Friday, June 3, 2011

Handwriting - Not Really Slower

I am far more comfortable typing than handwriting. I can quickly press a key, even in rapid succession to create words as opposed to writing each individual letter by hand. I grew up in an age where computers were coming to classrooms, so I know my 4th grade class had them, and beyond. I am fairly ambidextrous between handwriting and typing, but I do still prefer typing, mostly because of the speed.

However, I have been noticing that handwriting is not actually that much slower than typing. Although I can type more quickly than handwriting, I also spend a lot of time idling. When I finish a thought, I have to come up with the next thought. Sometimes it takes a while to do. When that happens, I am spending a whole lot of time at zero words per minute, which kills my average. When handwriting, though, although it takes longer to get the words out, it matches the pace with my brain pretty well. By the time I catch up with the first thought, the second thought is often ready to go. The one difference is that when I am handwriting, my hand often does not get a break.

Ultimately, I am held back only by the processing power of my brain. And since that is not something that is particularly easy to change, I don't worry about it too much.

Some ideas come out through a pencil far better than through a keyboard, and vice versa. And since there is no real downside to handwriting from an efficiency standpoint, I am very happy to have both options available to me.

2 comments:

  1. I even notice a difference between writing in pencil & pen. Weird, I know. It must be something about the ability to erase that makes the thoughts come out more freely. When I hand-write, thoughts spill out. When I type, they are formed more completely in my head before I type them out. I think this is why the best cure for writer's block, for me, is to just ditch the technology and start writing something by hand. Doodling for a few minutes also helps to get the thoughts flowing.

    I hope kids growing up now practice writing full stories by hand. While computers and other devices are great, the advantage of being comfortable with a non-digital writing technology allows writers to always be able to fall back on the old, trusty pen and paper.

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  2. You know what? I'm actually the same way. My spiral notebooks are entirely written in pencil. Somehow, erasing is more satisfying than crossing out. It also feels less formal or official, so there is less pressure (which is also why I use spiral notebooks instead of fancier paper holders).

    A challenge for you (perhaps a familiar one): What other ways can you record communication? We have typing (both computers and typewriters), pens, pencils. What else? Ever try moveable type printing press? What if you tried writing in crayon, or markers? How different are those for you?

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