I can't read the actual letters, the awe is still there.
I kind of feel more free when writing with pen and paper. You can't edit it anyway, so might as well just get on with it. On computers, I tend to sit for hours trying to improve a paragraph I'm not happy with, until I'm just sick of the story and give up.
i write almost as much in pen [at first] than i do on the keyboard... it allows me to lounge on the sofa with a nice hard-backed, pastel, lined notepad and my favorite fat ballpoint [blue ink only!]... and then transferring it to the computer gives me an easy first edit...
You could try something like Momentum Writer. It's a free download from the programmer of Liquid Story Binder. It is a full-screen text editor (which is nice for no distractions) and you can't backspace or otherwise go back and edit
My handwriting didn't die, it was stillborn. It's nice to indulge the artist in yourself. You could make nice personalized cards with poems inside. Or a little storybook. Or make graphic art. If you want to sell anything, print it out.
My handwriting is death... But seriously it can be quite illegible, so much that I sometimes can't make out what I wrote. But yeah, it's nice to handwrite. Old school. I've got books and folders of handwritten song lyrics, 1995-now. There's something very nostalgic about looking back at the older ones now.
My handwriting is hard to decipher most of the time so I only really handwrite nowadays when I get ideas when I'm away from my laptop. Although I do sometimes deliberately go to a park or a nice place outside and take a notebook with me so I can write by hand instead of being glued to a screen. I think it's nice to handwrite stuff and I won't ever completely rely on computers to type up my writing. But considering technology and how books are being published, I guess typing is just easier and more efficient.
I am very proud of my handwriting. I have Dyspraxia and it was hard won to be able to write. It is now neat tidy and looks good. I practice it for half an hour a day otherwise it goes off. I use it for planning but I can't write fast enough to keep up with my thoughts.
Child of the late 20th century that I am, I find it all but impossible to actually write by hand. I want my results now, and for someone who can type at speeds nearing 140 wpm (on a good day), writing by hand is abysmally slow. I'm accustomed to being able to type out my thoughts at approximately the same pace I think them, and have developed a regular "rhythm" to the way I write; picking up a pen throws all my habits through a loop. That's all without mentioning the agony that is editing or reformatting a handwritten paragraph. Still, I am quite fond of handwriting those very important personal things: namely, my journal and the occasional love letter. (In fact, I couldn't imagine composing the latter in anything but my own handwriting, and the idea of writing such a letter through an impersonal computer font is just... horrible.) Everything else, however, is written at a keyboard. I am a perfectionist who writes very, very slowly by hand (unless jotting down notes, but I don't even count that as handwriting -- it's practically hieroglyphics in comparison to the "real thing", i.e., cursive, calligraphy, or maybe very neat print. Which some people can somehow manage.) Spending ten hours on five pages for that special "someone" is one thing entirely... spending hours just to write out a draft for a story is another altogether.
Everything I write during the creative process is by biro. Its quick and messy and i have to jump between my piles of note books and 1st drafts, but I can not use a computer until I am working on the final draft and I'm just copying everything up. There is something very satisfying about carrying a massive pile of paper around rather than a laptop.
If I handwrite it's always in pencil - I like the sound of it and the tactile scrape across the paper. I really prefer handwriting actually, I find that because it's slower my thoughts are running just a bit faster and I feel like I am really flowing, whereas with typing I get a thought out faster than I can properly think it and then I'm staring at the screen waiting for the next bit. I usually write only on one side of the page so I have the facing page to make notes or write additions if I want to. Anything handwritten would be a first draft though, subsequent revisions would be typed.
I have notepads, post-it notes and scrap pieces of paper everywhere! I tend to write it down before typing mostly for the reasons other people have mentioned. Plus it means I have a hard copy of what I've written and it also gives me a chance to quick edit when I type it up. My hand writings pretty good but the only problem I have is binders. I'm a lefty so I gravitate away from notepads with spines and search for good lecture pads, with the binders at the top. Writing is also incredibly handy on hot days, like it's going to be today, when I don't want my computer on.
At the moment I'm still somewhere between the two. I have a big A3 sheet paper pad where I do most of my bigger concept artwork on for a story, and I tend to keep loose sheets inside it with scrap-drawings, character information, etc. On my PC I have a network of folders that split down and down (like a mindmap) until I get to the "bottom" line which has digital notepads in them with the info of that topic in it, as well as anything else like artwork etc. I also have a big mind map that actually maps out my folder network too so I can see it visually. Like I said I'm starting to do almost all the original creative work in handwriting but eventually I expect all my notes to be transfered to my PC folder network (which is also where the main type-up of the story will be.) I find organizing a big battle-front in the creative process. I've got everything I want to achieve split up in my mind (and in those folders) and the creative process revolves around filling all of the individual topics up
Handwriting is not dead. With modern technology it is of less importance than it once was. Here in the 21st century there are more options for the writer to choose from, be he a primary school child or a bestselling author. Handwriting is cheap, handy, mobile and accessible. It still has a place and, I believe, always will have.
I love handwriting too. You encountered a similar situation to mine. Teachers found that as the quality of my pen improved, so did my writing, and encouraged me to buy good pens. I now have 3, extremely good Pilot pens, and I'm writing my zombie story ENTIRELY in pen. There's something exhilirating about doing it personally. It's like handmade cookies. Logically, machine made would be free of flaws and would make at an uberfast rate, but its the flaws that make the cookie unique, the effort that was put into baking them that make them in such high demand. Bottom line, the pen, while not mightier than the computer, is definitely more fun to use.
I don't handwrite my stories for two reasons: 1. It is quicker to have it written on a computer 2. I can't submit handwritten work to an agent or publisher. I think for someone who enjoys handwriting and has a beautiful handwriting style, it is a shame, but I find when I am writing it becomes sloppy and after a while illegible! When I am in the creative process of writing my stories, the last thing I want is to take ages writing the chapter only to find myself unable to read what I wrote. Plus, of course, the delete button can be an angel when things are going wrong!
I love to handwrite, but find that time is not on my side. I can type as fast as I can handwrite now, and find the editing process a lot faster. I have a writing friend with whom I exchange handwritten letters fairly regularly. The letters tend to span over several weeks, and are usually written on different pieces of odd paper, and in different pens. This gives the letters a very creative edge.. love them. ! As for writing long stories though, I dont think my poor stiff hands could do that. sadly.
The only thing I've written in pen in the last decade, was my signature on checks. I even type up my grocery shopping list in Microsoft Word and hit "PRINT". The pen replaced the quill. The ink jet printer replaced the pen.
I never hand write my stories as it takes to long and it usually get's lost in the mountain of paper on my desk, but I do at all times have a notepad opened up beside me, so that whenever I get an idea I write it down. I may never look at it again but it's down in pen and if I ever need an idea I can turn to that book. It's also much easier to search through handwritten notes then it is to search through computer files. Writing by hand I find is a lot more inspirational though as well. I come up with much better ideas when I have a pen in my hand. So for idea generation handwriting is the way to go, but I'd never go through the actual writing process by hand.
I pretty much do all of my first drafts by hand now. I just find that the words flow so much more readily that way. Staring at a computer screen, into the dull white abyss that is a blank Word document... It's not exactly the most inspiring sight. At least, not as inspiring as sitting in the woods, back propped against one of the young maples, watching the shadows of leaves dance with the sunlight across my notebook... Suddenly I can't wait for spring. Now, I do all of my editing on a computer. The words are already there, and the black hole of inspiration that is Microsoft Word doesn't affect me so much when I have something to work with. When I'm editing, I just want to get the changes done and move on. And then, once I feel I've edited a scene to the best of my ability, I copy it down onto paper again. Why? Because there's something immensely satisfying about seeing your final draft filling a physical notebook. It makes the work put into it seem more real, even more real than seeing the same work printed out from a computer. Anyway, that's just a really long way of saying I prefer handwriting over typing pretty much any way you slice it. There's just one thing: I use a pencil, not a pen. I can't read my own writing when I use ink. Kinda figure that's not such a good sign.
It seems so impractical to handwrite an entire story, editing it would be a complete and utter pain and in general it's a longer process... But I have to admit I still find handwriting something more, personal. What do you guys think?
I have notebooks allocated to stories that I'm writing and I find it very useful to write down a few pages or chapters and then type them up. That way I can do a quick edit and I'm not dependent on my computer. I find actually writing much more peaceful and easier than typing. So no, I don't think handwriting a story is dead, least not to me .
I tend to write my first drafts on paper. Something about the feeling of scratching letters onto a page gets my creativity going much more readily than the sterile white background of Microsoft Word ever will. Perhaps it's the sensation of my hand starting to cramp after churning out a trio of paragraphs; it makes the fiction seem more real somehow. And seeing a hundred handwritten pages is infinitely more satisfying than seeing a hundred typed pages. That said, my editing is done entirely on a PC. Because you're right, it's just too impractical to write a story once by hand, correct it, then write it all out again. Though I have been known to rewrite the same scene up to a dozen times, by hand, just to try different approaches. It takes a while, but I enjoy the exploration.
