Small Victories

[rolanni]

The afternoon run at the phones wasn't as successful as I had hoped, though I did get an invitation to teach shorthand. It's a thought, I guess, though why anyone would want to learn such an Arcane Art in these days of Digital Everything is more than I can figure.

Writing today consisted of rewriting the chapter that I thought was in the can, TWICE, and making some very little bit of forward motion on the next. Say it again, how "throwing together" an organic novel isn't work.

Progress, if you can call it that, on the Book Without a Name

56,636 / 98,000 (57.8%)

Comments

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Say it again, how "throwing together" an organic novel isn't work.

"Throwing together an organic novel isn't work."

It's a walk in the park,with bee-loons.

[janni.livejournal.com]

I've occasionally thought about learning shorthand, in hopes that it would make me a more efficient note taker, especially when conducting interviews foir articles, but also when listening to lectures and such.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I've occasionally thought about learning shorthand, in hopes that it would make me a more efficient note taker,

What most people forget is that shorthand was never intended to be a note-taking protocol. It was designed specifically so a stenographer could set down exactly what her boss said, so that she could return to her desk, type it, and hand it to the Great Man for signature. Since Great Men (sorry, I was trained at the tail end of the Old School, where the boss was automatically a Great Man, and at least two of my textbooks spoke earnestly of the secretary's duty to dust and straighten the GM's desk, as well as the necessity of wearing gloves -- but I digress...)

Since Great Men are sometimes taken with Inspiration and speak very fast while pacing around the room (or while standing in back of the stenographer), smoking and/or drinking coffee, and very often rattling papers, it was necessary to devise a system whereby the Exact Words could be written down rapidly. Once memorized, the hooks and squiggles of Gregg System Shorthand were supposed to be easy to write and allow the stenographer to keep up with Inspiration.

The problem with shorthand -- and it is a large one -- is that it's more like knots on a memory string than true notes. Reading cold shorthand is a b*tch. Reading someone else's shorthand is dern near impossible.

Speed-writing, in which the practitioner learns to omit vowels and doubled consonants, is far superior for note-taking purposes.

[janni.livejournal.com]

It's exact wording of quotes and the like from interviews I was thinking of; I do do speed writing for note taking, though I'm so used to the keyboard, that none of my note taking is as swift as it used to be--though that's not something shorthand could really solve anyway, I suppose.

I've come to a compromise system of speed-writing combined with a recording, with notes as to where in the recording to search for quotes I want to grab.