Write Every Day, September Day #22
Sep. 22nd, 2018 10:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auroracloudBecause I did a bit of freewriting by longhand today and ended up going on a tangent about writing in longhand, I thought I'd start off the post with it. If you want to get to your actual Write Every Day stuff, just skip further down this post.
Although I mostly write my fiction on the computer as it's way faster and easier, I often find longhand writing better for brainstorming and getting deeper into my ideas or digging up new things I didn't know were there until I write them on the paper. It's like the movement of the hand connects me more intimately to my creative flow, if that makes sense. I also find the movement of the pen on paper soothing, as I do watching the letters form on the page.
Aside: I'm nerdy enough that even though I was taught a much easier way to handwrite at school than the previous generation, I willingly learned the more old-fashioned cursive with a whole lot more loops and such, because I thought it looked prettier. Eh, some people used their teenage years to go partying, get drunk a lot and have girlfriends/boyfriends. My hobbies were better.
Typing does has the advantage of being much faster (and I do type fast), so it's easier to follow what my ideas actually were - and also, it's much easier to make sense of my typing than my handwriting. Every now and then, when I've ended up writing a story longhand and type it up, I have to rewrite a bit because I simply can't read what I originally wrote. (A good thing about this: I can write on trains or buses without much worry that someone will spy on me - a stranger unaccustomed to my handwriting, looking at it over my shoulder or upside down is unlikely to make out much!)
But I still sometimes would like to try writing a whole novel manuscript or at least a long story longhand, in a notebook. I'd have to find a pen that I feel comfortable using for long stretches of writing, though, and I haven't found one - that is, one that isn't water-soluble. I often drink tea when I write, so it would be a bad idea if spilled tea could destroy my manuscript. Ball-point pens tire my hand for long stretches because they don't slide that well on pages, though I use them for my diary, poetry, various notes etc. that aren't quite as long in writing as short stories and novels.
Many of the other water resistant pens I've tried are shaped so that they hurt my hand. It seems I grip my pen closer than pen manufacturers expect me to. I love Stabilo point 88 fineliners for all my brainstorming/freewriting and such things. They're also lovely for my morning pages when I do them (three pages of handwritten freewriting / purge of anything on your mind, the first thing in the morning, courtesy of Julia Cameron). Those pens also come in such a lovely array of colours! I like colours. Though I'm always at a loss for what to do with the too-light ones that aren't good for writing with. I should probably do colouring. Anyway, if I could find a non-water-soluble version of exactly that, I'd definitely give a try to writing a novel by longhand. Maybe it would also curb my rambling tendencies...
I shouldn't going to complain too much about materials. I've seen pages from Jane Austen's original manuscripts in her house museum. Listen, folks, when she had to do edits, she'd do them on separate bits of paper and pin them on the original sheet of paper. Whereas we, in 2018, we can not only cut and paste and delete and insert, but also save multiple copies of the file and upload it on a cloud to keep it safe, and/or have software like Scrivener to take snapshots when we feel unsure about committing to an edit yet and want to keep the original around.
Anything you folks want to say about writing tools or longhand writing?
Today's Writing
Yesterday's surprise fic and its amazing writing flow continued! In the early afternoon I was like "hmm, let's look at it for a little while" and then some 2,500 words later I go "oh, I think I need some fresh air and food". I may be close-ish to finishing the first draft, depending on how detailed the characters want me to be about the remaining stuff. Though there's definitely lots of stuff to be done on edits, as always. But damn, it's satisfying to have writing flow like this.
In the evening I also did a bit of freewriting/brainstorming longhand for my original stuff, trying to figure out what I want to do next, because I'd love for my original writing to start flowing like that again as well. I looked at the scene I wrote last weekend and brainstormed on where I'd like to go from that. It was very effective in that now I've got three separate story ideas in different genres and no idea which one I'm going to pick first!
So, with today's writing, September just became my best word count month of this year so far, and there's still a week of it remaining. At least something's working out this month, then!
How about you all?
Tally
Day 1:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)
Day 2:alexseanchai, brightandravenous, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan,shopfront, sylvanwitch, talkingtothesky, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (11 so far)
Day 3:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, rosefox, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (10 so far)
Day 4:alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, rosefox, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (12 so far)
Day 5:alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (11 so far)
Day 6:alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)
Day 7:alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (10 so far)
Day 8:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)
Day 9:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)
Day 10:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)
Day 11:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (6 so far)
Day 12:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, talkingtothesky, tinx_r,trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)
Day 13:alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)
Day 14:alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)
Day 15:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)
Day 16:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (7 so far)
Day 17:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (6 so far)
Day 18:carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (7 so far)
Day 19:bic_hok, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (9 so far)
Day 20:bic_hok, carenejeans, cornerofmadness,sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (8 so far)
Day 21:bic_hok, carenejeans, cornerofmadness,sylvanwitch, trobadora, and me. (6 so far)
Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet! And you can join in any time.
Although I mostly write my fiction on the computer as it's way faster and easier, I often find longhand writing better for brainstorming and getting deeper into my ideas or digging up new things I didn't know were there until I write them on the paper. It's like the movement of the hand connects me more intimately to my creative flow, if that makes sense. I also find the movement of the pen on paper soothing, as I do watching the letters form on the page.
Aside: I'm nerdy enough that even though I was taught a much easier way to handwrite at school than the previous generation, I willingly learned the more old-fashioned cursive with a whole lot more loops and such, because I thought it looked prettier. Eh, some people used their teenage years to go partying, get drunk a lot and have girlfriends/boyfriends. My hobbies were better.
Typing does has the advantage of being much faster (and I do type fast), so it's easier to follow what my ideas actually were - and also, it's much easier to make sense of my typing than my handwriting. Every now and then, when I've ended up writing a story longhand and type it up, I have to rewrite a bit because I simply can't read what I originally wrote. (A good thing about this: I can write on trains or buses without much worry that someone will spy on me - a stranger unaccustomed to my handwriting, looking at it over my shoulder or upside down is unlikely to make out much!)
But I still sometimes would like to try writing a whole novel manuscript or at least a long story longhand, in a notebook. I'd have to find a pen that I feel comfortable using for long stretches of writing, though, and I haven't found one - that is, one that isn't water-soluble. I often drink tea when I write, so it would be a bad idea if spilled tea could destroy my manuscript. Ball-point pens tire my hand for long stretches because they don't slide that well on pages, though I use them for my diary, poetry, various notes etc. that aren't quite as long in writing as short stories and novels.
Many of the other water resistant pens I've tried are shaped so that they hurt my hand. It seems I grip my pen closer than pen manufacturers expect me to. I love Stabilo point 88 fineliners for all my brainstorming/freewriting and such things. They're also lovely for my morning pages when I do them (three pages of handwritten freewriting / purge of anything on your mind, the first thing in the morning, courtesy of Julia Cameron). Those pens also come in such a lovely array of colours! I like colours. Though I'm always at a loss for what to do with the too-light ones that aren't good for writing with. I should probably do colouring. Anyway, if I could find a non-water-soluble version of exactly that, I'd definitely give a try to writing a novel by longhand. Maybe it would also curb my rambling tendencies...
I shouldn't going to complain too much about materials. I've seen pages from Jane Austen's original manuscripts in her house museum. Listen, folks, when she had to do edits, she'd do them on separate bits of paper and pin them on the original sheet of paper. Whereas we, in 2018, we can not only cut and paste and delete and insert, but also save multiple copies of the file and upload it on a cloud to keep it safe, and/or have software like Scrivener to take snapshots when we feel unsure about committing to an edit yet and want to keep the original around.
Anything you folks want to say about writing tools or longhand writing?
Today's Writing
Yesterday's surprise fic and its amazing writing flow continued! In the early afternoon I was like "hmm, let's look at it for a little while" and then some 2,500 words later I go "oh, I think I need some fresh air and food". I may be close-ish to finishing the first draft, depending on how detailed the characters want me to be about the remaining stuff. Though there's definitely lots of stuff to be done on edits, as always. But damn, it's satisfying to have writing flow like this.
In the evening I also did a bit of freewriting/brainstorming longhand for my original stuff, trying to figure out what I want to do next, because I'd love for my original writing to start flowing like that again as well. I looked at the scene I wrote last weekend and brainstormed on where I'd like to go from that. It was very effective in that now I've got three separate story ideas in different genres and no idea which one I'm going to pick first!
So, with today's writing, September just became my best word count month of this year so far, and there's still a week of it remaining. At least something's working out this month, then!
How about you all?
Tally
Day 1:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)Day 2:
alexseanchai, brightandravenous, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan,shopfront, sylvanwitch, talkingtothesky, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (11 so far)Day 3:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, rosefox, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (10 so far)Day 4:
alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, rosefox, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (12 so far)Day 5:
alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (11 so far)Day 6:
alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)Day 7:
alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (10 so far)Day 8:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, justmcshane, navaan, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (9 so far)Day 9:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)Day 10:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, navaan, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)Day 11:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (6 so far)Day 12:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, talkingtothesky, tinx_r,trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)Day 13:
alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)Day 14:
alexseanchai, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)Day 15:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme, and me. (8 so far)Day 16:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (7 so far)Day 17:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (6 so far)Day 18:
carenejeans, cornerofmadness, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (7 so far)Day 19:
bic_hok, carenejeans, cornerofmadness, shopfront, sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (9 so far)Day 20:
bic_hok, carenejeans, cornerofmadness,sylvanwitch, tinx_r, trobadora, ysilme; and me. (8 so far)Day 21:
bic_hok, carenejeans, cornerofmadness,sylvanwitch, trobadora, and me. (6 so far)Let me know if I missed you, or if you wrote but didn't check in yet! And you can join in any time.
no subject
Date: 2018-09-24 08:01 pm (UTC)I suppose what makes handwriting easier for me is that I do very little editing and changing in the first draft phase - I just toss everything on the page, and rarely look back, because if I do, the "oh no my writing is dreadful" devil will wake up in my head. Sometimes I'll realize I'll need to insert something or change the order of the scenes, but so far I've done okay by just adding little notes about what goes were. No idea how it would work out in something as long as a novel, though - guess I'll have to try and see. :-) But I do all the editing only when the first draft is done, because that's the way it works best for me. That's why I think writing first drafts by hand could work for me. And it might reduce my rambling, making there be less superfluous stuff to cut out. :-)