1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.
  2. Welcome to Lake Valor!
    Catch, train, and evolve Pokémon while you explore our community. Make friends, and grow your collection.

    Login or Sign Up

Writing Literary writing by hand

Discussion in 'Creative Zone' started by Absolute Zero, Sep 18, 2019.

  1. Absolute Zero

    Absolute Zero The second seal

    Jeff
    (Spinarak)
    Level 19
    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2015
    Posts:
    2,184
    PokéPoints:
    ₽2,869.8
    Some classically-minded (or snooty) people might insist that writing by hand with an actual pen upon paper helps the creative process, and perhaps there's some truth to that. Writing by hand might not be part of human bio-psychology yet, since we've only been doing it for a few thousand years, but there could be other scientific reasons for it... none of which I'm qualified to explain. So instead, I will ask you: do you have distinctly different literary creative processes or productivity when writing directly onto paper, contrary to typing upon a keyboard? Can you think of a reason why that might be the case for people in general, or perhaps does it only apply to you?

    For myself, I think I have somewhat better literary productivity by hand, but I don't fully believe the method of writing is the reason. My computer is at an uncomfortable desk in a poorly lit and messy room, but I'm able to take a spiral notebook to a more comfortable, more visually pleasant space elsewhere and be less restrained by discomfort and ugliness. But then I wonder, what if I was writing by hand in a dingy room, or typing on a keyboard in a beautiful park? Would my results change? One thing is sure, transcribing into Libre Office later takes way too long.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  2. Wolf Expert

    Wolf Expert Canine Scholar

    Wolf
    (Riolu)
    Level 24
    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2017
    Posts:
    2,314
    PokéPoints:
    ₽761.2
    Moon Ball ★★★★Love Ball ★★★★★Premier Ball ★Friend Ball ★★★★Luxury Ball ★★★
    There is something weirdly nice about writing with a physical pen. For me, and this might sound weird, it's mostly the smell of ink that I like so much. I guess it's just that smells that I associate with doing certain things I enjoy tend to make me happy.

    Back in my senior year of high school, we had these research/writing projects to do. It was mainly to teach us how to create powerpoints and deliver good presentations. I was pretty much the only person who had never made a powerpoint at that point, but my teacher showed me how and said I picked up on it really quickly.

    We only had access to the school computers on certain days during this writing class and no one used their own laptops back in high school, so I would do my research in the library (reading actual books for research, gasp!) and I would write everything down by hand before putting it into the powerpoint. I remember every day Pachelbel's Canon in D would play on the radio (the librarian always played piano music) and I would use one of those really nice pens that let out enough ink that the scent of ink was always really strong.

    So I would be sitting, every day, in the library, surrounded by books, writing to Pachelbel's Canon and the scent of ink. Most stereotypical "I'm so sophisticated" moments ever, and it was the happiest I ever was doing any sort of assignment. I think I was one of two people who got a perfect score.

    Now years later, I do pretty much everything over the computer. I honestly miss writing by hand, but I think there's less of a chance that someone will just stumble on something I've written if I just use a computer. I even do digital art pretty much exclusively now since traditional art supplies are expensive. Every now and then I'll open an old sketchbook and smell the graphite (and whatever colored pencils are made of) and it just makes me sad that I don't really do traditional art anymore because the smell was something I really enjoyed about it. So I have to wonder if I wouldn't get writer's block as much if I still wrote with a physical pen and notebook and could still smell the ink.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
    Absolute Zero likes this.
  3. ZedKalEios

    TWRP
    (Rayquaza Egg)
    Level 1
    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2014
    Posts:
    47
    PokéPoints:
    ₽207.9
    While I haven't tried to use pen and paper for the longest time, I have noticed a difference between writing at my desktop and when I would write using a stylus on my 3DS XL. I found that I had a more developed approach when I was working on each word just a little longer compared to jotting it down quickly at my computer. I'd take a bit more time to think about how I was constructing the scene and it felt more 'natural' when I'd read it over again later on.
     
  4. Geroniny

    Geroniny The Spacecraft Of Miracle

    Azure
    (Kyogre)
    Level 34
    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2017
    Posts:
    912
    PokéPoints:
    ₽771.9
    Dawn Stone ★★★★Blue Orb ★★★★★Charizardite X ★★★★GS Ball ★★★★★Star Piece ★★★★
    To Tell The Truth, I Do Write Upon The Paper Often Before Decided To Change. Now, I Do Not Regularly Write On Paper. Yet Just If I Can't Use Wi-Fi + Computer, I Will Use Paper.

    Furthermore Similar To What Wolf Expect Said, There Does Contentment While Writing At Paper With Pen/Pencil.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  5. Gazi

    Lilith
    (Litleo ♀)
    Level 9
    Joined:
    May 27, 2018
    Posts:
    1,424
    PokéPoints:
    ₽3,871.2
    Dawn Stone ★★★★Legendary Triforce ★★Reaper Cloth ★★★
    When it comes to taking notes for school, writing by hand works best for me, because it takes more effort and thought, so what I write sticks more. For my stories though, and the creative processes, typing actually works a lot better for me because it's faster and I don't have to worry about smearing my writing. I can just get my creative writing out as it comes to me. Plus, with typing it out, it's a lot easier to go back and change.
     
  6. ChocoChicken

    Krysmus Azelv (lol)
    (Krysmus Azelv)
    Level 33
    Joined:
    May 28, 2018
    Posts:
    8,265
    PokéPoints:
    ₽10,004.5
    Misty's EmblemLegendary Triforce ★★
    I usually type. I've grown accustomed to going pretty fast on a keyboard, much faster than what I could usually hand-write. Typing is also a lot easier to edit thanks to the good old backspace key, and I make a LOT of mistakes. During handwriting, this can easily turn into a pain in the butt, especially when I have to write quickly, which is half the time. I've come to find that I can either write quickly or semi-neatly with no in-between, and typing solves all those problems. Easy to edit, actually legible, and digital notes just aren't quite as hard to lose.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
    PoserPanda likes this.
  7. SyWry

    Legendary Egg
    (Rayquaza Egg)
    Level 1
    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2017
    Posts:
    964
    PokéPoints:
    ₽1,606.1
    About the only advantage that writing by hand gives me is that what ever I write down is memorized easier. Other than that, I hate writing with a pen and paper. My hand writing is sloppy, my hand hurts after a few minutes of consecutive writing, and my thoughts always go faster than my writing speed meaning I'm either slowing down or stopping the creative process so my hand can catch up, or I'm writing so fast that its nearly illegible and hurting my hand. All these negative that I have when writing by pen make typing way more comfortable and I never want to be uncomfortable when creating.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
  8. Absolute Zero

    Absolute Zero The second seal

    Jeff
    (Spinarak)
    Level 19
    Joined:
    Mar 17, 2015
    Posts:
    2,184
    PokéPoints:
    ₽2,869.8
    I think I've felt a similar thing to what you're describing, and on my 3DS as well. Trying to write in the built-in notepad is not only vastly different from typing and texting, but even from ordinary handwriting. I'm writing on a surface just a few square inches total, which fits unbalanced on my hand, and which cannot be pressed into too hard. All this together means I'm using different parts of my brain for motor control, parts which I don't use often, so I'm wondering now if using that dusty part of my brain might do an even better job of using a separate part of my brain. Hmm.

    I never thought of that advantage of typing! When I write creatively by hand, my goal is to write just neatly enough that I can read it again later. But when typing, I suppose even that little bit of effort becomes less of a concern, which I suppose frees up more brain RAM, so to speak. I wonder if I can bridge these two to gain the benefits of both...
     
  9. PoserPanda

    SS EGG 2
    (Giratina Egg (Altered))
    Level 74
    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2018
    Posts:
    701
    PokéPoints:
    ₽1,173.3
    Trainer Card - Cave Theme
    I enjoy using my PC for the different fonts that it offers, even though I only use AR ESSENCE. When writing for a story on paper, I must write everything really well and that takes quite a bit of patience. The words often become blurry while using pen and paper, so it can be hard to focus. Even with my glasses on, this problem still happens. But with my PC the letters are always neat, and I don't have to try as hard just to write down what I want to. I have so many notebooks however, that I'd feel bad if I didn't fill them up with a few stories. Or at least use them as journals.

    The only thing that I cannot replicate on a PC, is the technique of calligraphy. Unless I use a painting program. I can't stand the spiral notebooks to write on, since the paper often gets stuck in the spiral, making things a little more frustrating to deal with. So in the end, the PC wins. But I will always enjoy using a pen that "bleeds" out its ink.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...

Share This Page