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.

[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.

[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.

[sporky_rat]

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

[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.

[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.)

[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.