Tree Murderers

Paper versus pixels, telekinesis versus typing, and an unexpectedly heated polemic against Charles Dickens that absolutely nobody asked for. In this episode of First Person Present, Josh and Dasha explore the tactile, vulnerable act of writing by hand in an increasingly digital age, and why the process of typing up handwritten drafts might be more valuable than you think.Fresh off their first Hewes House community write-together session, they dive into the reading life: Tove Ditlevsen's incisive characterization, the mortifying experience of returning books to bookstores, and why one of them thinks Charles Dickens "just sucks" (spoiler: it's Josh, and he's ready for your angry voice memos). Dasha champions the radical act of marking up your books, while Josh makes a case for SparkNotes as a legitimate literary alternative to Great Expectations.Then it's back to Reddit, where the questions get existential: How do you deal with the pain of transcribing handwritten drafts when telekinesis remains frustratingly unavailable? And what do you do when your suspense novel has so many interconnected plot points it requires an actual equation to explain? The answers involve Lauren Groff's ceremonial burning habits, the vulnerability of exposed handwriting in cafes, and a plea to just let things happen in the present tense already.Plus: handbag subreddits, tree murder via excessive printing, and the atmospheric difference between writing on paper versus hiding behind password-protected documents.Links:Dasha’s new Substack columnThe Case for Paper: Handwriting vs TypingIf Your Novel’s Plot Is a Math Problem, Maybe It’s Time to SimplifyThe Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove DitlevsenFlesh by David SzalayPk: A Report on the Power of Psychokinesis, Mental Energy That Moves Matter by Michael H. BrownPeter Warren on IMDbr/writing subredditTheme music: "1982" by See Jazz