If I know where the story is going (that is, have the episode outlined in detail in my head) I can write 1,000 words an hour, with minimal revision necessary, and most of that revision relating to where the episode falls in the story arc, not mere wordsmithing.

I do carry notebooks, always, and take advantage of plane rides and waiting rooms to write sections of my stories. But I find it very disappointing to transcribe pages and pages of notes and end up with only 500 words. I also think that the “voice” is affected by whether I type or write longhand. The latter is too much like writing in a diary: the words used are not the ones I would choose if speaking to strangers, the jokes are incomplete, the allusions too oblique. Writing by hand, I am talking to myself; writing on the PC, I am communicating with the world.

At least, I like to think so

Interestingly, not only did I write it in 13 days (after thinking about it for two years), but it was the tightest writing I’d ever done and required the least amount of editing. I actually had to expand it by ten percent rather than cut twenty percent like usual.

Since then, I’ve written another book and I’m working on one now, but I don’t feel the urge to write longhand again. Maybe it was just a one-off. Sometimes, when I do get stuck, I sit down and write it by hand. It seems like I really only end up with the essence of the scene this way instead of wandering off and writing a bunch of stuff that doesn’t work in the end! I’m a fan of the uniball vision elite, but I might try your pens too!

I just heard an interview with John Irving who writes AND edits by hand. He said he used to write the first draft and then edit on the computer, but he’s decided that hurts his writing because he moves too quickly on a computer.

Typing on the computer is great and I need my box of technology for changing the order of things, making corrections and editing, and I do use it right from the start for some projects – but there are days when the moving fingers do not type fluently. Curled up on the couch, in some spine-wrecking position with pen and paper, can then get me back in the flow.

I am the author of two books for children and four on calligraphy (for older children and adults), and with a collection of mss completed and in progress. When I arrived here I was just researching prior to possibly sending a query :). But though I have been a professional calligrapher for years, my handwriting is rarely neat when writing stories or books, and it is only ever seen by me. Yep, reading it can be difficult, but at least picture books are short. Calligraphy is drawing letters, not writing – totally different.

For me, writing by hand can be likened to the dancer projecting himself in the rhythm and pattern of the dance. I love it! The well balanced writing instrument, the feel of a pliant pen nib or a supercharged rollerball racing machine or gliding soft pencil, the warmth and softness of a pad of perfect paper, the easy flow of the ink or graphite… they all seductively affect the release of thoughts and the flow of feelings. I just become more alive when writing by hand (most frequently in pencil, but I love my Lamy 2000 ballpoint, too). Even scribble becomes a tactile and emotion charged creation in response to the tension, love, flamboyance or whatever emotion I am writing about. It helps me to live the situation. The size and letter shapes change and words flow better than if I was typing. And yes, I can scatter thoughts and insertions around the page and doodle, and I love that draft phrases and sentences are never lost.

And striking out with vehemence is far more satisfying than hitting ‘Delete’.

Then there is the place to write. I can never write anything worthwhile on our kitchen table. I have several favoured places around the house – different days, different moods, different places.