IWSG - Insecure Writer's Support Group for 6th may 2015

Anna Nordeman


IWSG - Insecure Writer's Support Group for 6th May 2015

This is my twenty-third post for IWSG. 

Looking for my A-to-Z-REFELCTIONS-post? Click here.

 

Writing by hand, longhand, handwriting

I don't know where March and April have gone. I did the A to Z, but I may never do it again, as I have a hard time committing to blogging every single day. I think I only have time for the IWSG once a month, as I think I may have found a part time job. So what am I going to write about for IWSG for the beautiful month of May? Handwriting. 

For several months now I have been trying to go back to writing by hand on paper. I used to write in longhand every single day. But so far, I have not succeeded very well. 

The idea of this post was to be the importance of writing notes by hand and not just dashing things down at the keyboard. But I have spent so much time doing other things, such as helping my daughter and making repairs at home, that I have not written much at all, neither at the keyboard or by hand in a notebook. My mind is full of ideas and first sentences, that have not been recorded in any way or form. This makes me feel  frustrated and worried. I may have let many good ideas and observations just slip away forever.

 

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Of course, being historically-minded, I often think about the development of documentation,

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that is, how people have been able to write down their thoughts with pencil, quill and ink ink, ballpoint pen, typewriter and now a full array of electronic devices.

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I first thought of posting about handwriting when reading K.M. Weiland's book, Outlining your novel, and found the keywords 'longhand, writing' in her index. 


In no other how-to-write manual have I found handwriting as a topic for discussion in any book for writer-hopefuls. It is as if the younger generation seems to have forgotten how to write in longhand. But there is was, a chapter about the good qualities and usefulness of using a pencil on paper for recording thoughts.

For more information

K.M. Weiland's arguments (see page 38) for writing longhand in the beginning of the outlining process are that writing longhand:

¤ Discourages the tendency to censor or edit.
¤ Brings writing down to a primal level.
¤ Provides a change of pace.
¤ Frees imagination by allowing sloppiness.
¤ Frees us from distractions.
¤ Allows a critical editing during transcription.
¤ Gives us an instant hard copy.

I think I'll break out my pens and pencils and start writing on paper again!


Best wishes,

Anna

First Commenter:

XXX