The Pen and Paper

I'm back! The last few weeks I've been busy with essays and classes and studying for an exam but now I'm finished and will be getting back into the habit of posting every week again. I'm very excited to share with you the new concept of longhand creative writing.

I have recently come across this new idea that I haven't ever taken a serious consideration to. Writing your first draft longhand.

That concept made me excited because of the fact that I decided to start messing around and writing in a notebook a story that came to me. I've found that writing longhand is fun and enjoyable and I've had more success on this book than any other I've written in months.

Now yes you may have to then have to type it all out but that's where editing comes in. I feel so much more free when I write on a piece paper. Like I don't have to limit myself to anything in particular. 

I was introduced to this idea in a subtle way a while back when I watched the movie Finding Neverland about how James Barry got the idea for Peter Pan. It's a magnificent and inspiring movie that I think all authors should watch. In the movie James Barry carries his notebook everywhere and is always scribbling a world unknown to all others in it. His ideas and how he wrote them down felt so freeing and organic to me. 

I realize now that most of the authors from that time wrote their stories in journals. I wouldn't be surprised if Lewis Carrol wrote Alice in Wonderland in a journal or if C.S. Lewis wrote The Lion, Te Witch, and the Wardrobe in a notebook first. 

Writing in a notebook is a good idea for me because I am always obsessing over how many words and pages I have. That sort of thinking distracts from what truly matters: the story. On paper how many words and pages you have doesn't matter. The only thing you focus on when writing with a pen and paper is your story and how your going to tell it.

I can't wait to try writing out my first draft longhand in a notebook. As a writer I'm always up for trying new ways to get my words out on the page.

Have a great weekend everyone!

     Feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers. :):) What do you think of writing your first draft longhand? How do you write your first draft?
   
Oh! And one of my best friends has started a blog of her own and she's got some seriously awesome stuff! You can find her at The Deducing Dove.