Write by Hand or On the Keyboard?

Do you write by hand in a journal or notebook? Do you compose first drafts on yellow legal pads? Does your desk hold pens and pencils crammed into coffee cups, into spinning organizers, or jumbled in drawers? If you answered yes to any of the above, it’s a sure bet you like to create the old-fashioned way: using a pen or pencil to lay down, in your unique penmanship, one word after another. You let words flow from your mind down through the pen as your hand moves it slowly across the page. Connection! Longhand is about physicality, about the movement of your arm and hand and fingers to express your inner thoughts and emotions.

Experiment: compose by hand vs. keyboard

What you use to write with is a personal decision, but try an experiment. Leave your comfort zone and switch your method for a week to experience what happens. If you handwrite, use your computer (or typewriter if you still have one). OR if you type at the keyboard, dig out a pen or pencil you especially like. I use a sleek ballpoint pen whose weight feels satisfying in my fingers, whose point doesn’t scratch against the paper, rather flows the ink smoothly onto the page.

Give yourself a couple days and then assess. Do you notice any difference about the process, physically and/or mentally? How is the writing’s flow? Do you feel freer to make a mistake and keep going, or do you edit on the spot more often than you would if you were writing your usual way? Do you second-guess yourself more about what shows up on the computer screen (or typewritten page) or in your handwriting on paper?

Body language – written language

Let’s consider some ideas concerning body language affecting written language.

In her article, “Is It Better to Write by Hand or Computer?” published on the Psychology Today website (October 2, 2017), author Laura Deutsch clues us in:

“Many studies suggest that there are brain-friendly benefits of writing out letters, notes, essays, or journal entries by hand that you can’t get from typing. …

“Writing by hand connects you with the words and allows your brain to focus on them, understand them and learn from them. Other studies suggest that writing longhand is a workout for your brain. According to a Wall Street Journal article, some physicians claim that the act of writing—which engages your motor-skills, memory and more—is a good cognitive exercise for baby boomers who want to keep their minds sharp as they age. (See website, Mental Floss) Writing by hand helps people remember information and thus retain their memories as they age.”

The writer, the words, the point

Compared with ancient writers like philosopher Aristotle and poet Sappho and more recent authors like Jane Austin and later, Franz Kafka, we may be fortunate to have more writing instruments to select from and to use at different stages in our writing process. Or maybe these choices postpone or weaken the writing. Who can say for sure? For some writers, it may be best to commence a story on paper and finish it there. Others may type the whole thing on the computer, revising along the way until the end. Others may switch around and combine methods. One thing to remember is that we’re not always at the keyboard when we’re compelled to write. For ideas that hit you on the run, jot them down by hand in a notebook; you may forget them if you don’t. Eventually, though, if we plan to publish our work, even the most diehard hand-writers will have to face a computer and produce a digital copy.

Whichever way(s) we use to get the words out, we shall keep on writing, keep on working! That is, of course, more important than our methods. That is, of course, the writer’s point.