O Come All Ye Mighty: The Handwritten vs. Keyboard Method

The number of unused notebooks on my shelf is enough to make to make me feel like an enemy of the environment. The first story I had ever written was with a pencil and a paper. I wrote many stories after that and notebooks became my best friends. A notebook is something you could write a whole series of short stories and poems in and when you close it, it feels like you are holding your very own multiverse in your hands.

I typed my first poem on a screen, and it made me feel like a modern writer. After getting my own laptop in college, typing seemed like the only thing I knew. Though I rarely record my ideas and stories on paper now, I am filled with an inexpiable excitement when I lay eyes on a beautifully decorated notebook, especially when it possesses a quote on the cover. Now I have a serious case of writer’s block and it had me wondering where I went wrong. The fact is that there are people like me who wonder if the handwriting method still works in the present as it had in the past or if they should switch to a more contemporary method that is the keyboard. This debate implies that there is a solution for all.

In his article “Why Creative Writing Is Better with a Pen”, Lee Rourke from The Guardian is concerned that there are less people like him who write long hand in the modern world. He is relieved to find that handwritten first drafts is a common practice among

professional writer such as Jon McGregor. Rourke make it clear that he believes handwriting to be more beneficial to the creative writing process than typing. He also has a notebook obsession which is on a whole other level (or maybe it’s because he’s not on the “college student” budget). He states,

“Everything I've ever written was composed in notebooks first. I have hundreds of them filled with my scribbles tucked away in boxes. I also buy them obsessively, so I probably have just as many empty notebooks lying around the house ready and waiting to be filled. I find that writing longhand I can enter a zone of comfort I find hard to achieve when sitting in front of a screen – I find typing annoying, if I'm honest, not the mechanics of it, but the sound. The constant tap-tap-tap-tap on the keyboard reminds me of all the offices I've worked in…I feel like I'm signing off invoices rather than writing my next novel.”

Rourke believes that unlike the keyboard, the pen and paper can form an “uninterrupted connection between thought and language”. He believes that typing on a computer leads to many distractions which includes the internet. I admit that I can go check the internet once in a while when I type my stories, but it is because of the quick research I do while in the midst of typing a scene. To switch from the notebook to the computer to find a name or the right word for a sentence breaks my flow. I can stay in my zone when I can find answers and continue my work in the same space that is my laptop. It feels more organized.

In Melissa Lewis Grimm’s article “Handwriting Verses Typing: The best Method for Typing”, she also describes herself as a fan often handwriting method, despite generally typing her articles. She reveals that despite the modern world’s obsession with computers, writers such as Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, J.K. Rowling all write handwritten first drafts. Grimm

proceeds to list the benefits of the mighty pen. It slows down your thinking and as a result, gives you more time to process them. Handwriting gives you more focus. With paper, you can express your thoughts as you can make graphic notes and mind maps which would not be possible on a computer. Sounds messy. Sounds like me.

Unfortunately, I can’t afford to slow down my thoughts. Good ideas escape me, and I can’t lose my train of thought if I want to beat my writer’s block. Fret not, computer lovers, because Grim also lists the advantages of the typing method. Typing accelerates your thinking process and your writing. It is a better method for those who like to save time. Recording your thoughts on a computer make it easier to save, find and share your work. Editing text is easier thanks to copy and paste features, which for me, is a heaven sent because I am not a fan of rewriting blocks of text.

To get a more personal take on the subject, I contacted my literary Journal Professor Bryan Parys who views the pen verses keyboard debate a little differently. He states,

“For me, how and where a writer composes comes down whether it inspires the writer and gives them energy to keep writing. I’ve met writers who have created artistic bonds with their tablets, so it makes total sense for them to compose on a tablet. Personally, my impulse is to start with paper and pencil, because that’s how my writing habits started (which I realize is maybe me being a product of my time, growing mostly without computers) …It also makes a huge impact on my editing process” (Parys).

Professor Parys doesn’t compare the contemporary or classic methods of writing. Instead, he is more focused on the artistic benefits of the keyboard and the pen. He personally sticks to

handwritten drafts because it was how he started. He concludes, “So, it’s not a one-or-the-other situation. The two can work together” (Parys).

So, whether you prefer to be behind a keyboard, or only feel like a “real” writer with a pen and paper, all it matters is that you can express yourself in any way that suits you.