Longhand or Typewritten?

drumairoxtinez · May 27, 2004

At the moment, I'm writing book two of a four- or five-part collection titled 'A History of Mendoh' (the 'd' is silent, like the French word), and I'm writng it longhand. The other day I reached the 400-page, 125,000-word mark. Whoo-hoo!

Anyway, half of my books are written longhand, half of them typewritten. I feel that, when I type, my thoughts flow very rapidly from my brain to my fingertips, but the quality of my writing is not as good, because I don't have to necessarily think about: I have a thought, and boom, it's typed up on the screen. But when I write longhand, I find that my thoughts are more clear and concise, my point is easier to get across, and my whole story is more vivid, detailed and fleshed out. So, my question is . . . which do you prefer: longhand or typewritten?

- Daniel Martinez,
Novelist

Bizzlebin Imperatoris · May 27, 2004

Write longhand, type later.

Vulgivagus hagiographus · May 28, 2004

Typed, because I can't read my handwriting.

Blessed-one · May 28, 2004

write out on paper, then type it up. Sometimes i like to do the editing on paper as well.. i think with the paper thing, you actually get to see the whole piece more clearly. Whereas when it's typed, you tend to miss things.

quality for me isn't much of a problem, typed or written by hand, but with typing, good quality writing takes more time. yeah.. it seems that i need longer time to think on the computer.

drumairoxtinez · May 28, 2004

"Write longhand, type later."

That's usually what I do - but I've been asking a lot of people this question, and I get a lot of varied responses: some people say they write poetry and short stories by hand, but they write longer works on the computer. How about you?

"Typed, because I can't read my handwriting."

Technically, then I suppose it wouldn't matter what you were writing (grin). But anyway, my fiance likes to joke that if she ever had to transcribe any one of my hand-written manuscripts, she'd go blind first. I write too small, and when I write large, it's nothing more than a scribble. Actually, it's nothing much more than a scribble to anyone but me until it gets typed up, because I write so fast.

"write out on paper, then type it up. Sometimes i like to do the editing on paper as well.. i think with the paper thing, you actually get to see the whole piece more clearly. Whereas when it's typed, you tend to miss things."

It's interesting - when I do everything on a computer - write and edit and print and everything - I tend to lose a lot of my book; I can't think straight, staring at the screen; it's just so much easier (and usually quieter) when I write by hand . . . and then type it up later. I agree with your opinion on how we see the piece more concretely: the other day I look at 'A History of Medoh,' and it's nearly two inches thick! Dean Koontz says that you should always edit hard copy and not on a computer, because you *do* miss certain things.

"quality for me isn't much of a problem, typed or written by hand, but with typing, good quality writing takes more time. yeah.. it seems that i need longer time to think on the computer."

I agree with this, too - thoughts pour out when typing, because many people can type relatively the same speed as they think, and I'm no exception; but when you write by hand, you have to savor the words, almost, as each letter is individually placed on the page.

- Daniel Martinez,
Novelist

PS: Oh, hey, I put a link up to my web site in one of the forums - the links forum, go figure (lol); anyway, you can check it out; more information about my newest novel, How God Was Created, will be there.

oncewaslost · May 31, 2004

i do both since i write everywhere i go. write on little scraps of paper, napkins, the back of lecture notes, etc. it's funny reading through my notes because i have about 20-25 pages of long-hand stuff and then there's a dead space where nothing's written and i go back to look at my work i've typed and there's the gap of 50 pages, back to my notes and it's another 15 pages of longhand before there's nothing but what i've typed. it's funny.

katelyn · Jun 1, 2004

I usually type unless I feel like a change of pace. My handwriting gets too sloppy if I write for very long. But printing out for the editing stage is a must! I catch so many more things by reading it on a sheet of paper.

Buskanaka · Jun 2, 2004

I usually type everything, unless I don't have access to the computer. I don't usually have the time or motivation to write something on paper and then type it up all over again. I also like the fact that it's so much easier to change stuff as you go, when I write on paper I usually end up with half the page crossed out.

Save the Trees people!!!!

Blessed-one · Jun 2, 2004

drumairoxtinez said:
"Typed, because I can't read my handwriting."

LOL!! though it doesn't happen to me all the time, when it happens, it's way annoying. You've to try to figure out what exactly it is that you're trying to say.. and if you couldn't make sense of it, need to squeeze your brain for another idea or word!

oh, but i think it's quite definite that other people would find it hard to read my handwriting..

oncewaslost · Jun 6, 2004

i like typing. my handwriting can't keep up with the speed of my brain but my typing can so it's just better if i type... most of the time at least.

~SHINE~ · Jun 6, 2004

I get fed up writing longhand because I can't write as fast as I think, and then I forget what I was going to say. Typing works much better for me.

GallowSong · Jun 8, 2004

My thoughts move more coherently when I type, I think very quickly and I type very quickly so that has a greater synergy than with my extremely slow writing skills. My family also has a terrible history of arthritis and my hand hurts like crazy if I handwrite for too long (but doesnt when I type which is odd because people tell me that should be worse).
~Gallows

wgjones3 · Jun 15, 2004

To me, the medium doesn't matter. I usually type because I have access to a computer, but when I don't, I take a legal pad and a pen. I can't say I notice any difference between the two.

oncewaslost · Jun 16, 2004

same here. if there's no access to my computer (it has to be mine, i don't like leaving my writing around) i write on whatever paper i can find.

pegatha · Jun 17, 2004

I work on the computer. It doesn't matter if it comes out just right or not, because I heavily edit my work anyway. And editing is definitely easier on the computer. The only thing is, if it's something really important, then I print it out for my final proofreading. Reading from the screen is harder on the eyes than reading from paper, and there are studies that show it's much harder to catch mistakes on the screen than on paper. Which is certainly true in my case.

The Duke · Jun 18, 2004

I enjoy relaxing on my couch or bed and just writing stuff down in a notebook, but I'm more efficient on the computer. Sometimes, if I don't write stuff down fast enough, it just leaves my head, and I have a hard time retrieving it. I've had some ideas before that I really like, but because I couldn't write it down fast enough, I only remembered that they were good ideas but not what they actually were.

Longhand or Typewritten?

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