Today I write casually, painfully even,
because not watching the keys. C. S. Lewis fixed that problem by
writing always with pen or pencil. Wendell Berry, same. Lewis'
rationale was practical: typing distracted him. Berry questions the
value-added: “I already write too much with a pen. Why should I use
a typewriter?” For both, of course, a typist prepared the work for
publisher. Lewis' typist was his brother, Warny; Berry's is his wife,
Tanya.
It is an argument to say writers always did it this way until very recently in the history of writing. But this is partly false because another method is speaking to a transcriber, either in real time or via the organ of oral history.
Adding to this is the question of timing and rhythm. I type very slowly right now because I am typing without seeing the keys. If I always typed – or hand-wrote – how might it affect my output in quality or quantity?
Seems to me the answer is found
differently for all. My gut still says I'd write better if always
long- hand, not least because it is closer to the soul, the
visceral, the true embodied-ness of life without machines.
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