About Writing: The Painfully Practical

I used to journal a lot.  In college my journals were always handwritten, often on these pads of paper that were multi-colored, which I could get cheaply from the Dollar store.  Often these were angry or heart-broken letters about my boyfriend/ex-boyfriend, the same person over the course of several years.  Other times they were about what I wanted to do or be.  More often than that I think that these were prayers.  The point of all this sentimental history is that I used to hand write things A LOT.

This morning I decided to do another one of those ten minute freewriting sessions.  The first time I did this last night I started out on the computer.  The computer didn't work in my favor, however, because when I am typing I cannot keep myself for going back and correcting typos and other careless errors.  I find that I have to do this exercise with pen and paper. 

When you're freewriting according to Peter Elbow's method, you don't pause to edit, or search for spellings, or think ahead to what you are going to say next.  The exercise is about clearing the mind, intensifying focus, getting the words out there.  (Though you may not know it, I am paraphrasing the first chapter of Writing Without Teachers while simultaneously referencing an episode of Wonderfalls.  This just goes to show what I've been putting in my head lately.)

The problem now is that I am out of practice.  It's almost as though I've forgotten how to write things manually.  I pulled a bound journal off the shelf a couple of weeks ago and my hand got tired writing after about half a page.  When I do the Peter Elbow exercise my had gets really tired.  I wonder is the problem only that I'm out of practice or is there something else going on.  Could there be arthritis in my future?

I don't actually think so.  I think it really is a matter of finding the right pen, the right position, and getting back in the habit of handwriting things on a daily basis.  The lists I've been making for years, and the many envelopes I've addressed in the past three months haven't done the trick.  It's almost like I have to relearn how to write.

(I may need to relearn how to type as well, but that is another story.)