{"id":5504,"date":"2019-10-22T18:15:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T01:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/?p=5504"},"modified":"2019-10-22T18:15:03","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T01:15:03","slug":"on-writing-in-longhand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nestuccaspitpress.com\/blog\/meditations\/on-writing-in-longhand\/","title":{"rendered":"On Writing in Longhand"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- wp:themify-builder\/canvas \/-->\n\n\n<p>In recent years I have noticed that if\nI write in longhand in a public place such as a bar, library, coffee\nshop restaurant or park, I seem to unsettle or confuse people.\n<em>Someone is writing! Freak. Pariah. Luddite. Rebel. <\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about this. Writing in longhand\nis currently the most secure form of written communication. The NSA\nand tech companies can&#8217;t track it or make money from it. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And my handwriting is so bad no one\ncould read it if they even bothered!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about this. If you are at work\nand using a computer to perform most or all of your work, writing\nsomething on the computer during work such as an email or a poem or a\nriff from novel, could be discovered by various spying tools or a\nnosy colleague or boss. You could get reprimanded or fired!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But if you are sitting at your desk and\nwriting in longhand in a legal pad, no one gives it a second thought!\nYou&#8217;re free to write anything you want, including a manifesto to\noverthrow office tyranny or (more likely) mediocrity. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You don&#8217;t even have to write anything on that legal pad in plain view. You can doodle away if that&#8217;s your forte.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about this. Receiving a handwritten card or postcard still generates thrills in people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Usually while writing in longhand, I am\nwriting letters, but sometimes pieces for the blog, podcast or books.\nI often take notes in longhand on subjects that I will later write\nupon. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I write differently in longhand than I\ndo on the computer or my Alphasmart. The prose seems more nonchalant.\nMaybe it is more fun to write in longhand because I never associate\nthe act with paid work, like I do using a computer. (FYI: I wrote\nthis piece in longhand in a coffee shop.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I like the way I feel when I write\nlonghand and that&#8217;s why I required my English and creative writing\nstudents keep journals in longhand in those classic black and white\ncomposition books. I suspect that for many of them, it might be the\nonly substantial longhand writing they ever do in their lifetime,\noutside of signing a document, and even that is going away. I hope\nthey hung onto to those journals. I know they had value. For one\nthing, they will outlast anything stored in a cloud. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, I will mail two letters written\nin longhand. Secure. Cheap. Tactile. Personalized. And later today,\nI&#8217;ll end up at my corner table in my favorite dive bar, turn on the\ntable lamp, pull out the notebook and pen, and write away. \n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In recent years I have noticed that if I write in longhand in a public place such as a bar, library, coffee shop restaurant or park, I seem to unsettle or confuse people. Someone is writing! Freak. Pariah. Luddite. Rebel. Think about this. Writing in longhand is currently the most secure form of written communication. 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