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?

 



 
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About Nadine Brandes

NADINE BRANDES once spent four days as a sea cook in the name of book research. She is the author of the award-winning ROMANOV, FAWKES, and the Out of Time Series. Her inner fangirl perks up at the mention of soul-talk, Quidditch, bookstagram, and Oreos. When she's not busy writing novels about bold living, she's adventuring through Middle Earth or taste-testing a new chai. She and her Auror husband are building a Tiny House on wheels with their Halfling children. Current mission: paint the world in shalom.
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19 Comments

  1. So many good thoughts! I’m a steadfast computer user now, but I used to write by hand in my teens and there is something special about it. I think thinking about forming the letters with your hand probably taps into some creative part of your brain. I might have to hand write some pages for my current project, just to see what creative juices it stimulates. (Also, thanks for the history lesson. I love learning how other writers work.)

    • Yes! Writing by hand always stirs my imagination in a different way. I usually try to plot by hand because that’s not quite as intensive and I can still enjoy the “by hand” scribbles and notes.

  2. I’m a zero-drafter, so I ALWAYS write the zero draft by hand. Then I type up the zero draft (just for easier access), and either hand-write or type up the first draft, too. But at the time of the second draft, I always switch to a computer. However, it’s usually the pen-and-paper method that REALLY gets me excited to write. When I don’t have a zero or first draft that I’m working on, I tend to come up with random things to write just so I can watch ink glide across the paper – it always wakes my muse up xD.

  3. hands down (ahem) computer-writer. the tactile experience is part of my story telling, even though I have RA – it’s my personal PT! funny thing though, when i have letters or poems to write for my story, i have to write them by hand.

    • That’s so interesting that you write the letters and poems by hand. But I also love that the tactile experience is such a rooted part of your storytelling. The key is to stir the inspiration and to learn your writing style. Love this!

  4. I love writing by hand! It feels so low-presure, plus you get to doodle.

    It also gives me incentive to actually start typing in a (scary) fresh new Word Document because I don’t have to wonder what I’ll write, I can just start typing in my notes. Then the ideas get flowing and it’s easier to get into a writing rhythm.

  5. I prefer writing by hand too. Generally the words spill out of me and I write much faster than I type. It’s barely legible chicken-scratch but that’s okay. And as you mentioned, it keeps me from editing and I have the freedom to scribble out words, and I often draw arrows moving lines and paragraphs up or down the page. I love pretty stenographer notebooks (I like the spines on top so they don’t hit my hand since I generally write front and back. Plus I love the lack of margins on stenographer notebooks and the smaller, thicker size.)

    If I’m having a hard time getting started, I reread the past few pages. If that still doesn’t work then I may start typing up what I’ve written just to get me going. But since I’m incorporating all my notes and arrows and scribbles, i usually do a light edit as I type it up.

    I recently decided to try speech-to-text while typing up what I had handwritten. I think it went a little faster than typing but then I had to go back over everything with a fine-tooth comb to make sure nothing got warped. So I haven’t decided if that was a plus or a negative in the editing department. 😉

  6. Polaris Northstar

    This was SO great! I LOVE all the forms you mentioned for different reasons, but I tend to write by hand and on the computer the most (predominantly by hand;).

  7. awesome post, nadine! i’m considering trying handwriting some now, especially since long hours at the laptop screen hurts my eyes……

  8. Loved this the last time you talked about it, and still do. 🙂

    I find that, like you said, different methods of writing work better for me depending on what it is I’m working on. For developing my speeches for public speaking class, I do best talking it through into a recorder first, then writing the outline on a computer (so I can get all the indentations right). For writing stuff that’s more emotional or that I really need to think through, by hand all the way.

    Also I have just gotten a new device called the reMarkable tablet, which is an e-ink writing tablet (like a Kindle for writing). It’s from a startup company, and the basic idea behind it was to create a digital device that was as close to paper and pen as possible. It’s super cool. The screen has a bit of texture to it, and the stylus has a felt-covered tip, so the friction is there. And the e-ink means it really seems like paper. They solved the lag problem of e-ink, too. So I kind of love it. 🙂

    • That’s a very interesting device! I’ve been looking into digital notebooks like the Livescribe 3 Smartpen, the Wacom Bamboo Folio Smartpad Digital Notebook, and the Moleskin Smart Writing set. Now I’ve got another one to think about. 🙂

      • That’s cool! Yeah, the Remarkable is super expensive right now (I was in the first batch of preorders so I got it waaaay lower than what it is currently), sadly. Have you read about the Rocketbook Everlast yet? It also looks super neat! You can reuse it by erasing the pages with a damp paper towel and they have a nifty system for saving/sharing notes in various locations. My phone camera is broken, otherwise I would’ve gotten one of those. 🙂

        • I haven’t heard of that one though it sounds similar to the Rocketbook Wave (that one you microwave with a cup of water to erase the pages). But the imprint from the writing gradually builds on the page which sounds very distracting. But they’re not very expensive so could be fun to try.

  9. Alright, I’m convinced–I need to give writing by hand another try! I wrote my one and a half novels that way, and then I bought a laptop and never looked back. I like how fast I can write at a keyboard, but now I’m reconsidering the quiet thoughtfulness of scrawling a pen across paper. (That’s also a great reason to start using some of my empty notebooks, haha!) Great post, Nadine!

  10. Oh my goodness! I love everything about this post!! I am actually quite a bit like C.S. Lewis, I speak my writing before I write it, and I have a sister who types up all my finished first drafts for me.

    How I write all depends on the story. Some books lend themselves to being hand-written, and some (especially NaNoWriMo ones) are better done on the computer. It all depends on the project.

    I love switching it up (I’m doing a first draft in a notebook right now, and I’m doing a computer one next month for NaNoWriMo); for me, having a change of pace and taking each book individually does wonders for preventing burnout and keeping inspiration flowing.

    Thanks for the post!

  11. I love writing by hand! I’ve written 5 novels of varying lengths by hand. I agree that it makes me think words/sentences through first. And margins are so nifty to scribble things in. And I can’t edit! At least until I type the second draft up into the computer (usually hating myself for writing by hand in the first place. lol!)

  12. I love this post! I love the organic and artistic quality of pen/pencil and paper and the mental exercise it gives you. And it’s almost impossible to write typos that way. Everything you said is so true! One of my favorite modern day artists is Jake Weidmann, the youngest living Master Penman. He’s got an excellent Ted Talk on Youtube about the benefits of handwriting.

I love hearing from you!