Writing 15/02/2006 Recently I've been coming across a lot of blogs reflecting on why writers write. The most common reason seems to be that we write because we like doing it but, thinking about this, I realize that it's not true for me. I hate writing. If it were not for the keyboard, I would never write anything longer than a poem.At the age of sixteen I commandeered my mother's old Imperial typewriter and bashed out half a novel. And I do mean "bash". It was a tank of a machine, weighed a ton, and required real force to work the keys. I did not know it then but it was to affect my typing style ever afterwards; I am still heavy-handed on the keyboard. Twenty years later I was working on a lightweight electronic typewriter and pushed it all over the desk with my pounding. And now I have cause to thank the computer keyboard manufacturers for producing such a robust and reliable product.Which is not to say that I don't break modern keyboards - I do. But it takes a while and, invariably, it's the Enter key that goes, the microswitch underneath finally battered into submission. That's when another brilliant invention of the manufacturers comes into play; there's another Enter key at the bottom right of the board and, with a swift adjustment of my habits, I can type just as fast using the alternative.And that brings up the matter of speed. I never learned to type properly and I use one finger, index on the left (I'm left-handed so this works for me), and my right index finger has responsibility for the Enter and Shift keys. It's called the Hunt and Peck method, I believe.This means that I can never aspire to the typing speed of a true touch typist but I can rattle along at a fair old pace, even so. The "Hunt" part of my method has become more of an instinctive awareness through long years of practice and my typing speed is reasonable as a result. Yet I do not trust my instinct; I still have to watch the keyboard while typing, if only to confirm that my finger is hitting the right keys. I envy those who can watch the screen while typing.But I will never take one of those software typing courses and teach myself to do it properly. Partly, this is because I'm too old a dog to learn new tricks but, more importantly, I have discovered that my typing speed fits perfectly with the rate at which I think. By the time I've completed one sentence, the brain is just about ready to supply the next. Were I to increase typing speed, I would merely waste the time saved in sitting motionless while the mind catches up.So it is the keyboard that enables me to "write". This is reinforced by the fact that, thanks to another event way back in the mists of time, I switched my handwriting from lower case to capitals and this makes my writing very slow. I have become a creature of the keyboard.As to why I set words on a page, I think that must again be a speed-related matter. Whether we write books, short stories or poems, what we are doing is to set out our thoughts in a logical, understandable manner, with the intention of arriving eventually at a conclusion. Speaking is an unsatisfactory solution to this need for communication, too subject to interruption by others, stray thoughts that lead one into side streets of irrelevance, and omission of important facts through the heat of the moment. Writing gives us the time to organize and sharpen, concentrate and refine, so that the finished product is that much more effective in attaining its goal: to communicate something we feel is important. And, for me, the keyboard is the perfectly-paced tool to enable me to do this. Without it, I doubt I'd even blog.Why is there this need to communicate? Ah, there I think we're getting into what is called "the human condition", something common to us all and yet totally inexplicable. We can say that we are social animals but this does nothing to explain why we feel so compelled to tell each other stories, be they fact or fiction. It's just one of those things...While I'm on the subject of writing, may I urge any short story writers to have a look at this post in the Writers Blog Alliance? We could get quite an entertaining book together between us, I think.Technorati tags: Writing; Short Stories.
Clive
Sarcasmo And, for me, the keyboard is the perfectly-paced tool to enable me do this. Without it, I doubt I'd even blog. Allow me to say, then, "Thank goodness for the keyboard." Date Added: 15/02/2006
Gone Away Sarcasmo, flattery will get you everywhere. :) Date Added: 15/02/2006
Deborah I learned to type on a manual typewriter when I was a junior in high school (many moons ago). I'd gotten so used to pounding on the keyboard that it was hard to type, using electric typewriters. Now that we have keyboards, I can't imagine ever going back to the old-fashioned manuals again. Date Added: 15/02/2006
Gone Away I know at least one writer who still starts with a pen and paper (remember those?). Now that's what I call a real writer! :D Date Added: 15/02/2006
Mad Now I've been working with computers for a while my typing speed outstrips my thinking speed causing me all kinds of problems... Stick to your pace Dad. Date Added: 16/02/2006
Benjamin Solah I taught myself to type through need. I wasted so much time being a brat, I left myself no time to do assignments so it was either copy and paste or learn to type like a wild fire. My geography teacher was particularly good at picking people who copy and paste, so I eventually went for the later. Date Added: 16/02/2006
Gone Away That's what I plan to do, Mad. ;) Date Added: 16/02/2006
Gone Away Ah, Benjamin, if only we'd had access to such marvels as copy and paste in my days at school. We had to use primitive tools like pens and ink (even ballpoints were banned). I envy the kids at school now who are given lessons in keyboard skills - what a brave new world we build... Date Added: 16/02/2006
Mad You should see Pootle type, his fingers are a blur. Which I guess explains how he can fight and type at the same time in Halo. ;) Date Added: 16/02/2006
John (Syntagma) School kids now copy and paste their essays from the Internet. It seems they refuse to answer any question that they're not told the "right answer" to. There's not much point in being able to type if you haven't got anything to type about. Thank heaven for us writers. We more than make up for all the rest :-) Date Added: 16/02/2006
Gone Away The Pootle is amazing, of course. But, having grown up with his fingers on a keyboard, I suppose it's no wonder that he knows his way around... Date Added: 16/02/2006
Gone Away Sometimes I'm glad I'm old, John... ;) Date Added: 16/02/2006
Scot Clive, I started out with using the hunt and peck method during high school, but when I started college, I needed to get serious and so I checked out a book from the library and taught myself to write. What you say about the process of writing is true. Whether we realize it or not, all of us are language animals, some more so than others. Writing, or composition, means "putting together." When we speak and write, we are putting words together, as you point out, to express our ideas. We compose sentences in this way, and we compose essays, stories and poems by grouping sentences. It is the means by which we discover the dialectical process between thought and word. By composing, we are compelled to deal with our conceptualizations of the world. We are also compelled to ask ourselves real questions, for real questions demand real answers. It is the means by which we learn to generate our ideas to higher principles. When we write, or compose, we do so either for the purpose of communicating or articulating to ourselves, or to a specific audience, our ideas, values, hopes, fears, positions, conflicts and questions to determine and define what the role of our nature is in society, which is as you say, "something common to us all and yet totally inexplicable." Date Added: 17/02/2006
Gone Away All true, Scot. Yet I was amused to think that the only real writing I do these days is on a piece of scrap paper that lives beneath my monitor - mere notes to remind me of ideas. Otherwise, it's all typing. :) Date Added: 17/02/2006
mamaeight I doubt you're such an old dog any more than I am an old cat. I learned to type on a manual typewriter in high school in 1959. I won several typing awards in high school, so I can actually type very fast. I'll sit at my lap top for several minutes and then suddenly the words will come and I can hardly keep up. I must think in paragraphs. I write for two reasons: 1. the world does not know me, and 2. It keeps me alive. I have just discovered blogs. It's a fascinating idea. Date Added: 26/02/2006
Janus I agree I like polishing my words and I am better at writing it seems than singing at any rate. It's a shame I couldn't do anything with that short story event, I started working on it but it went pffffft. At any rate I don't see myself getting very polished despite writing for over 20 years. Perhaps I am the dog that needs a new trick Date Added: 13/03/2006
Gone Away There's still time to submit something for the short story anthology, Janus. Haven't you got anything lurking around in the background, just waiting to reveal your talents to the world? Date Added: 14/03/2006
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