Who else writes longhand?

[Steerpike]

I will occasionally type directly into the keyboard, but 99% of the time I write longhand first, and then end up doing a sort of rough edit when I sit down to type it up. Not only do I usually write longhand, I use a fountain pen when I do it, which makes me feel old-fashioned.

What about the rest of you? My brain works differently depending on whether I am physical moving a pen with my hand or typing on a keyboard.

 

[Ireth]

I used to write longhand a lot more than I do now. The first draft of Low Road is handwritten, and I moved to typing for the second. Winter's Queen and its sequel are entirely typed. The first little bit I have of Moonhunter is in longhand. I like the feel of writing rather than typing -- there's just something nice about feeling the weight of a notebook and seeing the words you've written in your hands. But I like the versatility of typing too; you can move text around a lot easier with a computer program than you can with a pencil and paper. Then again, paper notebooks don't lose their text when your computer crashes, and you don't have to remember to hit Save. XD

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

You're like the MC in Stephen King's The Dark Half... Except he used little nubs of pencils.

Honestly, I could imagine writing that many words, on a daily basis, longhand. I will jot down story ideas in a small journal style book to stash away for later use but that's about it.

 

[Steerpike]

Uh oh. I haven't read The Dark Half, but given that it is by King there is a decent chance things don't go well for the MC.

 

[Devor]

It's easier for me to focus on the computer. But I do my best brainstorming while my mind wanders at random places, so I'll often stop to write down my thoughts, which can sometimes amount to a few paragraphs, usually the "big moment" in a scene. Then I sit down and tinker and add to it until I can make it work.

 

[Anders Ämting]

It varies a bit, actually. Right now I outline by hand, but I take notes and write the actual story in Open Office.

 

[Cheezyb10]

I always type, lol.

 

[Jabrosky]

I wonder why the OP writes longhand first. What are the advantages you find that longhand has over typing?

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

I wonder why the OP writes longhand first. What are the advantages you find that longhand has over typing?

Steerpike stated it was a mental effect.

---- For some reason I really wanted to write Steerpile again. That still makes me laugh.

 

[Jabrosky]

Maybe, but I would have liked to know how his brain works differently when he writes longhand. The reason I ask is that I want to see if it will work for me too.

 

[The Writer's Realms]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I'm going to give longhand a shot on my next story.

 

[Devora]

I've always wrote in simply because i don't know how to write in shorthand. How do you write in shorthand?

 

[Dreeparn]

I always carry a notebook with me for ideas i have when I'm not at home and usually write short scentences as a reminder of the idea but most of my actual writing so far has been on the computer. Which is not really strange considering that I have an horrible handwriting unfortunately.

 

[SineNomine]

I wonder how well this correlates with age. Some people got started writing long before simple, effective, easy to use word processors were common place, but people in their twenties may have been typing for the vast majority of their life and are more likely to feel technology is natural. But I could well be wrong.

I personally can't imagine writing in longhand myself. My hand gets cramped just writing a single page with a pen and paper, but I can type all day with no ill effects.

 

[Penpilot]

I can type faster than I can write, and my writing is like chicken scratches. I find my thoughts flow more smoothly out of a keyboard. If I tried to keep pace with handwriting, what I write down wouldn't be legible. I've written ideas and even scenes down in note books and when I've come back to them, I couldn't read them.

And... ugh... this doesn't have anything to do with age. I didn't use a computer until high school. To date myself, my first computer was a 386 with a 40 meg hard drive and a 4 megs of ram. I learned to type on a electric type writer. I'm old. There I said it. But I do have a comp-sci degree, so working with computers isn't exactly out of my wheelhouse.

 

[Jess A]

My mind works differently when using a pen and keyboard, too. I outline much better with a pen and diagrams. Sometimes I write scenes, sometimes I type them. I have notebooks that I take everywhere with me so I can write or plot or sketch or whatever. Sometimes I prefer to sit on the computer and type, as I type faster than I write (and I write very fast, believe me). It depends on where I am, and my mood. If I'm in a cafe, for instance, I much prefer a pen and paper. That said, I don't carry a lap top around with me either. All through school and university I have used pen and paper.

 

[Graylorne]

Age has nothing to do with it indeed I was born in the days that computers were things used by the Pentagon in that faraway land across the Atlantic (I remember the coming of t.v. in our home). I've used a fountain pen all my life. In 1999 I got my first, secondhand, pc. And now? I'd go out of my mind at the idea of writing my books literally.

I do make notes, though. Lots of them, with a .5 pencil. But only short ones, for longer notes I use my pc.

 

[Chilari]

I type. I can't handwrite fast enough to keep up with my brain. I can type much faster. I've been typing stories ever since sixth form (so, aged 16), when I could get away with using one of the computers in the sixth form common room for something other than schoolwork if I was writing - they were always in demand and you'd get kicked off if you were playing games when others wanted to do work, and then what could I do? I wasn't exactly social and if it was cold or rainy outside the common room was crammed and I'd struggle to get a chair anywhere. So I wrote stories on computer rather than try and find a clean desk (because the tables were used for eating lunch on) where I could use pen and paper.

It wasn't long after that that I started typing faster than I could handwrite.

Now I can't get the words flowing properly, or my thoughts in order properly, if I'm writing by hand. I can't keep up, I skip words in my attempts to do so, and I forget things before I'm done writing down the idea before it. Okay, I still do that one sometimes when typing, but not so frequently.

In fact it's got to the point where, if I'm out, I find it easier to remember a particular scene if I phantom-type - shut my eyes, use a hard surface, and type the words in my head - than if I make notes in my notebook. I get the structure of the scene right, the individual phrases, without forgetting things as I go along, whereas notes just don't seem as efficient. I still make notes after I've phantom typed, but generally don't need them. The act of phantom typing the scene helps me to get it down right, and then when I get home I can type it properly and generally don't struggle much to remember exactly what I phantom-typed.

So in that way I do think differently when typing compared to handwriting. My thoughts are more structured, less abstract - more like a mechanical process than drawing a squiggly line.

 

[advait98]

i'm a teenager and I find writing longhand on a notebook relaxing and much ... better. I find words easy to come on a piece of paper rather than a computer. So yeah, definite age is no factor.

 

[Butterfly]

I use a bit of both, longhand and typing, as well as printouts that I scribble all over.

The printouts mean I can see mistakes a lot easier than I do on a screen. I find it helps with editing and proof reading if you change the media you are used to.