This is the way I like to write...

Remember the Mulberry Bush song? It has been running through my head all day. I am "blessed" with an ongoing sound track in my cranium, often playing songs from way back and not ones that I particularly like. Anyway, I have been thinking

"This is the way I like to write, like to write, like to write.
This is the way I like to write so early in the morning."

Yesterday morning when I lost power, one of my first thoughts was...HOW WILL I WRITE??? To my credit it did not take me long to come up with...duh...pen...and...paper. After all it was good enough for me for many years. In fact it took me a very long time to reach the point where I was writing directly to computer. My entire dissertation was written in 1999-2000, entirely in longhand and then transcribed to computer. This entry was also handwritten up to this point, where I left off yesterday.

Resuming on computer...the thing I have been mulling over is how others are writing these days. Does anyone out there still write by hand when doing formal or serious writing? My transition was not a specific decision, but really an evolution. As I recall, I started out slowly, writing short memos directly online and then gradually composing longer and longer pieces. Eventually, without consciously making a transition, I realized that I was no longer using pen and paper. I am not sure if this change is reflected in my writing. I type very fast, and thus write a lot faster than I used to. Do I write shorter sentences? Do I include less in the way of description? I really don't know. I am curious how others feel about longhand vs. online writing, how it has impacted their own work, and how they now write.