Why Writing By Hand First Can Help You Write Better

Posted: November 2, 2022 by Mary Oluonye

Writing by hand (longhand) or direct to computer? I’ll choose pen and paper first. Every time.

I love it.

It all began once upon a time when I was a child in Enugu, Nigeria. My dad used to bring home long sheets of engineering draft paper – unlined white crinkly paper, which we, the kids would spread out on the cool tile floors in our bedrooms and then proceed to lie on the floor writing and illustrating our stories with pencils and crayons.

Writing by hand was a perfect way to spend hours of time

What bliss!

Later in life as I sat in university lecture halls during microbiology, parasitology, organic chemistry, anatomy and physiology and a host of other classes, I’d write copious notes by hand and developed the skill of writing down the essential information I needed to know.

I noticed that I remembered and retained the knowledge I had written by hand, more clearly than just by reading the textbook.  In fact, I supplemented textbook reading with my own notes.

I ran across a 2014 Study that indicated what I had noticed all along. You learn and remember more, conceptually, when you take notes by hand. Needless to say, I did quite well in those courses. I really enjoyed them.

It is not inconceivable that writing by hand may help you better remember or keep track of the different aspects and details of your work or storyline as you write as compared to typing it out first.

When I write books, or anything really, I always start with pen and paper.  Rarely do I type first. Except for informal email messages.  It has something to do with how my brain works.

When I write by hand it’s as though my thoughts form and wrap themselves into cohesion as the impulses flow from my brain down to my fingers.

The creative process occurs at lightning speed as nerve impulses race down my arm and as the words begin to flow from fingers to page.

I am creating as my fingers write. Laser focused.

When I write by hand, everything else fades into the background because my attention is completely centered on capturing all the thoughts before they rush past me.

Ten to fifteen minutes after this process begins, I’ll enter into a zone where my  brain works faster and faster and I have to write faster to keep up. And while the first few pages of writing may be rusty or downright bad, the more I write the better, more cohesive the writing becomes.

Ever wonder why sometimes you read over something you’ve written when you were in the zone and you say to yourself, “Wow! This is good.” It almost feels as though someone else wrote it.  For me, this is the best feeling in the world. I never get this sensation when I type directly on a keyboard.

And another thing that happens is that when I write by hand and get into the zone, I find that I don’t have to edit as much when I go back over what I have written.

I am fully engaged in creating and editing, consciously and unconsciously.

When creating and typing directly on the keyboard, which I do very occasionally, it actually takes me longer to get a final copy that I’m satisfied with.  I don’t seem to get into a writing fast and creatively writing zone. 

Perhaps it’s because I’m continually distracted by the blue and red wavy lines popping up on the screen informing me of some mistake.

Or maybe it’s because I’m too busy making sure my fingers are positioned above the correct keys. 

I keep having to resist making small corrections in spacing, spelling and grammar as I type.  So while typing would seem faster at first, it does not end up saving me time at all. 

It seems counter-intuitive, but I save time when I write everything out by hand, and then type and save what I have written.

There’s something so satisfying about seeing the evidence of my writing and creativity on paper in my own handwriting.

I can write wherever I go. All I have to do is carry along pens and paper – on a plane, at the park, library or café. I can write where there is no electricity, no battery charges, no equipment. I can write in bed, or cruising down a river in a small boat!

Just pen, paper and my brain, and I am set.

Here are just a few well-known authors who sometimes write by hand – J.K Rowling, Kristen Hannah, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Joyce Carol Oates.

What about you? What’s your experience? What works best for you?

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