Perhaps you pen-lovers understand this...

Some people have a very hard time composing by hand, but for others it's the opposite. I'm one of those opposites. When writing by hand, my thoughts are clear, words flow easily, and overall, my compositions are much better. If possible, I do all of my first drafts longhand before going to the computer. Any time I need to think and my mind feels too full or overwhelmed, I try to write about it with pen and paper. When I do, my mind feels clearer because I'm able to process whatever was constipating it. There is something inhibiting about the computer that makes it hard to write. There are many distractions on a computer as opposed to a blank sheet of paper - this can't be the sole reason for choosing longhand, though.

Has any research been done connecting creativity (or whatever you'd call it) with the act of handwriting? The muscles controlling a typing hand are different from the muscles involved in handwriting, right? I think different parts of the brain stimulate handwriting, so the word choice is different. I'd love to see information about this concept. I hope I haven't been too abstract for you...

I am by no means a great writer, but I think I fell in the same category as you. I find that a tablet computer is a good compromise between productivity and enjoyment. It allows you to write with your hand and then convert it into typed text. The feeling of writring on a computer screen is not the same as on the paper, of course, and the choice of electronic pen tips is limited,but even then, it is much more pleasant than typing with a keyboard.

Having said that if I know eactly what to write, i.e. there is no need to think, then it is about 3 times faster to type than to write. (Yes, I did time it.)

I don't know about others, but I reckon I think more clearly and more creatively if I write by hand. I think it has something to do with attachment.

By this I mean: If you type up your ideas on a screen, you're just punching keys and making words. Anyone who's a good typist can do that, and it requires no forethought. Just whack it up there.

When you handwrite (in our collective case, with fountain pens), we're more attached with what we do. We have to take the time to slow down to write things by hand. Since this takes a longer time than typing, we spend more time thinking about what we're going to write. There's no backspace on a sheet of paper.

Therefore:

Writing with pen = Slower rate of transcription of thoughts = more time to think = Clearer & more concise/creative thoughts = better writing.

Yeah?

That's what I think.

With a computer, it's:

Type fast = get it up there quicker = less time to think = thoughts not so well-developed = Writing of questionable standard.

Of course this is all theory, I'm not a scientist by any means, but those are my thoughts. I've found that I think better and write better if I do it by hand rather than typing it up on a screen.

I "write" much better using a computer. I can think faster than I can write by hand, so the thoughts develop and get on the page without having to slow down. In fact, when I write by hand, I can actually forget what I had intended to compose; the flow get interrupted and I lose the thoughts.

That's an interesting question. I grew up writing and drafting longhand, and then when the transition came to using computers and word processors, I did notice that my writing style seemed to change. I eventually got used to drafting on the computer, but find myself returning to longhand for most purposes. I write in a journal almost daily, and take lecture notes when school is in session so my handwriting is very rapid and generally does keep up with the flow of my thoughts.

Part of the reason that I prefer to prepare papers longhand is that my preliminary notes tend to be non-linear: I often write in clusters and flow charts while organizing my thoughts, and that just seems to work better with pen and paper. I usually organize and outline on paper, and start getting the "sound" of my sentences down. I start to shift to the keyboard by the time I'm ready for full paragraphs.

I don't think that writing by hand necessarily inspires more creativity, and it might well have to do with the era you grew up in - what manual process you associate with development and organization of thought.

eta: during a parent meeting last year with my son's grade 4 teacher, I mentioned that I wanted him to spend more time composing by hand, and she said that she knew of studies that showed that composing by hand helped with more careful and organized thought processes. Apparantly because of the "time lag" of think it through, write, think it through, write. I can't verify that myself though.

Writing does not come easily to me. Saying what i want to say is a time consuming process. I would never attempt to go right to the computer to draft something. When i write i tend to cross things out a lot...but the option to add it back in is still there 'cause it's still on the paper. When you delete on the computer it's gone, period.

And i am much more 'connected' to the pen than to the keyboard...that relationship is part of the process of writing, for me. As an artist, i like the hands on aspect. I like the forming of letters and words...there's something creative (and artsy and fun) in that, and i think that creative 'tap' lends itself to the creative act of writing...for me.

I think the answer to Meredith's question varies depending on the type of person. There are so many variables...people think, feel, process, intuit, create, approach life in wide-ranging ways. I think for most of us, we take on those approaches (computer vs. handwriting) that 'fit' who we are and how we're put together.

~Jas

IMO the toughest part in writing is turning off the left-brain internal censor and setting the creative side free. Each writer has to find the way that works best, and finding the tool that does the trick can be a lifelong task (and even changes from day to day). Events like National Novel Writing Month help people get past the censor by demanding words without regard to quality. For others, pen and paper engage the senses and help sneak around the censor.

Sometimes I can "get into the zone" on computer, writing away until I look up in surprise and see how much time has passed. Other times it's best for me to play with pen and ink. I enjoy pen and ink more than computer, but it's nice to have a choice of tools depending on the mood.

This is an interesting topic. When I type on a keyboard I seem to write in "edit" mode. That is I pay attention to what is on the screen and my mind is already analyzing what I typed. When I write by hand, my mind is paying attention to what I am going to write so I am more into the "thought" than otherwise. That is one of the reasons I feel more connected when I write by hand...it just seems more like a conversation. Not sure if that makes sense or not. /Craig

Me too. The problem for me is that I write by "editing." When writing on a computer, I'll set down parts of sentences and ideas, then fill out the bits, rearrange, delete, cut paste etc. later. I'll begin a sentence, then delete it a number of times. Sometimes I'll write the end of a sentence, then leave that to go back later to write the beginning of it. Sometimes I know how to end a paragraph and will write that sentence, then go back and write the word road to that sentence.

None of this can be done with a pen. I am still teaching myself how to write with a pen. I don't mean write legibly with a pen, I can do that. I mean write coherently with a pen -- write by writing and not by editing. It's very difficult, but I'm getting the hang of it. Innocent victims of my handwritten correspondence receive letters with sentences that don't make a lot of sense, or change tense in midsentence, or abandon their mission before making their point.

Even when I do manage to write something coherent by hand, the resulting prose has a much different "tone" than my writing by keyboard. The two methods of writing connect to different parts of the brain, or different parts of the psyche. In other words, if I write about how my morning has been so far on the computer, then write the same thing by hand, I'll end up with two different mornings experienced.

Weird, but fun, this pen thing...

Doug

P.S. And boy, would I love to be able to hit the "edit" button on some of the letters I've sent...

I've written entire book manuscripts longhand. I've done the same on the computer. I differentiate the two by this concept: To me, typing is digital, while longhand is analog. Both methods work and sometimes when I'm in a bit of a rut using one I switch to the other and the words start moving again. Of course, then there is this incomplete work lying about which leads to filing nightmares.

Typing is definitely faster for me, but as others posted, I'm constantly editing instead of moving forward. Longhand seems better for those deeper "inner thought" passages of my characters.

Just the way it works for me.

Yup, I relate to what you said - it's the same for me.

I'm pretty much the same. That's why I got an AlphaSmart Neo - none of the email, internet, etc distractions of the computer but the speed and legibility of the keyboard. If I'm at my laptop I use the program Q10.

If I get stuck, I switch to long hand. And I journal by hand, because that's more personal...

I am solidly in the "compose in longhand" camp. I can't tell you the number of times I have sat staring at a computer monitor for a good hour or so with only two or three sentences to show for my effort, until finally I get wise and try longhand. Invariably my thoughts just flow straight onto the paper, almost as if the ink is some sort of liquefied thought. I have no explanation for it. Perhaps it is because I write slower than I type, so my brain has time to keep up with my writing!

When I write something out longhand, it turns out more formal than my computer-composed prose. I have completely different attitudes in the two situations. I have a few friends who collect my e-mails; they say they are going to publish them after I peg out. They don't comment about the things I write longhand and then transcribe to the Babbage AE. They probably hit the DELETE key. To each his dagnabbed blond-haired, blue-eyed own.

Paddler

I enjoy writing longhand, especially now that I've re-discovered fountain pens. Once in a great while I will slam down something really fast straight to the computer, but I find myself 'adding' scenes, dialog, and so on by hand, on whatever piece of paper is closest to my favorite pen.

I think I write in two different modes depending on whether I'm typing or handwriting.

Writing stories is definitely easier on the computer. I don't edit as I go because it's so easy to do that afterwards. I can just get into the flow of the story as I hear it inside my head and type it up. I also type much faster than I can write - legibly anyway - and I don't have to spare any thought for letter formation and all the other things that make handwriting such an art.

On the other hand hand writing makes me think more about what I'm writing as well as how I'm writing it. I hate crossing out and I hate white-out even more so unless I'm writing in pencil, I'm much more careful in handwriting. So handwriting is best for thoughtful, analytical writing like journalling or letters to really old friends or even composing a prayer.

I don't know if there's a scientific explanation. I asked my psychologist wife but she's not aware of any research into this topic. So if anyone's stuck for a PhD topic they'd have plenty of guinea pigs here, wouldn't they?

I suspect that different people have developed different habits. If I am outlining an article or book chapter, or entire book, I usually do it first by hand. I also write personal letters by hand. I choose the color of ink to fit the recipient. (My daughter has a green thumb, so she gets letters in green ink--usually Herbin Lierre Sauvage.)

But if I am writing an article for publication, it goes much faster on the keyboard. And correction is easier. (When I used to use a typrwriter, I would triple space to leave plenty of room for revisions.)

Now, I will print out a draft and revise by hand, then enter on the keyboard and do further editing as I go. It is amazing how many mistakes slip through even three or four readings! I definitely make more mistakes on the keyboard, but I type at least twice as fast as I can write, so it evens out in the end.

I have been interested in computer typesetting and actually set two of my books in type, using the TeX system. However, when my publisher wanted a file in MS Word, I had to do a laborious conversion, so now I just write directly in MS Word.

I keep a journal by hand, but in the past I have kept one on a computer for several years. The one by hand is more intimate, though I must confess that I have no scandals to record.

I've taught Advanced Placement English in a high school for the past 10 years. I wanted to try an experiment about 5 years ago with my class. I gave them each a fountain pen.......I had managed to finagle about 16 pens over the summer on ebay and from friends.
I taught them how to use the pens.....we had a class on how to hold the pens, fill them, write with them. And I supplied all of the ink......about 10 bottles of Private Reserve, Noodler's, Pelikan, Aurora.....for them to try. I always kept the ink, some water to rinse, and some cloths to dry the nibs in a filing cabinet in the classroom.
I began to find that when they wrote with fountain pens, they wrote.....first...slower, more deliberately. And they thought more before they wrote. Invariably, they wrote better with the pens.
And, as a bonus, I have instilled the love that we on the forum have for pens. Many have asked their parents to buy them a fountain pen for graduation. They like the Pelikan 200, the Sailor Sapporo, the Lamy Safari, the Heroes, and the Parker 45's and 21's and some find the Parker 51's.
On a special day, I bring all of my pens and let them write with whatever they like. (I hold my breath on this one!) And they are astounded at the difference among fountain pens.

Now, each year, I scrounge around for ebay bargains and some of my pen friends have chipped in (thanks Lisa!) and try to supply each with a pen.
I now have 4 pens, and have to come up with about 12 more.
I have a Hero 329, a Lamy Safari, and 2 Reforms.

I can say this with confidence.......creativity, better compositions, and inspiration DO INDEED come with writing with a fountain pen!!

My mom, whose background is in psychology, claims that typing engages both sides of her brain by using both hands, and thereby makes her writing better. I tend to go a little ADD when I use a computer because of websites like the NY Times, Facebook, and THIS SITE, so hand-writing things allows me to concentrate better.

I've heard that it's a good idea to switch your writing habits whenever you're stuck. If you write first drafts longhand, switch to the computer, and vice versa. Seems to work for me!

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

About halfway down the article, some interesting comments about the effect on Nietzsche's writing when he switched from longhand to a typewriter.

I type and use Google Notebook or my Presario laptop when I take notes or research.

I write in longhand to outline a story and to fill out descriptions when planning a character. The outline is then transferred to computer and added to.

I write in longhand when I'm stuck on a scene. Writing by hand is meditation to me, it slows down my brain. I've found it's essential to write something with a FP or I start feeling frustrated and irritated for no reason at all.

I tend to write out first drafts by hand. I feel like it narrows down my concerns to the meaning of the words. I write a lot of poetry, and line lengths are much more easily negotiated on a computer - but the flow and sound of the words need to come first. Line breaks and line length can be worked out in later drafts, after I've crystallized all the fine colors of a poem.

I frankly find that not being able to go back and delete, cut-paste, and retype stuff forces me to write it better the first time, which is the whole idea.

Best,
Summer

Anybody can tap keys to make words on a computer screen and anyone can pick up a pen (yes, even a fountain pen) and make words on a bit of paper. If you are capable of the creative part of writing then the rest is just about which tools you like to use to craft your product. And if you're not capable of the creative part then all the Moleskines and all the Noodlers ink in the world isn't going to make the slightest bit of difference.