Pen and Paper or Keyboard, How Do You Write?
A frequently asked question of a writer is: ‘Do you write using a pen and paper, or do you type straight onto the keyboard?’
What is your preference? Pen and paper or straight onto the keyboard?
The question got me thinking about my preference, and I started to research the benefits of my preferred method.
A study by Pam A. Mueller and Daniel M. Oppenheimer in April 2014 studied the effectiveness of note-taking onto a laptop versus pen and paper. The study found that those who wrote onto a laptop transcribed the lecture word for word, whereas those that used a pen and paper reframed the lecture into their own words.
My preference has always been to write using a pen and paper. Yes, it is a slower process, as you are essentially duplicating your work. I use my handwritten words as a first draft. I leave the handwritten words until the next day and then type them onto my laptop, and this is where I make the first set of changes.
Allowing me to sleep on the words I have written gives me time to think and digest them. I am constantly pondering; how could I improve? Because I have had written them, using a pen and paper, I can remember them.
