Why I Write in Long Hand

We live in the age of word processors. WYSIWYG systems like Word allow you to literally see what the page will look like with your writing on it, a feature that knocks the typewriter out of the race for good. Long past are those nights by the burning candle’s light, scribbling with ink your ideas… or are they?

I still write all my outlines and first drafts in notebooks, using an exact combination of yellow legal pads and thick spiral bound notebooks for final versions. Why, oh why, do I writer in long hand when I have two perfectly (well not perfectly, but you know what I mean) functioning computers in my house? I guess I’m just crazy like that.

Actually, many writers I know write with pen and paper at least some times. So it’s not completely unheard of. And I really do have three perfectly logical reasons for my inky habit.

1. Writing on legal pads is practical for me, because it detaches the action of writing with the computer. Therefore, I can write wherever I am. Since I spend more than a few hours away from home per week, that’s a lot more writing I can do.
2. Being away from the computer also means no distractions of Youtube, Twitter, online games, and the like. I find my time with my notebooks is always more productive.
3. Writing with pen and paper seems better for my creativity, because it’s a simply process and it relieves all the pressure I feel when I sit down to write on the computer.

So, as technology advances, we may all just be talking into a little microphone, watching the computer compose for us. We may one day be able to just think something, and a book is instantly produced. The possibilities are endless. But for now, I prefer to stay with my trusty pen and notebooks, copying my work to computer only when it’s nearing completion.