Writing with pen and paper - is it better than typing?

[havocthecat]

Writing SFF With Paper and Pen Spurs Memory and Creativity by R.J. Huneke

While the article has a SFF focus because it's written for the SFWA blog, it's really also about general handwriting and whether it's better. It links to studies and articles on handwriting vs typing.

Personally, I turn to handwriting fic in a notebook when I'm trying to break out of writers block. It's a change of format, for one, and for another, I do then stop getting tempted to scroll through whatever social media site I've got loaded. Also, I do just like handwriting fiction.

So this is definitely a biased site for handwriting because it's journalsandplanners - but really, we're all on Dreamwidth. What do you think?

Comments

[yhlee]

I'd heard about research along those lines, have not fact-checked. I prefer handwriting BUT that was how I started writing back in the day. (I also like manual typewriter but mine's LOUD and my family hates it ;_; so I haven't used it in months.) I like the tactility of handwriting and being able to doodle; something about the muscle memory of it helps me think better, the way I can think at the piano or guitar (etc.) when composing because my hands "know" the geography of the keyboard/fretboard and chords.

Pragmatically, you can use pen/pencil/paper when there's no power; I once lived in a neighborhood with WEEKLY power outages (Seoul). Of course you still want to back up, but I cheese this by snapping iPhone pics (syncs to the cloud) for quick backup and then later typing into a text/Word/whatever file for my computer + offsite backup.

[havocthecat]

Same here! I do like that there are links to things I can check out - uh, later. When I have time.

I occasionally think "maybe I should get a manual typewriter" and then I think "idk, I kind of hated it back in the day when I couldn't erase my mistakes the way I do on a computer?" I'm torn.

Pen/paper is my first love, and I long for the day when I can snap a picture and have my handwriting scanned to text from any type of paper and pen, not just from special tablet notetaking software (which is why I keep thinking "maybe I should get one of those big tablets, also gaming books).

I love pen/paper so much, I always have it with me. Not having it with me is a tragedy. What if I want it and it's not there?

[olivermoss]

The process of handwriting is different, so I do both in the early stages of a lot of stories.

Also, I game on my computer. I have a lot of weird muscle memory especially for some keystrokes. Also, like... twitter is right there.

[yhlee]

Yeah, I bet! I kept lamenting to my husband that I have suck hand-eye because I kept failing at video games, especially handheld controllers (I didn't grow up with them, and I didn't play many games after turn-based strategy went out of fashion). Husband looked at me and said, "Yoon, I have seen you fence and play tennis, and play piano, viola, and classical guitar. Your issue isn't hand-eye, it's unfamiliar controls."

I switch back and forth between handwriting, typing (various devices: laptop, different keyboards including very weird ergonomic ones like the Kinesis Advantage360 Pro, manual typewriter, Freewrite, Alphasmart, etc.), and even apps on my computers because I crave variety - and as you say, the thinking process does shift between media!

[olivermoss]

Unfamiliar controls and hand dexterity is definitely a thing. Some GW2 players are actually working on hand dexterity right now due to the recent hard content that was put into the game. But also with video games, controlling an avatar of yourself in a 3-d is something that can take a year to learn. People who grew up doing it don't realize it's a skill and a hard one.

[lunabee34]

Yes! You can write on paper anywhere and in any situation. I did lots of writing on paper when my oldest was a baby--them sleeping on my chest and me writing on a pad. Or writing at a track meet or whatever years later.

[ioplokon]

I like typing for informal communication. It's a lot faster & easier to correct mistakes (but, ime, harder to spot them...). I've always typed fiction and poetry, though none of it is very good, so maybe that's my problem! :p

For language practice, note taking, and managing my schedule, though, I definitely prefer to write things down.

[havocthecat]

I love sending emails! And for communicating across the world - I never would have had so many friends to send letters to if it wasn't for computers and typing!

I had never thought of handwriting for language practice, idk why. Do you find it helps you out, or do you like it better for other reasons?

[ioplokon]

Well, first and foremost, I had to do an exam in my target language that had a hand-written essay section, so practicing was pretty crucial there in order to get my wpm up.

Even beyond that, though, I do find writing helps for conjugations and declensions, for sure. And also, I think, with general written expression. Part of my issue is that my spelling is quite bad and I'm not good at revising. Handwriting means that I can't rely on spellcheck & so have to actually go back through and check my errors.

[havocthecat]

I think that's a good point about what's frustrating me on modern language practice (aside from the sheer lack of explanation on Duolingo, just, omg), I don't get to write anything out. I think that's probably why it takes so much longer to get in my head. Which I hadn't realized until you mentioned it here!

[ioplokon]

Yeah, also, a lot of tools tend to bill themselves as an All-In-One Language-Learning Solution, when actually they're really good at one particular thing, but you'll need to supplement with other things to round out your skill set. Duolingo is an example of that: it's genuinely really great for making drilling fun and keeping you motivated to drill & there's some reading comprehension support, but it really does nothing to help you with the expressive skills (speaking, writing).

If you happen to be learning French, I can recommend specific resources, but in general, my practice is: daily dictation exercises (you play a recording & write what it says, including accents & punctuation; then check it), daily listening practice (mainly podcasts), reading 30 mins/day (variety of subjects) + for longer texts keep a journal of vocabulary/expressions/cool quotes, 5x/wk grammar exercises from a grammar book, 2x/wk in-depth written expression (writing a long-form text, using another exercise book aimed at helping native speakers write better).

But! This is pretty intense. I need to have professional mastery of French across the board, so this is above & beyond what you'd need if you don't need to work like, an office job in your acquired language.

[pauraque]

I used to always handwrite fiction because if I tried to write a first draft directly onto the computer, I couldn't stop trying to perfect every sentence which made it impossible to get anywhere. For some reason handwriting gave me mental permission to just keep going and let it be imperfect so I could at least get my ideas out onto the page and worry about editing later.

This changed for me a few years ago when I had a fic due but I was really sick and needed to be lying down, and handwriting was uncomfortable. But I could still type using a lap desk, so I decided to at least try to draft out the fic on my laptop before I gave up. Surprisingly, it went pretty smoothly, so I guess at some point I had lost that perfectionism that used to take over when I tried to type first drafts.

Now I'm able to do either. Sometimes I still write by hand if I feel like it or I'm away from my computer, but I don't have to, so it's nice to have the option.

[havocthecat]

Options are good! I'm glad you found a way around that perfectionism, but I'm sorry you had to get sick to find out about it.

[sporky_rat]

There's something about handwriting that just sticks the information into my head nicely.

[havocthecat]

It does! And sometimes it develops characters nicely to. Not that, uh, not that I've written fic while in class more than once.

[cindybug]

"I find that I spend more time writing longhand but less time editing, as my attention to the text is keener from the outset, and the transcription process from paper to screen is an opportunity to further expound on the voice in my work."

This rings true for me. I also tend to be less of a perfectionist when I write by hand, which is a massive help when it comes to drafting.

[biteshelter]

I also find the paper-to-screen process to be very helpful. For journaling, I try to summarize a lot of my handwritten journal entries into digital notes. It works both to further process my thoughts and to make my notes easier to find for reference.

Handwriting is when I'm more of a perfectionist, though. I feel more pressure to "get it right" because my thoughts backtrack often. When I type, I can get all my thoughts out before I lose track of them because I know I can come back to insert more.

[cindybug]

That sounds like a useful way to journal! I tend to forget about journal entries after I've written them, so I may give this a try -- it would be nice to have a quick way to look back on old memories and ideas.

I think I used to be better about typing up first drafts, but essay writing kind of ruined me haha... Unless I'm doing something like NaNoWriMo (which necessitates speed) I find myself obsessing over stuff like sentence structure, when I should just be filling space.

[havocthecat]

I find I can't be a perfectionist writing by hand. It's impossible to avoid making mistakes that can't be erased - hard to erase ink, for one. And that makes it okay to keep going when things are "wrong," if that makes sense. Even if they're not wrong, it's just a draft.

[cindybug]

Exactly! Not having that back space is so freeing. :'D I also kind of like to have a record of my mistakes -- I know GDocs has that function too, but idk. For me, it's nice for discarded passages and stuff to be immediately accessible.

[annofowlshire]

I prefer brainstorming and writing early drafts by hand when I can. I find it especially helpful in times when thinking non-linearly helps get me through a wall. I just don't engage as deeply on a screen.

When I started my narrative design job I wrote all the early stuff by hand first like I'd been doing my novels for some years. Alas, deadlines meant I started typing them directly into the spreadsheet. But I definitely felt the difference both in the quality, and my enjoyment of the process. I'm currently plotting the next storyline, messily, into a notebook. Soon enough I'll need to get it digital to share with my team, but for now it's between me and the page, taking shape.

I also go back and forth on journaling longhand and by typing. While I prefer the experience of longhand, it's places like DW I come back to reference things. But again, when I'm untangling thoughts, I prefer longhand. Even if I never look at them again once I've written them down. They've still served their purpose.

[feast_of_regrets]

For learning, I think the act of writing by hand forces more engagement with the material precisely because it's more work; you have to restructure an idea to write it down by hand vs the ability to cut and paste on a computer. The idea passes through you to the paper because there's no other way for it to get there. Computers are terrible in terms of allowing you to keep too much, too fast rather than forcing an immediate sifting. (I'd be curious to know about testing manual typing versus computer typing. I feel like the engagement would be higher for manual type.)

For writing a novel out long hand? No. I've started that several times in my life, and never finished it. And journaling introduces another wrinkle, because let me tell you, I wish I had found Dreamwidth when it started and not just a couple of years ago. I have lost SO MANY notebooks in that time. Not that anything is ever permanent, but I'm much more confident that I'll still be able to find a thing on Dreamwidth in a couple years than in any of the notebooks I keep right now. Plus it's searchable! (That said, I am glad I added written journaling back to the mix. It really does help wake the mind up somehow.)

[havocthecat]

I do wish that I had an easy way to print out my entire DW for backup with good paper and ink; I have so many journal entries here. I do wonder how about the engagement level on manual typing vs computer typing, especially since you can't exactly erase with manual typing - it's a thing to be curious about.

[lunabee34]

Research supports this. People retain and understand information better when they take notes by hand in class rather than typing on a computer, for example.

[caramarie]

My handwritten journal is also what I write stories in (including novel-length stuff). I vastly prefer writing fiction longhand – it feels better to me, like my brain–paper connection works better than my brain–keyboard connection, and I also think I produce better work when I handwrite. So I don't mind that I still have to type it up afterwards.

Like ioplokon I also handwrite for language practice – Japanese in my case. I have a very bad visual memory, so I basically remember characters by what my hand does when I write them rather than what they look like. If I were only typing kanji, I would never learn them properly!

[kalloway]

Longhand is good for me and complicated stories because it ends up being another level of draft - one I can scribble all over and leave notes on and write silly things in the margins or point out where I need to go back and fix something. I don't do it enough, but it really is helpful when I do.

[malinaldarose]

I love writing by hand, but I can only rarely manage more than a paragraph due to repetitive stress injuries in my right arm.

[lunabee34]

As I said in a comment above, for most people, taking notes by hand (during class, a meeting, etc.) is superior for understanding and retention. I take all such notes and reading notes by hand and then type them up if they are something I want to save and access later.

I do most of my writing of academic articles and the little fic I now write on the computer. I might do some of the writing by hand if I'm like in a meeting and bored or something. But the majority of the composing will happen on the computer. With academic writing, I need to consult files of notes, use quotes I've typed out--it's just easier to have all of that there.