Rough Hands

From the Speakers: ROUGH HANDS by Alex is on Fire

Been writing my latest story by hand. It's rare for me to use a pencil and not the computer, for a few reasons. The computer is faster. I don't have to rewrite the draft once I finish it. Mostly, I feel "in the mood" when I'm at my desk, surrounded by what's familiar. My hand starts to cramp after a while.

But somehow, since it's such an infrequent practice for me, new things begin to happen when I write by hand. My entire voice is different. I really have no idea why. It's a more . . . poetic, loquacious, often dark voice that comes out when I write with pencil and paper. Also, the story tends to be shorter and more poignant.

I'm totally cool with this. So the other day, bored, watching some sports game I cared nothing about, I picked up a notebook and started asking my roommates for the opening line of a story. Now I have a dark, fun piece about a guy surviving in the woods, hiding out from an overbearing Polity, 1984 style.

No idea where this idea came from.

It's been fun. Wouldn't do it every time, but I've got this neat system figured out where I change things up with the process a bit and cause a change in my usual style. Being a writer is great--it's so flexible!

Now, to find a magazine that likes this story as much as I do!