on writing by hand, writer's block, and Queen Elizabeth's diary

The novelist and historian Shelby Foote who passed away yesterday usually wrote by hand, as opposed to writing with a typewriter--or with a keyboard. One report I heard today mentioned that he used to write with a quill and dipped it in an ink well. Fascinating. He said that writing by hand was more personal than writing with a typewriter.

Throughout high school, college, and even the first few years at seminary, I always wrote my reports and essays by hand. After completing them, I would type them up.

When I mentioned this to a classmate a couple of years ago, he looked at me and said, "Wow." He added that my writing style was not only time-consuming but also straining on the hand. True, but I always thought that's all part of writing. Plus, he said, it made me seem quite ancient. Many people of my generation and subsequent ones learned to compose prose using a keyboard. Not me.

But a couple of years ago I found myself starting to compose my work using a keyboard. I remember how it began: I was pressed for time, I had two reports due in a week, and I hadn't written a thing.

So I turned on my computer, pulled up the word processor, and started to write the first paragraph. I was doing quite well until I reached the third: then, writer's block. That's to be expected. Writers deal with this all the time. So, I stared at the screen, fingers poised on the keypad, waiting for the words. They wouldn't come.

If I had been writing this by hand I would have stared at my script and observed how I had written the last word. I would have noticed the tails on my g's and p's. Or I would have held the paper up and re-read my writing from a different angle, or I would have walked around the room with the paper in hand while reading it again.

I can't do that with a monitor.

So I was stuck, staring at the perfect Times New Roman font and the blinking cursor. Desperate, I rewrote all 4 paragraphs by hand, otherwise I would have been just staring at the screen waiting for the next word which wouldn't come unless I do something.

I eventually completed the papers on time. But those were two of the most difficult papers I had to write and it's not because of the subject matter: I had a fast-approaching deadline, two papers due, and I chose to try out a new writing style because I thought it would be faster. Silly me.

But then it got easier. During the past year, I had written all of my essays by keyboard: but still writing by hand letters, thank you notes, important essays, and even my daily journal. Writing by hand is a habit that will never die away I feel.

This reminds me...

Several years ago there was a documentary on PBS featuring a year in the life of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. A footage showed her and her guests touring the library at Windsor Castle.

A group of them was admiring Queen Victoria's journal, all written by her hand. Elizabeth let it be known to them that she also keeps a diary, but not as extensive as Victoria's.

Then a bishop, possibly concerned about confidentiality and security, was caught on film asking her, "Do you write it by your own hand?"

"Oh yes," Elizabeth immediately replied. "Oh I think that's very important," he tells the Queen.

She looks away for a moment. Then looks at him in the eyes, and with perfect deadpan says, "Well I can't write it any other way."

Read about Shelby Foote here.