Writing by hand v. typing

[Fyri]

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?

 

[Mythopoet]

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.

 

[Svrtnsse]

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.

 

[Ophiucha]

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.

 

[SeverinR]

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.

 

[Sia]

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

 

[druidofwinter]

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:

 

[brokethepoint]

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.

 

[skip.knox]

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.

 

[skip.knox]

accidental duplicate!

 

[Sia]

@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?

 

[Fyri]

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.

 

[Jamber]

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!

 

[ecdavis]

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.

 

[Devora]

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.

 

[Addison]

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.

 

[Fyri]

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.

 

[Steerpike]

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.

 

[skip.knox]

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.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

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.