Since I learned to write by hand, I can’t remember wanting to write because handwriting feels good (and therapeutic). Mostly, it was out of a need to take notes.
My fingers now swiftly dance with the keys (which used to be a struggle back in 2007), and I don’t have any problems translating my thoughts from mind to screen. It now feels second nature, like how it feels when I translate my thoughts from pen to paper.
But sometimes, my mind feels too fragmented when I type my thoughts. I also find it challenging to connect my ideas if I write them digitally. Perhaps it’s something about what it feels like when writing a word and constructing sentences as I press one letter to another. There’s no physical connection between words, unlike when I write them on paper. While watching the screen reflect the binary information I feed into it, I have to tell my mind what word each letter makes after pressing one key to the next. But they don’t feel as fluid as when I write them by hand. The spaces between words are all mental and they all feel too heavy in my head. And I can even be mentally absent while typing too—it doesn’t illicit the same level of engagement I get from handwriting.
However, when I write by hand, the space between words feels like a mental break because it feels more tangible every time I pause after moving a little bit to the right before writing another word again. The stroke I make from one letter to another, forming a word, becomes a mindful exercise, allowing my mind to engage better with the activity.
I wondered what makes handwriting a more mindful activity than typing, so I looked into the science.
From Comparing Memory for Handwriting versus Typing:
A comparison of recall and recognition for common words demonstrates that memory is better for words when they have been written down rather than when they are typed. This provides additional support for the hypothesis that the additional context provided by the complex task of writing results in better memory. With the recent trend towards electronic note taking, the educational and practical implications of these findings would suggest that performance may be improved by using traditional paper-and-pen notes.
From The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking:
The present research suggests that even when laptops are used solely to take notes, they may still be impairing learning because their use results in shallower processing. In three studies, we found that students who took notes on laptops performed worse on conceptual questions than students who took notes longhand. We show that whereas taking more notes can be beneficial, laptop note takers’ tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words is detrimental to learning.
From Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning:
Gripping a pen nimbly enough to write is a complicated task, as it requires your brain to continuously monitor the pressure that each finger exerts on the pen. Then, your motor system has to delicately modify that pressure to re-create each letter of the words in your head on the page.
“Your fingers have to each do something different to produce a recognizable letter,” says Sophia Vinci-Booher, an educational neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University. Adding to the complexity, your visual system must continuously process that letter as it’s formed. With each stroke, your brain compares the unfolding script with mental models of the letters and words, making adjustments to fingers in real time to create the letters’ shapes, says Vinci-Booher.
That’s not true for typing.
To type “tap” your fingers don’t have to trace out the form of the letters — they just make three relatively simple and uniform movements. In comparison, it takes a lot more brainpower, as well as cross-talk between brain areas, to write than type.
Even when the stark difference is convincing enough to switch to handwriting, especially when brainstorming, I never really felt enthusiastic about it until I bought a Muji pen.
After owning this knock-type smooth gel ink ballpoint pen, I now enjoy writing on paper while making sense of my ideas for my research paper. This doesn’t mean I abandon the practicality of digital writing (because it makes my work easier), but I now prefer handwriting when I need to think deeply and connect my seemingly disparate ideas because aside from helping me slow down, reflect better, and be more mindful, having this pen makes the immersive process fun!
The ink bleeds just right (and the ballpoint rolls soooo smooth!!!), making every stroke calming and meditative, allowing me to appreciate the self-expression of my handwriting.
Since college, I’ve been using the (G-Tec) Pilot rollerball pen. But now that I’ve switched to the Muji smooth gel ink ballpoint pen after a decade of using G-Tec, I think I’m not going back.
jessa 