In the "this is not news department": Lorne Elliott is a funny man. Last Sunday, Erin may have feared for my driving abilities as, while heading to Stratford, we almost doubled over in laughter. Click here to see some of his funny songs. I especially like (scroll down) Nootka the Killer Whale.
Natasha comments on my previous blog about writing longhand, asking how I could write out 100 pages without my hands cramping up.
I certainly couldn't do it with a ballpoint. I know what writers' cramp feels like, and it comes from writing for three hours with a ballpoint pen on foolscap. However, since switching over to gel pens and fountain pens, I don't get writers' cramp. I find that, with ballpoints, I have to press down hard in order to get the weight of the lettering I want; with medium-point gel pens or medium-point fountain pens, the ink just flows out onto the paper, and I can get busy pulling the pen along. It's proven much easier on my fingers.
Fountain pens are more expensive, of course, but the ink is cheaper. My big complaint with gel pens is that, if you write long enough (say, an hour), you can actually watch the ink in the cartridge disappear, and gel pens are costly to replace. A single pen doesn't last me more than a week.
As for pens slowing down the process... I haven't seen that. I can type at 85 words per minute, but my handwriting is also quick (and messy). As long as I am not wasting time pressing my pen down into the paper, I usually have no trouble getting busy and writing.
My advice for writers who hate handwriting: get yourself a good fountain pen. I mean a really good one. Even if you don't use it, every writer deserves a good fountain pen.