6.21.2016

Experiencing Our Stories With All Of Our Senses


My good friend and colleague, artist Roxie Munro recently shared a very important article that got me thinking about why I edit the way I edit and why I make a certain editorial suggestion to authors.

The article is titled "Why Handwriting Is Still Essential in the Keyboard Age" and is written for the New York Times by the inestimable Perri Klass, a pediatrician who is a Professor of Journalism and Pediatrics at New York University and is National Medical Director of Reach Out and Read, the national literacy organization which works through doctors and nurses to promote parents reading aloud to young children.

I found myself nodding vigorously as I read this article and then I started to feel downright validated for a certain editorial suggestion I often make to authors and which authors, for the most part, tend to hate with a passion. That suggestion? To hand write your manuscript. Yup! I tell authors over and over again not to underestimate the value of writing out their manuscripts by hand at least once all the way through, either in the early draft phase or in the revision phase of their process. For picture book authors, this is a piece of cake. For poets, this is common practice. For novelists, not so much. But who ever said writing would be easy?

Susan Cooper's early notes for her
Dark Is Rising sequence
(www.TheLostLand.com)
As we were working on one of her manuscripts, author Susan Cooper once told me she hand writes her early drafts of novels on yellow lined legal-size pads of paper. And look at Susan Cooper--she's won the Newbery Medal, the Newbery Honor, the Margaret Edward Award, and a whole lot more. She's doing something right. And to my mind it is hand writing her early drafts that not only helps discipline her thoughts but also helps fully engage her on multiple levels as she's immersing herself in her story and characters.

Why do I suggest authors hand write their manuscripts? To immerse as many senses at once in the creation of a story: Hand writing engages the hands and touch; hand writing engages the ears (the sound of a pencil or pen crossing paper is a form of background music that can't be created in any other way); hand writing engages the eyes. If one is writing with scented pens, hand writing can even engage the sense of smell. Lest you think I'm being flip, there is a distinctive smell of pencil on paper, the smell of certain inks and pens is distinctive, and the smell of eraser is distinctive, too--and these can certainly add to the overall immersive sensory experience of hand writing. So the only sense hand writing may not directly engage is the sense of taste. But before we leave it at that, I actually did write a post a while back on the very subject of the importance of listening to our manuscript being read aloud as not only a means to hear the work, but to in fact taste it and sense it. So tasting our work is not such a crazy idea as much as delicious one.

Roxie Munro inking one of her pieces. Talk about
immersion! (www.roxiemunro.com)
Think for a moment about artists and illustrators--people who work with paints, brushes, inks, papers, and all sort of fabrics and materials to create their artwork. Talk about an immersive sensory engagement where smell is most definitely as engages as touch, sight, and hearing. And perhaps even taste too. 

Suffice to say, the more fully engaged and immersed one can be with their creative work, the more fully a part of the work one will become on deeply sensory and emotional levels that may be not able to be described, but can be experienced and felt. The more we experience and feel as we create our stories, the more our stories will allow readers to experience and feel.

When I'm editing a manuscript--be it an 80-word picture book or an 80,000-word novel, I always ALWAYS hand write notes, comments, and impressions on the manuscript pages and in red wide-ruled letter-size notebooks. I don't ever EVER share these hand written notes with authors; this process of hand writing my notes is an essential step in my editorial process and it's something I need to do before ever typing up an editorial memo or typing in Track Changes. The hand writing process is my way of getting immersed in the word and in the story, is my way of helping myself remember what I'm reading, and is my way of clarifying what I'm really thinking.

In her article, Perri Klass is writing specifically about the importance of children hand writing. She quotes Karin James, a professor of psychology and brain sciences, who says, "My overarching research focuses on how learning and interacting with the world with out hands has a really significant effect on our cognition, on how writing by hand changes brain function and can change brain development."  I'm not a scientist, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I don't think stimulating brain function in this way ends in childhood. I think writing by hand continues to stimulate and change brain function throughout our adult lives.

So I challenge you:  Hand write your manuscript. See what happens. Start easily, with a scene or a sequence or a chapter. Then keep going if you possibly can. Experience your work with as many senses as you possibly can. It's got to be great for your brain and I can promise it will be great for your stories!



(c) emma d dryden, drydenbks llc

25 comments:

  1. Makes such good sense, Emma. We tend to detach our mind from our physical body...but, as you say, so connected. Re: drawing, I'll mention my favorite book on art: "Visual Thinking" by Rudolf Arnheim (1969). BTW, working with mazes improves children's hand-eye coordination, and improves their handwriting. (Doesn't work with me though - I have awful handwriting ;-))

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    1. Thanks for your recommendation of VISUAL THINKING, Roxie. This sounds like a great resource for artists and creative people of all kinds!

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  2. Love this piece. Writing by hand—whether it's manuscripts or edits or ideas—is helpful and calming and something people rarely talk about. Thanks for sharing Dr. Klass's findings!

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    1. Thanks, Sangeeta! You're right -- hand writing can be calming, too! There's something frenetic about typing... Indeed, sometimes my brain works faster than my hand and I can't always keep up with my thoughts when I am writing by hand, but there's something about that process that's also really important.

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  3. I always hand write my early drafts because I think better with my pen. Other writers think I'm strange. Well, I'm a bit strange (haha) but now I know it isn't because of my handwriting. : )

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    1. Not strange at all, Lisa! Other writers would do well to follow your lead on this. :)

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  4. Wonderful post! Thanks for sharing the article as well. I'm a *jotter* (which should be a word and is not) and always have pen and paper handy for ideas and thoughts on either an ongoing project or one I haven't met yet. I don't text and drive, don't even have a smart phone, but still pull over when I have something to jot down. My desk is often covered in jots!

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    1. Thanks for your comment! And what I say is: Jotters of the world, unite!

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  5. What a great idea! How can I not accept a challenge from the wise and wonderful Emma Dryden on the first full day of summer?

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    1. Cheers! See what happens, Bridget, when you start writing it out...

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  6. This is FASCINATING. I have used the tip "have someone read your manuscript to you" many times (the legendary May Massee read authors' manuscripts to them, which must have been intimidating). But I can't wait to share, and try, this. Thank you!

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    1. I always tell authors to listen to their work read aloud by someone else, too! The handwriting idea is daunting to most authors (of novels, that is), so then I suggest writing out a chapter by hand or a scene, or a scene that's giving the author particular trouble, etc. Baby steps... :)

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  7. I love this idea. Hope I love doing it--but I'm sure it will be helpful whether I love it or not.

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    1. Try it and see what happens. Take it in small "doses" if necessary, scene by scene, chapter by chapter. Thanks for your comment!

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  8. I like to write by hand, because, if I cross out a word or an idea, I can still see it, and I might decide I like it better than the new one. But on a computer, if I hit delete--it's gone forever! Great post, thank you!

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    1. Yes, I like that too!
      Thanks for your comment.

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  9. This is excellent advice, Emma. Unfortunately, I no longer write much by hand as it is too painful to do so for long (a combination of carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis), but I agree that there are many benefits to writing by hand. Even printing out a manuscript and editing it by hand, rather than editing it on the computer screen makes a difference. I certainly found that as I did my most recent revision on one of my novels.

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  10. Great thoughts. I use a dip pen for art & fountain pen to journal. There IS a visceral difference when using "analog" tools.

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    1. Indeed there is! Thanks for your comment, Steve. I love hearing about the artist's process.

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  11. I keep notebooks for every book, but I don't always write out whole drafts by hand. Hmmm. Maybe I will now.

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    1. Give it a try! See what it feels like and what happens.

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  12. I use a combo technique. I love how my fingers fly on the keyboard - that can be tactile, too - but I turn to handwriting when I need to slow down my thoughts, when I'm outlining, or creating story-auxiliary documents. It can also be fun to supplement writing with sketching - even if you're not an artist. Just little doodle sketches of scene visualizations, of characters, of their clothing - it's so fun to do this! So even if the idea of handwriting seems too much, there are little ways!

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    1. Yes, this is lovely and makes a lot of sense. Thanks for your comments, Sally!

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  13. I’m amazed, I have to admit. Seldom do I encounter a blog that’s equally educative and interesting, and let me tell you, you've hit the nail on the head.

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