An Argument Against Typing
Stepping away from a left-brain world.
Everyone writes for different reasons, whether for catharsis, fun, or for work. The point is: writers write — it is the secret of our craft. I have been writing for ten years, and though I have no accolades to show for it (except for a certificate from a fifth grade competition), I have heaps of essays, stories, and articles I have constructed over time. They all began in a notebook, on a napkin, or at times, toilet paper.
Why We Type
We learn how to type young these days on computer apps that gauge our speed and proficiency. But learning how to type well is a product of society’s desire for business-capable adults, with little regard to critical thinking skills and comprehension.
There is a role in our society for typing. That is to say that I am not opposed to it. Obviously, I don’t edit and revise all of my work traditionally, and even more obviously I don’t write letters and tie them to the foot of an omnipotent pigeon.
Typing is significantly quicker than handwriting documents, allowing one to manifest hundreds of thoughts into fruition in minutes. We’re capable of fixing grammatical and structural errors in no time. And with digital technology we can mass-produce copies of our writing without hours of scribe work. But we may not be accomplishing anything at a cognitive level, and for writers — for storytellers — we need to operate at a deeply cognitive level.
What the Science Says
In a study commissioned by Docmail, surveys found that the average adult can go 41 days without handwriting anything, while a separate study found that elementary children still spend 60% of their time writing on paper. In our world today, there is no expectation that we write well into adulthood. We have not gone soft, we have gone mechanical. Accomplish your tasks as necessary in the fastest time possible.
Against the findings of science, the left-brain has emerged yet again.
Study after study lauds the benefits of handwriting in adolescents and adulthood alike. From studies that show the enhanced letter pattern recognition amongst preschoolers when handwritten instead of typed to research that shows greater memory recall and comprehension amongst university students who take traditional notes, the point is clear: handwriting is better for your noggin’.
As a writer, a sharp noggin’ is what I need. When I have an idea for an essay, I write it in my journal as opposed to my note-taking app, so I effectively recall the event that triggered the idea. When you are writing a good story, you should be as clueless as your audience about the ending until you write it, but to deliver a solid climax and finish — to polish your story — your brain needs the capability to pick up on patterns in what you write, like this study discovered.
Parting Thoughts
I am not encouraging you to give up typing for life; I am merely urging you to give up typing your first draft.
I am asking that you sacrifice your need for speed, productivity, and output for focus, clarity, and writing a damn good piece.
Where handwriting slows you down upfront, it saves you hours on the backend. Your piece requires less editing and less attention. The process of handwriting forces you to meticulously consider each word that falls on the page as ink, therefore reducing the amount of time you spend thinking about words later, and freeing your attention to focus on the plot, the story, the themes, the data.
Pull out a legal pad, a notebook, or a roll of toilet paper and start writing until you feel like you have something there. Take a break, a walk around your living room maybe, then come back and read it: I guarantee you will truly understand the phrase ‘The pen is mightier than the keyboard.’
Sources
http://media.cfhdocmail.com/2012/06/handwriting-dying-slow-death.html
