Writing by hand v. typing

[Jeff Xilon]

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.

 

[Justin Cary]

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.

 

[Addison]

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.

 

[Asura Levi]

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.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

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.

 

[Fyri]

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...

 

[duelingsith]

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.

 

[Svrtnsse]

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".

 

[ArthurWalterson]

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.

 

[Addison]

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.

 

[Fyri]

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.

 

[Draco99]

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

 

[Writeking]

forme typing seems to be easier

 

[Steerpike]

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.

 

[Writeking]

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

 

[Steerpike]

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.

 

[Butterfly]

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.

 

[Rinzei]

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.

 

[Xitra_Blud]

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.

 

[Sam Evren]

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.