A publication about doing things slowly, on purpose.

Longhand began in March 2025 as a notebook with a website attached. Nell Hartigan, a former magazine production editor, had spent a decade getting other people's words onto pages quickly, and wanted to try the opposite: to learn a few trades slowly, badly at first, and write down what happened only when she understood it.

It is now a weekly letter, a few long essays a season, and a handful of guest pieces from people who know a craft better than she does. There are 8 essays and 8 letters so far. There are no advertisements, no sponsored posts and no tracking scripts, and the site will not ask you to accept a banner.

The promise

• Everything is written after the work, not before it.
• Mistakes are reported, not edited out.
• The letter arrives on Friday, about four hundred words long, and you can leave in one click.
• Nothing here will tell you to optimise your hobby.

Who writes it

Nell writes Longhand. She spent eleven years as a magazine production editor before leaving to rent a bench in a shared workshop, where she makes furniture badly, books adequately and bread reliably. More about Nell Hartigan.

Guests so far: Tomasz Wieland (letterpress printer), Ines Okafor (textile mender).

Write to us

Replies to the letter go to a person, and the contact page works the same way. Corrections are especially welcome, and are printed.