How do I blog?

What do you feel when you write by hand?

Did you know that you are more likely to organize your thoughts and be more creative when you put pen to paper?

I found this out through my own experience and it has directly led to my bookbinding.

Ever since I ended up under the influence of the world fountain pens, I have been handwriting every day. Some days it is little more than mapping my day with lists and notes, but sometimes I get a little more personal. I have noticed that I can focus and get things done much quicker this way. No Youtube, Twitter, Facebook or blogs to take me away from what I am doing.

So I am drafting my blogs by hand in my trusty handmade notebook. Yeah I know I'm lucky, I can just make one to my liking anytime I need a different size or format. The funny thing is that I never used pens before, or never liked them, pencil was always my thing. Ever since I forced myself to switch over to fountain pens, no longer comforted by the trusty eraser to fix what I thought were my mistakes, it has forced me to think about what I am writing before I put it to paper, but more often than not I just go with it, stream of consciousness style.

This process really has helped ignite my creative spark, I find that I can get a lot more done on paper than I can on the keyboard in the same time. You may think that you can type faster than you write, but if you factor in all of the on the spot revising and distractions that are really difficult to avoid, it is really awash, at least for me it is.

I think part of the reason, or most of it, is that handwriting imparts a personal imprint on my writing as much as what I have to say does for my overall message. My handwritten drafts most likely will never see the light of day, but I get to keep them in one place and look back at what I had to say, and see how I have grown as a handwriter as well as a writer.

Take some time today to write something by hand, this should be in something that also says something about you, it could be a love letter that will never see the light of day, a thank you note that you know you need to write, or just something you have on your mind. Your writing medium is an integral component of this process. You may write something profound that you will want to hang on for some time.