The Lost Art of Writing – How do you create?

I am incredibly thankful for the time period in which I was born. Writing and publishing books has never been more accessible than it is today. It’s exciting. It’s terrifying. But I also find myself thinking about the lost art of writing–the writing arts from the past.

It’s something dear to my heart and dear to my writing process. And–as usual–those thoughts tumbled out on paper (or, actually, on screen) for you all to read and wade through as you will. This blog post started out at 4,000 words and I managed to cut it in half because I care about your sanity. So I hope you don’t mind if we just jump right in:

WHAT ARE SOME DIFFERENT WAYS YOU CAN WRITE A BOOK?

By hand

My current book about the Gunpowder Plot is a historical fantasy. And writing a story about 17th century London with a foggy city and old wood houses and horses and carriages and midnight duels…just didn’t seem right on the computer.

So I wrote it by hand.

I bought a notebook and just….wrote. And it went fabulously. I found myself writing slower, but the words came out better. Cleaner. More thought through. I loved the feel of being able to jot notes in the margins or throwing my notebook into my purse and working on it anywhere. I ended up writing 30,000 words in a month…by hand. Which is really good for me.  I never even get that much on a computer in a month.

Love this quote by Jenny from jennybravobooks.com

There’s something connective about writing on paper. It brings you back to a time when writing was more organic, where you didn’t have instant access to research, where all that mattered was your brain and what you could do with it. You can write a great book in any way. But this way? It joins you to some of the great writers of the past. And that’s pretty powerful. http://jennybravobooks.com/blog/write-on-paper

By typewriter

Another way you can write is by typewriter. I know that sounds super old-fashioned, but it’s actually really fun. My husband bought me a typewriter for Valentine’s Day a few years back and it came in a travel case and everything. It’s super heavy and still works.

I wanted to write a book using a typewriter so I went all in. I bought new ink ribbon spools and some cleaning supplies. I even carried the typewriter onto a cruise ship with me during vacation!

By dictation

Thomas Locke writes some of his books by dictation. He goes hiking and writes a book while walking through the woods. Then he has a secretary-of-sorts go write it up for him.

On computer/iPad/phone

I have to include this one. You can use a word document, Evernote, Scrivener, etc.

HOW DID SOME OF THE GREATS DO IT?

C. S. Lewis — a mixture, with tea and walks and a pipe.

C. S. Lewis detested typewriters so he wrote by hand. Here’s what he said to an American schoolgirl when he was responding to her letter for writing advice:

“Don’t use a typewriter. The noise will destroy your sense of rhythm.”

Lewis would write all of his books by hand and then his brother—Warren—would type them up. Then C. S. Lewis would destroy his original manuscripts since he had no place to store them. They used his drafts to start their fires.

C. S. Lewis also used a dip pen—not a fountain pen. He liked to dip the pen every 4-5 words and he would whisper his next 4-5 words aloud before writing them, to make sure they flowed. He believed it was important to make sure the words sounded right to the ear first. (sources: the book Jack’s Life and www.desiringgod.org)

J. R. R. Tolkien – by typewriter

Tolkien had rheumatism and it hurt his hands to write by hand, so he wrote mostly by typewriter. His favorite place to write was on his bed in an attic, with his typewriter on his lap.

Agatha Christie – a mixture of all

Alternated between writing by hand and using a typewriter. But when she broke her wrist, she dictated to a recording device. (source)

J. K. Rowling – airplane sick sacks. 😉 

She wrote the first Harry Potter book on a typewriter. In an interview with Amazon after the release of her third book, she said she preferred writing by hand and that she wrote the first drafts (of books 2 & 3) by hand, then typed them up.

But she is known for scribbling on all sorts of things. She started Harry Potter on notepads (not napkins) in a cafe, she came up with the Hogwarts house names on the back of an airplane sick sack.

“The best place to write, in my opinion, is in a café. You don’t have to make your own coffee, you don’t have to feel like you’re in solitary confinement and if you have writers block, you can get up and walk to the next café while giving your batteries time to recharge and brain time to think. The best writing café is crowded enough to where you blend in, but not too crowded that you have to share a table with someone else.” – J K Rowling (source)

WHY IS EXPLORING THE ART OF WRITING IMPORTANT?

1) It sparks your creativity – These reasons aren’t going to be completely applicable to everyone, but for me…when I sit down to write by hand or sit at a typewriter…I enter a completely different writing zone. It’s like catnip for writers.

2) It can dictate or change your attitude toward your book. The very posture of how you write can define your attitude toward your story. When you write on a computer, you’re usually sitting and staring straight at a screen. So if you’re one of those authors who pictures your story like a movie and movie scenes while writing, maybe writing on a computer is for you. But when you read a book, you usually read in a relaxed position. When you write by hand, you are looking down…just like how you might spread out a map or work on a drawing.

Posture and viewpoint is important. Experiment with it.

3) Better than a screen – A computer screen is draining. That’s why your iPhone has the “night shift” function–to protect your eyes and calm your brain. There are special computer glasses because of all the proof that it strains your eyes. If you’re expelling so much energy trying to create a world, wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry about exhausting your eyes as well?

4) Pretty notebooks! If you choose to write by hand, you finally get to use all those notebooks and journals that your friends give you as gifts!

5) Prevents self-Editing. When you’re writing by hand, you can’t edit like you do on computer. You can scratch things out and write in the margins. You can highlight and write little notes, but you can’t really edit. Now…there’s nothing wrong with self-editing. But sometimes you need to plunge forward and realize the first draft is going to be rougher than a blunt chainsaw.

“I bought a fountain pen … and a big notebook and wrote it by hand to find out how writing by hand changed my head.  And it did, it really did. I was sparser, I would think my way through a sentence further, I would write less, in a good way. And when I typed it up, it became a very real second draft.” – Neil Gaiman

6) Less distraction/Deeper focus. Although I write slower by hand, I write more because I don’t get distracted by social media or e-mails. You can have deeper focus because you’re not distracted. Writing in a different form–by hand, by typewriter, etc–can free you from the draw of your phone or browser because it’s not right there in front of you.

7) Portability! Another thing I love about these different writing forms is that they’re often portable. Especially if you’re writing by hand or dictation. If writing in a notebook, you don’t have to worry about battery life or sun glare or a flat surface or it overheating. Just make sure you bring an extra ink cartridge and you’re good.

HOW TO FIND WHICH ONE WORKS FOR YOU

Try different ones. It’s as simple as that. Explore the different art forms of writing. You don’t have to commit an entire book to it, but try a few chapters with each style.

Take notes on what inspires you. Are you inspired by candlelight? Instagram photos of mugs and stacks of paper? Handwriting? A laptop out on a porch swing? All of the above? Take note of which one gets you the most excited to write. Then go try it.

Perhaps the way you like to read is a sign on how you might like to write. Not always, but it’s a good place to start. If you like paperback books, try writing by hand or typewriter. If you like ebooks, go to the computer. If you like audiobook try dictation.

Writing is about more than words on a page. It’s about being explorers and adventurers in both your mind and your life. (Tweet this)

TAKE NOTE:

This is not going to be time efficient. But it will be efficient for creative growth. Computers are more efficient and great for our fast-paced cultures. But it all comes down to what you value. Is it how fast you can write? Do you write for the word count? Do you write for the story? Do you write for the journey of writing?

There will be a learning curve. When I wrote on typewriter I learned very quickly that I wasn’t pressing the keys down hard enough. I made a lot of mistakes, but I almost had fun making mistakes because I was blazing a new trail in my writing adventure. Or, when I wrote by hand, I learned that certain pens cause hand cramps. So then I switched to a fountain pen, thus sparing my poor hand.

This may not be for everyone. There is nothing wrong with writing on the computer. I still do it a lot. But there is an entire world of writing just waiting for you to explore it. It’s going to teach you things. It’s going to stimulate your thinking and your writing style and how you brainstorm. It will grow you.

What may work for one book may not work for another. I wrote the Out of Time Series on computer. Because it’s a story filled with electronics and it’s fast paced and…well…and I was on deadline. I wrote my most recent novel–my historical fantasy–by hand. Because that worked for it. So far, I like by hand best and I plan to continue with it, but maybe I won’t like it. And that’s okay.

The writing form should never trump inspiration. I started my current WIP on computer, to get the first three chapters cranked out for pitching a new proposal. Then, after the proposal was sent, I wrote the meat of it by hand because it made the most sense to me and for the story. And the words CAME. Then at the 50k mark, I hit a block. Everything I wrote was terrible and uninspired. So then I bit the bullet and jumped back to on the computer… The words CAME then.

Don’t let the avenue of writing control you. Let it inspire you until that inspiration runs out. Then find the next thing.

THE GOAL: WRITE & BE INSPIRED

The overall goal of all of this is to find the way that you write best—deepest—and to build your toolbox of inspiration. To be an author, means to be an adventurer. The more you experience and explore, the more you have to write about.

Anyone can tell a story.

But only the devoted and passionate can tell it well. (Tweet this)

How do you write/create?

What inspires you?