So, I’m a writer.
I don’t remember if I heard it in a podcast, or if it’s a quote, but someone once said that if you write things you can claim yourself as a writer. No, I’m not published. I haven’t even technically finished a thing, unless you count a children’s book I wrote and illustrated in middle school. But, I’m a writer because I write things. And my favorite way to write things is by hand!
(Did you see that segway!? I told you I’m a writer!)
In a world of macbook pros and clouds it’s hard to see the benefits of a physical copy, but it’s still my favorite way to write. It’s not fast, it’s not easily accessible, there’s no back-up, and everything is spelled incorrectly, but nonetheless, I love it. So if you’re interested in the opinion of novice, nobody writer like myself, here’s the 5 reasons I still write by hand:
#1 It Flexes Both Sides of Your Brain!
You know when you are taking notes and write a really cool looking letter? Or when you sign a check and you want to take a picture of your signature because it just looks too bomb to forget? As both a writer and an artist, that’s my high.
The formulation of words and comprehension of language are controlled by the left side of your brain and when you type on the computer that is the only thing you need. But when you physically form the letters with your hand it also uses the right side of your brain, your creative side.
You don’t technically need your creative brain to write; putting words into sentences and sentences into coherent paragraphs is a strictly logical side function. However, there’s a reason it’s called “creative writing.” When you’re putting those words in sentences and paragraphs to create a story, it’s helpful to activate that creative side while in the process of putting words together.
#2 Less Distractions
It’s been said that millennials have concentration problems… We get distracted easily… It’s true, but it’s not our fault! We grew up smack dab in the age of computers. We were babies when the internet was a baby and we matured together hand in hand. So it’s not hard to understand why now, as fully fledged adults, when we are on a computer we have a lot of different things that we want to look at, a lot of sites to go to, a lot of internet to be explored.
An easy way to fix that when you’re trying to get something written? Don’t be on the computer at all! It’s a lot more difficult to get distracted from your writing when all you have at your fingertips is a blank notebook instead of all the information in the world.
#3 Better for Your Eyes
This one is very self-explanatory, but I’m 26 now, I don’t have the luxury of playing games with my health. Backlit screens are bad for your eyes. Periodt. Is this considered common knowledge yet?
#4 Forces Better Comprehension of Whatever You’re Writing
This is probably my number one reason for writing things out by hand: Imagine instead of typing out and backspacing the same sentence 3 times, you think out exactly how you want to say something and then write it down one time. What a world.
My biggest struggle with writing, especially when I’m working on my novel, is editing as I write. I can’t get the words onto the page without going back and changing them at least a dozen times. I live on thesaurus.com. It’s literally on my bookmarks bar. So writing by hand forces me to write without editing, because you better believe I’m not going to scribble up my cool new notebook with editing marks or waste all the ink in my cool new pen crossing out full paragraphs just to change the word flow. Fellow writers, you get it.
#5 Brain Stimulation
When’s the last time you had to think about how to spell something? Like, really think about it without auto-correct holding your hand? Yeah, that’s not good for your brain. Writing by hand is linked to increased memory too, so once you finally figure out how to spell that word you’ll remember how to spell it in the future.
Sooooo, you’re welcome. I’ve given you five legitimate excuses to buy a new notebook. If anyone has anymore please let me know, I’ve exhausted all of these. Also, let me know if I’m alone in this stance! I can’t be the only one who writes by hand even though I know I’ll transcribe it directly into google drive so all of my writing can never be dramatically lost in a flood or fire or puppy-chewing accident. Hey, the latter is the most probable and you know it.
Dabbling Adult 