Hand writing published novels/chapters to improve your writing

I'm from a copywriting background.

One of the "tricks" we're taught to get better at writing fast is to physically hand-write successful pieces (sales letters) over and over.

I'm guessing there's a science to it. Maybe something to do with muscle memory.

I think it was first suggested by Gary Halbert, something of a titan in the direct response industry. (He's since passed.)

I did it for months.

While monotonous, extremely boring, and time-consuming, I have to say it worked wonders.

I started to realize what the pros were doing. How they were overcoming objections, the techniques they were using, the specific structure they followed, and so on.

I remember Gillian Flynn talking about this in one of her novels.

I've never tried it with a work of fiction.

Have you tried it or heard anyone talk about it?

How did it work out for you?

 

What in gods name is this monstrous idea. It takes copy writing to a whole new level. But I'm all about hacking my brain right now so I'm crazy enough to try it. I'll let you know how it goes and where my sanity ends up.

 

There might be some truth and use to it. I would think hand writing slows your writing considerably, and with that comes more time to reflect upon every words that came pouring out of your mind. It also physically prevents you from revising as you go, therefore making your first drafting focused on just "getting it done on paper".

Neil Gaiman wrote his first draft entirely by hand, with a fountain pen and a thick notebook. Only when he got to second draft did he type it down, which made sense to me as I would expect second drafts to be done "faster" and non-linearly.

 

I always write my drafts and do all of my edits with pen and paper. Enjoy it more and don't get distracted by the computer, formatting, etc. Using a disc bound notebook makes it easy to insert and delete pages so the flow is smooth. I write for pleasure and have completed a dozen plus short stories and am working on my fifth novel length work of fiction at the moment.

Have used a computer for 40+ years and prefer it to most tasks except for creative writing.

Must be a luddite as my preference is using fountain pens when I write.

 

Depending when the advice dates from, within Gary Halbert's life, there could be a massive generation gap - for example, if he's talking to people who originally learned to write using pens and who have an everyday choice between a pen or a... typewriter; or a 1980s word processor; or a 1990s desktop-publishing program.

Is the advice's benefit anything inherent to the medium? Or is it that we're always faster returning to the first medium we learned as small children?

I'm sure this is a common experience: the first time I showed my son a picture book he 'swiped' the page with his finger.

 

My high school english teacher had us do this sometimes...she called it "Imitating the Greats" (and actually looking it up now, looks like it's a real thing). I can't say if it helped me or not, but I kind of enjoyed doing it. Having to slow down and pay attention to every word might be a good way to analyze and absorb others' writing, which may help in deciding what techniques/habits you want to transfer to your own writing. Can't say I have the patience to try it now, though, haha...

 

Well, I suppose painters copy the masters stroke for stroke, so why not copy stories?

 

Personally, I'd about as soon be nibbled to death by ducks in December as to laboriously copy out someone else's work by hand, but I do practice my written Spanish by translating pages of novels. Talk about moving slow... I'd probably do better to translate Spanish Sesame Street books than Isabel Allende, though.

 

I’ve done it a couple times. It’s done as a close study of structure with the concept that there are only two ways to write a novel (in spite of what NaMoWriMo claims): the way that will get published, and the way that won’t get published. The challenge is to choose a few well known and well received novels and transcribe them by hand. You’re supposed to examine the way the novels were put together, story structure, scene structure, style, voice, character, dialog- everything. It’s a much more in depth look than what you’d experience simply reading. You’re looking for what qualities got that writer published, and maybe reconcile that with your own writing and adjust accordingly.

 

I've started writing some of my original content by hand. I go for long walks and have 'brilliant thoughts' that I'll lose if I don't write them down. It's much faster than keying it into a phone. I've tried voice to text, but it's cumbersome and unreliable. It makes for a good change from routine as well as keeping my handwriting from eroding completely.

 

Bless you, my child, I hope that works for you. The faster I write to keep up with my thoughts, the more my penmanship deteriorates. I have to transpose handwritten notes fairly quickly or I end up spending a fair amount of time puzzling over some scribble I made in the middle of a narrative. Sad. Very sad. I weep to think what has been lost through abused ink. When I'm not in a hurry, my handwriting is reasonably legible. Well, to me, anyway.

 

I don't practice it very much, but there is a lot to be said for taking notes while reading anything.

Copying another work, word for word, probably works. I think I would get more out of making written analysis of what the author was doing and what tools he used.