# Writing by hand v. typing



## Rhizanthella (May 29, 2013)

Writting by hand versus typing has been a dispute in my mind for the longest time. Everyone in my creative writing clas in high school went straight to typing their work. My first draft is always done by hand. I find that writing by hand just helps me feul my creative juices. Typing feels like a creative juice drain. I have to write my stories by hand and then type them later for editing and bad hand-writing reasons, but there's nothing like a pencil in hand and composition book on desk.
Obviously other people feel the opposite and prefer typing all the way. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both forms. Which do you prefer when writing and why?


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## Mythopoet (May 29, 2013)

I also prefer pen and paper first. I like to use legal pads when writing (a habit picked up from my grandfather) and then do light editing when I type it up after. This gives me a pretty clean manuscript to work from later on. After all, J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in notebooks. If it was good enough for him it's good enough for me.


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## Svrtnsse (May 29, 2013)

I'm the other way around. I haven't written anything I couldn't fit on a post-it note in the past five years. Partially, it's because I'm unused to handwriting and the last time I wrote something longer my hand started aching.
Mainly though, it's just that much more convenient for me. I get my text in an easily readable format, I can change things on the fly and I can try out different spellings or wordings without having to fill an entire sheet of paper with scratched out words. I also don't have to transfer anything from paper to digital. I also enjoy the act of pressing down the keys on the keyboard - using both my hands and all (well, most) of my fingers.
I'm also a faster typist than I am a writer and I guess that's also a factor. 

It's easy to draw a parallel to the ebook vs paper book debate. Some people feel that the act of turning the pages and feeling the weight of the book in their hand enhances their reading experience. Others feel that it's the story that matters and that the convenience of a kindle outweighs that of traditional books.

I guess there's more to it than that when it comes to writing vs typing though. It's as someone mentioned in the "writing while intoxicated" thread; it's about the rituals surrounding your work. If writing by hand squeezes the creative juices out of your muse's orange then that's the way to brew it. It's just not for me.


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## Ophiucha (May 29, 2013)

For basically the same reason as Mythopoet, I write my first drafts by hand and then type them up so I can edit as I go. Gives me a cleaner first draft once it's at a state where I could ever feasibly share it with anyone, plus I find it easier to think when I'm working more with my hands. I realize typing is also 'with my hands', but there's something therapeutic about doodling over writer's block and tapping or chewing your pen and being able to see the lines you struggled with over crossed out words and eraser marks. Just helps me think better, and I'm not on the computer when I do it so I'm less likely to wander over to tumblr.


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## SeverinR (May 29, 2013)

I type better then I write.
For me, words flow into a keyboard better then they flow into a pen.
Editing is alot easier to fix a mistake, or make changes.
Editing on paper is erasing or lining through and trying to plug the correction into the mess.
Believe me, reading what I wrote the first time is hard enough without trying to squeeze a change in later.

I started writing when I was a teen, then got busy in life and forgot about it. Wrote more on a remote assignment in Greece. But it didn't flow. I would think of what to say, then try to write it with a pen, then think of what happens next.
I decided to teach myself to type, so I created a scene and wrote it, it flowed out easily.
Typing I can write words alot faster without destracting me from my train of thought much at all.


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## Sia (May 29, 2013)

I prefer typing, mainly because I can actually read what I typed later.


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## druidofwinter (May 29, 2013)

Sia said:


> I prefer typing, mainly because I can actually read what I typed later.



Yup, same here. I tried writing by hand, but found i could not translate my written work into English. :redface:


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## brokethepoint (May 29, 2013)

I will use pen and paper for the planning out phase.

Once I get to the writing I gotta use a computer, I cannot write as fast as my brain will go.  Being able to type at a close pace to what my brain is doing helps to keep the thought flowing and catch the wording in the original thought.


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## skip.knox (May 29, 2013)

I write by hand for a couple of reasons. Very sensible reasons, which ought to cause the entire world to imitate me yet somehow does not. ;-)

One, I can carry a small notebook with me anywhere and everywhere. This lets me jot down notes and fragments whenever the opportunity arises. I can't do that with any sort of electronic device. If it's large enough for practical typing, it's too big. If it's small enough, it's too small for practical typing. And voice input isn't practical in many settings.

Two, I can't doodle on a computer. I'm an incessant doodler, especially when I'm thinking. 

A third, less persuasive, reason is that the computer offers me too many distractions. Yes, I know about the many ways in which these can be minimized, but I have to take the time to implement them and I simply don't. My paper notebook, otoh, offers me no opportunities for distraction, other than origami.

But, honestly, whatever works for you is what's best. No medium is inherently superior. It's a matter of matching the human to the device.


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## skip.knox (May 29, 2013)

accidental duplicate!


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## Sia (May 29, 2013)

@brokethepoint

Heh, well, I'm dyspraxic which means ... well, clumsy child syndrome is the old name.  Basically, I don't need alcohol to fail roadside sobriety tests.  What's _your _excuse?

On another note, any chance of seeing you in the brainstorming and planning forum?


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## Rhizanthella (May 29, 2013)

I, too, love the fact that writing by hand is more portable. However, I suppose one could carry a laptop, but there is risk of it dying. Plus, I'm always going back and writing notes on the side to change things or emphasis things later. I guess with a computer, one could simply change it on the spot without cramming the extra words into a small space on a line. But I also write jokes to myself in the margins, and I can't do that in Word documents. 
I've also found that when I'm writing by hand, my thoughts are more developed. When I'm typing, my hands go faster than the sentence I create and therefore are half-finished or not thought out by the time I have to pause. 
Writing by hand can lead to my hand tiring out and my brain exploding with the words I need to write while I let my hand rest. That's why I type my editiled copy. My hands really don't get tired of typing a long time.


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## Jamber (May 29, 2013)

I type fast, and there's nothing like typing when writing the actual draft and the work flows. However longhand is terrific for planning and just simply meditating while writing.
Still, it's been ages since I set out to write an entire draft using pen and paper. I'm impressed people still do!


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## ecdavis (May 29, 2013)

When I first tried my hand (no pun intended) at writing, I was a teenager and it was in the dark ages before computers and even most word processors.   I had a typewriter, but I wrote all my stuff in various notebooks, then started typing it up.   I remember getting terrible hand cramps from long hours writing.  

Now I sit in my living room on a laptop and type and writing it by hand seems rather old-fashioned, though I certainly do understand the appeal.   I think the main advantage of typing is the spell checking and the ease of editing.   You can save your work to multiple places and be less worried that you are going to lose it in a fire, flood or by a devious pet.   

However, it does feel more individual when you write it out, though if you share it, everyone will see how poorly you spell, unless you tread very carefully and have a good dictionary.   

One really embarrassing thing that happened to me when I wrote as a teen is that I used to spell 'Maybe' without the Y.   I'm not sure why I thought it was spelled that way, but it was one of those misspelled words that looks right to you.   I was letting a friend read something I had written and he asked me what 'Mabe' was.   I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, so he pointed out the word I had written and I said, "You mean maybe?".   After he finished laughing, he opened the dictionary and to my surprise and complete horror, he was right and not long after that I decided that a Word Processor with a spell checker would be a great thing to have.   

I ended up going through several notebooks of hand-written stories and adding the 'Y' to every 'mabe' I found.   So I would say that if you do write stuff out, be sure you are a good speller or you'll look like an idiot as I did.


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## Devora (May 29, 2013)

I don't have a preference towards either because i've done it both ways.

I have 2 short stories where i've penned it first and then typed, where as my WIP novel is solely typed out.


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## Addison (May 29, 2013)

How I write depends on where I am in what kind of story. If it's the beginning of a new story I bounce between typing and writing. If it's a story in progress I can usually type it up easiest. But if I'm stuck on something (writer's block or just stuck) then putting a pen or pencil to paper works best.


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## Rhizanthella (May 29, 2013)

ecdavis said:


> When I first tried my hand (no pun intended) at writing, I was a teenager and it was in the dark ages....
> 
> ...One really embarrassing thing that happened to me when I wrote as a teen is that I used to spell 'Maybe' without the "Y"



I guess it is weird that even though I had technology at my fingertips when I made the unconscious decision to write I still wrote with my crappy handwriting in my composition notebooks that I'm so paranoid a Tornado will swipe from me someday. One would think I would have started out typing as this is the technological era... 
On the subject of spelling, I typically write (sp) next to a word that I'm unsure about. Until I write guard as gaurd and my friend has to correct me later with several notes in the margins. I always have my phone ready beside me when I write with Dictionary.com installed and ready for spellcheck and thesaurus use. However, having technology so close to me can be my downfall and distract me from my notebook sitting open right in front of me... this being a key example.


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## Steerpike (May 29, 2013)

I write my first draft by hand, with my trusty fountain pen. Creativity flows better for me when writing by hand. Then I type up the draft and do an initial edit at the same time.


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## skip.knox (May 30, 2013)

OK, I did say I write the initial draft by hand. I'm 61, so I doubt I'll change that habit. 

But, if it's anything *at all* that I want kept, I type it up. And I type it directly into a file on Dropbox so that I instantaneously have a backup. That comment is prompted by Rhizanthella's worry over tornadoes. I share the worry, which is why I use cloud storage.


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## A. E. Lowan (May 30, 2013)

I tend to mix things up a bit.  When my writing partner and I are working together, I make her write everything down because my handwriting is terribad.  Always has been, and it's just getting worse as I age.  Even in kindergarten, my teachers complained.  *sigh*  Sometimes if I'm a little stuck I'll take a notebook to another room and work there, but once the juices start flowing I'm back in the chair at the keyboard.  Eventually, everything MUST get typed in sooner than later, because if too much time passes I can't read what I wrote.

I used to have notebooks all over the place crammed with notes, but then I had a problem with losing individual notes, which sucked.  However, I discovered I had OneNote installed on my computer (yes, I am that dense) and it's _wonderful_!  I transcribed all my story notes into it, and now I pretty much work at the keyboard all the time, with only one notebook for when I am out and about.


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## Jeff Xilon (May 30, 2013)

See now, maybe I'm weird, but while I do almost all of my writing, and especially first drafts, on the computer I really like, whenever possible, to do at least one edit pass with printouts and a pencil in my hand sitting comfortably somewhere away from the computer.


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## Justin Cary (May 30, 2013)

Let me thrown in another possibility. I like to dictate onto a voice recorder first then transcribe my dictation at the end of the day. The convenience of being able to hit a button and talk something out is great because I don't lose ideas looking for paper and I can have the little digital recorder with me at all times. Second, It only takes about five minutes of audio for me to hit my daily writing goal when I go to dictate it. Thirdly, when I do sit down to dictate I can hear my mistakes as the audio plays and my mind is free to edit as I go.


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## Addison (May 30, 2013)

I tried the dictating, once, years ago, it didn't work. I couldn't get it out through my mouth as clearly and thoroughly as I saw it in my head. That's why typing and writing works better for me.


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## Asura Levi (May 30, 2013)

Well, for me, if I write it first my thoughts are faster than my hand and it feel it doesn't progress, yet, as someone pointed out, the ideas are better developed in this case why when I type it, I had to stop many times to fully 'see' the scene.

When I need to change something, by typing, I aways delete it to rewrote while when I'm hand writing I just add notes and notes and in the end I have plenty of ideas that eventually merge.

Still, hand writing is tiresome.


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## A. E. Lowan (May 31, 2013)

One thing that's interesting about the typing vs. writing vs. talking discussion is that all three techniques engage different parts of the brain.  Take me, for example.  Recently, I've had a breakdown with some of my medications that has affected my speech and my writing, but not my typing.  Weird, isn't it?  I'll mean to say one thing, and another thing comes out of my mouth.  Now, I actually hear what I meant to have said, and have no idea until my partner slows me down to verify.  And my handwriting, always horrible, had just gotten bizarre.  But my typing is entirely unaffected, as you can see.

I think that is why typing works so well for some people, and writing works well for others, and then you have those who swear by dictation.  I have heard of authors who have changed from one technique to another who's writing styles have changed noticeably.  It's because we are filtering ideas and images through different parts of our brains.  The brain is a neat thing.


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## Rhizanthella (May 31, 2013)

That's definitely neat! I never thought about it that way. I always kinda felt insecure when everyone around me was typingnand I was sitting around writing. It's just different brain functions! Brains are weird. I wonder why that is and what part affects what...


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## duelingsith (May 31, 2013)

I kind of do a mixture--when a scene pops into my head, I generally draft it out on paper. All the "in-between" stuff, though, is usually just typed.


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## Svrtnsse (Jun 1, 2013)

Also, when on the laptop I usually have wifi access which means I'm able to do fact-checks quicker. Like: "when do apples trees bloom" or "how's that word actually spelled".


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## ArthurWalterson (Jun 1, 2013)

If I am going to write something LONG, I prefer to write it on the computer. But I usually only do that if I have a story in mind. The computer sometimes seems to block my imagination.

I feel that pen-and-paper can be a bit more "natural" and is good if I just want to start up a new story without planning ahead much.


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## Addison (Jun 3, 2013)

What really suck is if you have a great scene and you either a.) write it so fast you can't read your own hand writing. b.) type is so fast that you hit the wrong keys or such to make pages of gibberish and/or red squiggles. Strangely I've found drinking soda or something sweet helps calm my brain.


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## Rhizanthella (Jun 4, 2013)

Ha, I should switch to typing as my hand writing is so bad. My friend just recently compared reading it to trying to decipher the Wing Dings font. Eh, longhand is what I find most comfortable. If I can read it, thats all that matters until the final draft. By then I typically do type anyway, as I mentioned before.


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## Draco99 (Jun 4, 2013)

Writing by hand, you could say is much more portable, as a PC/laptop runs from electricity or a battery

To further elaborate on how writing pen on paper is more inspiring, imagine sitting back, looking out on the azure beach writing your latest pieces of work

My opinions may not be the best (I am only 12). It doesn't really matter how neat it is, preferably, only you should be reading your work until you are confident


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## Writeking (Oct 3, 2013)

forme typing seems to be easier


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## Steerpike (Oct 3, 2013)

I write by hand because I've always felt that for me, personally, it boosts my creativity and makes me think in ways I do not when typing. Interestingly, I thought this was something peculiar to me for many years, but recently I've read a few articles supporting the idea that you're more creative when you're engaging your brain and hand in the process of writing the old-fashioned way.


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## Writeking (Oct 3, 2013)

i find that typing goes much faster for me. spellcheck and word auto fill are great extras to have


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## Steerpike (Oct 3, 2013)

Writeking said:


> i find that typing goes much faster for me. spellcheck and word auto fill are great extras to have



I type faster, but the quality and creativity isn't as good. Quality > quantity.


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## Butterfly (Oct 3, 2013)

I wouldn't out too much faith in a spellchecker. It can't differentiate between words such as council / counsel, and I find it's often wrong when it comes to certain grammar points. However, it is good at spotting passivity in my writing and at catching the typos, and I find those are the only real advantages.


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## Rinzei (Oct 4, 2013)

Story-writing is typing - I have a heavy hand and it cramps quick. Plus, my typing can keep up with my thoughts.

For notes, however, I find handwriting them better because I REMEMBER things better when I write them down. So I tend to scribble a few notes down, then type them out onto my Google Drive. But because I've remember them and they're more like guides, I end up thinking more on the idea than just marking it down and flesh it out more as I'm typing it.


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## Xitra_Blud (Oct 22, 2013)

I prefer typing. I agree with you on the writing juices thing, but the last time I wrote something by hand I wrote 470 notebook pages and they all got mixed up and wrinkled. I got lazy and only the first chapter made it to the computer. I understand that it works for others, but I vowed to never write another novel by hand again.


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## Sam Evren (Oct 24, 2013)

When I started writing, basically everything "formal" was done on typewriters. Of course, correcting a typewritten page could be tricky at best and an utter disaster at worst. Between getting tied up in correction ribbons, covered in White-Out, and manually aligning the keys to be struck-over, it was often better---for me at least---to just restart the page and hope for the best.

At that time, writing by hand worked better for me.

As time went on, however, that changed. To be honest, I think, what changed it was computer gaming.

Before the advent of MMOs, I was into MUDs (multi-user-dimension/dungeon). These were essentially text-based online role-playing games. I played one in particular for years and made many friends.

Though I'd actually had "formal" education in the use of typewriters, nothing gave me the speed or clarity of thought in typing like having a conversation in the MUD. Whether it was one-on-one or a round table discussion, I eventually learned to type at a conversational speed---certainly too fast to completely engage my entire brain, at times. As a matter of fact, just manipulating the game environment---moving your character, examining an object, or engaging in combat---required some adept use of a keyboard.

While writing on a typewriter was slow, handwriting for me wasn't much faster. Corrections were easier, but the letters log-jammed my thoughts while I was trying to get them from head to pen to paper.

Learning, quite accidentally, to so increase my speed with typing (on a computer) actually let me be more creative. I could finally get the words out with the fluidity that handwriting (and typewriting) lacked.

Today, I will take notes by hand, but even then, I prefer to type when I can. Somewhere in all those long past conversations, in the exploration of mythical text-based lands, I found my voice in the clicks of a keyboard.


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## Bruce McKnight (Oct 24, 2013)

I prefer typing for a number of reasons, the first of which is that I would eventually have to type what I wrote out anyway and it just seems redundant. I don't get any creative boost from writing by hand so it would just be a waste for me.


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## Sevundas (Oct 25, 2013)

I type for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I'm perfectionist to the point that I write slow and I get distracted with erasing letters that don't look right...which, admittedly, is kind of ridiculous. The kookier-looking letters irk me, and by the time I've corrected them, I have to go find my derailed train of thought again. Add that to the extra erasing done as I constantly phrase and rephrase sentences in my head, and writing pages by hand becomes an unbelievably huge pain in the neck. 

Instead, I chase fragmented ideas around in my head - and then brain vomit all over Notepad.


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## Jackarandajam (Oct 29, 2013)

Typing is practical, and it doesn't seem to negatively affect my creative flow…

But what about the notebook section in your local bookstore? Does it not CALL to you?? i have some absolutely beautiful journals that i very much enjoy writing in. Admittedly, i have more than i am currently using, but have plans for every leather-bound one of them!

One in particular is a beautiful thing. Leather-bound, unlined/off-white pages, substantial in thickness with the raised image of a dragon on the cover. The back cover folds partially over the front, and it ties with a bit of leather string.

This is becoming my "World Bible", not in the religious sense of the word. Basically, it is the Encyclopedia Brittanica of my created work. Language, peoples, flora, fawna, timeline/history, so on. I would encourage this practice to everyone. yes, keep it on file, but something about putting it in THE BOOK holds a special kind of meaning.

my other notebooks are for writing in the sunshine, in the truck, in the woods, on a picnic, while skydiving, and all of the other places that a computer (or in my case, an iPad and compatible keyboard) would be damaged or impractical.

But everything, EVERYTHING, gets typed. HuntNpeck system for me, but even still.


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## Steerpike (Oct 29, 2013)

I don't know that everyone will see (or at least consciously notice) a creative difference, but it stands to reason that your brain is working differently when doing one versus the other, simply because of the different mechanical motions.


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## Ireth (Oct 29, 2013)

Ah, beautiful notebooks... they are a blessing and a curse to me. I keep getting them as gifts, but as soon as I have them, I'm afraid to write in them for fear of marring the beautiful pages! I use nice, simple lined Hilroy notebooks for handwriting my drafts, mainly novels (though not all of my novels had a handwritten draft).


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## David Toft (Oct 30, 2013)

For me it's a matter of location. If I'm at home I'll type, if I'm anywhere else it's pen and paper. Time not writing is time wasted to me, so I write on the bus to and from work and while I'm waiting for appointments, or for someone to turn up at the pub (I'm always early). This gives me at least an extra hour's writing time every day - valuable time when you need to keep down a full-time day job.


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