The Techie and the Fountain Pen

[griffinwords]

I love my computers, and my fancy "cloud computing" magic. I love Scrivener, especially. Love my iPad too.

But I'm trying something different. First drafts created with a fountain pen, longhand, on good paper. This is how I used to always do it, up until a year or so ago. It's just so fast and convenient to draft right in Scrivener. But maybe fast and convenient aren't best, at least not right now.

Scribbled handwriting, and ink on my fingertips. The words feel different this way.

Comments

[obadiah.livejournal.com]

Interesting experiment. Let me know how it works out for you.

(And if you need me to send you a hammer and chisel, let me know that too.) ;-)

Seriously, I know more than one writer who still do first drafts longhand.

[griffinwords.livejournal.com]

This is something I used to do all the time, in fact several of the stories I'm just now finishing up were started longhand.

I'm a very fast typist so it's very tempting to do first drafts at the computer, but I'm trying some different approaches to voice and thus writing more slowly anyway.

I envy writers who can dictate into a little voice recorder and have somebody else type it all up... then make revisions by hand, and somebody else types those in, too.

[cathica.livejournal.com]

I do this, too--first draft, longhand, fountain pen. The words do, indeed, feel different. And when I get stuck, I write with my left hand. No idea why that works, but it usually jolts me back into action. Inky fingers are wonderful--the original temporary tattoos.

[griffinwords.livejournal.com]

It really is a matter of "feel" as much as anything else. I'm back in love with the fountain pen.

Thanks for the comment, Cathica.