Why Writing is Better in Longhand

One of my favorite topics: the benefits of writing in longhand.
I write in spiral notebooks. They must be college-ruled, however. Not only do I love the tactile sense of the pen making letters on the page, I love being able to scribble notes and reminders and questions in the margins. An added bonus: you get an extra edit when you keyboard what you’ve written. When you have to type something, you find it much easier to ask, “Do I really need this?”
Hardest thing has been writing instruments. I hate throwing away whole pens or even refills when the ink is gone. I used to use Schaeffer cartridge pens, but the cartridges got hard to find, and I still had to throw them away. Now I’m using a refillable fountain pen, and really liking it. (You can get a “fine point” by turning a medium nib upside down.)
And writing more slowly gives ideas time to begin to build ahead of me as I write, so that when I get there, they’re just waiting to spill onto the page!
Anyone else write this way?

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2 Comments

Filed under writing novels

2 responses to “Why Writing is Better in Longhand

  1. Gavin Zanker

    I agree that the extra edit when you copy over the work is a nice extra – it’s a painless way to sneak in another quality pass on your writing. Thanks for reblogging, glad you liked the article.

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