Cognitive difference when typing vs. handwriting?
21Jan2005 Filed under: LinkageI’m fascinated by this post: collision detection: Can you think better when you’re typing?
Are there any qualitative differences — in the way you think, create, or express yourself — between handwriting and typing?
The shriveled atrophied corner of my brain that still likes to think academically is deeply interested in this question.
Much like the writer of the post, I tend to outline on paper and write on a keyboard. I make lists on paper, but type essays. I handwrite deeply personal stuff in my paper journal, but quickly clack out observations and randomata on my blog. I’m curious about the differences between the kinds of thinking that go with each method of writing.
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5 Responses to “Cognitive difference when typing vs. handwriting?”
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Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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Meesha
January 21st, 2005 at 11:36 am
Great link! I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, too.
I used to write page after page by hand. My whole life, every thought and many short stories were handwritten in my journal. I could type papers for school or work, but my most personal writing was done by hand.
But then I developed tendinitis in my right wrist, and as with most tendinitis, it never completely healed (and, in fact, flares up if I do a lot of typing or writing, especially under stress). And when you flip through my journal, there are just one- or two-page entries every week or so, because that’s all my hand and wrist can do.
I’ve been wondering more and more if it’s possible to retrain myself to do my meditative writing at a keyboard, because my wrist lasts much longer typing than writing by hand.
tlc
January 23rd, 2005 at 7:39 pm
I’ve thought about this, too. For me, I respond to material better in handwriting (as in making editorial notes) but when it comes to writing from scratch, I do it better on screen. I seem to be able to write more clearly when I’m working with the smoothness of typing.
uma
January 23rd, 2005 at 8:23 pm
I so rarely handwrite things (besides in my organizer) these days it’s hard to comment on this. But I have liked the fact that my typing can pretty much keep up with my thinking so I can get my ideas out as they come out of my brain. The problem is, does that just mean I think faster or too much while typing? Maybe if I wrote more by hand, what came out would be more thoughtful because my thoughts could reorganize before I’d written them all down!
Grillo
January 24th, 2005 at 2:29 pm
I have some bizarre affliction of only being able to write fiction by hand. For some reason, the visceral contact is essential to me. I don’t have a problem typing essays or non-fiction, although I still prefer a nice notebook and a Pilot V5 pen…
xaotica
January 24th, 2005 at 9:06 pm
i was just getting made fun of the other day when “signing” a debit card slip. “why do you PRINT your signature?”, i was asked. “because i no longer remember how to write cursive!”
i was only being somewhat facetious. but writing by hand frustrates me so much because i can’t get out what i want to say. it’s kind of like trying to have a conversation in a foreign language when i only know a few basic words. i get so pissed with the medium that it’s hard to motivate myself to continue.