#writingadvice — Public Fediverse posts
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Why You Should Try Writing by Hand
Hi everyone, I hope you’re all well. Today I’m exploring the benefits of using that olden-day writing tool, the human hand.
So, without further preamble, let’s jump in.
Why You Should Try Writing by Hand
If you’ve ever sat in front of a blank screen with the cursor blinking at you, you’ll know how easy it is to get stuck. You write a sentence and instantly delete it. You click open a tab to look something up. An hour later, the page is still blank because you literally have the entire world at your fingertips.
Writing by hand can help. Here’s how:
You Stop Editing Yourself to Death
When you type, deleting is easy. Too easy. You can rewrite a sentence five times before you’ve finished the paragraph. That means you’re trying to draft and edit at the same time, and the two jobs pull against each other.When you write longhand, crossing out your work is irritating once you’ve got going, so you tend not to. You merely finish the sentence and move on. Later, when you type it up, you’ll naturally tidy it. That’s your first real edit — and it’s better than doing it as you draft, because by then you’ve got some distance from what you wrote.
You Slow Down (and that’s good)
You can type as fast as you can think, but you can’t write that fast by hand. That sounds like a disadvantage, but it’s really not.Slower writing gives you a moment to pick a better word. Instead of grabbing the first one that pops into your head, you’ve got time to think: is this what I actually mean? That’s where good prose comes from.
You’re More Creative
And, as well as helping you be mindful of your word choices, writing longhand also helps you to be more creative. The slower-paced nature of writing by hand allows your brain to explore ideas and develop new concepts. There’s real science behind it.You Can’t Get Distracted by the Internet
A laptop is a writing tool. But it is also email, social media and every Wikipedia rabbit hole you’ve ever fallen down. A notebook is merely a notebook.This sounds obvious, but it might be the biggest reason writing by hand works. You sit down, you open the notebook, and there’s nothing else to do. So you write.
You Remember What You’ve Written
There’s research showing that people remember things better when they’re written by hand, which matters for a long project. If you can hold the threads of your story in your head, you stop repeating yourself, and you start spotting connections you’d otherwise miss.You Build Something You Can Hold
A notebook fills up. You can flip through and see what you’ve done. Writing on a screen isn’t tangible unless, of course, you print it out—but then it loses a bit of personal physicality. Your notebook is full of your unique handwriting. A typed document looks formal and repetitive.On the days when writing feels impossible, looking at a stack of filled notebooks can be a nice little reminder that you’ve done this before, so you can do it again.
Now, it’s important to remember that while writing by hand can help with the distractions of modern life, it isn’t for every situation. It’s slower in raw word count. Typing it up afterwards takes time. And if you write a lot, your hand will ache until you build up some stamina.
Most writers I know who write longhand use it only for first drafts, then all their editing happens on the screen. I think that’s the sweet spot.
Give it a try.
You don’t need a fancy, perfect pen or a beautiful new notebook (but there is something joyful about shopping for stationery, am I right?… .no? just me then). Pick something you don’t mind carrying around and take it with you wherever you go. Whenever you have ten minutes- on the bus or before bed- write a few lines.
Try it for a week. That’s probably enough time to know whether or not it’s for you.
As ever, thank you for stopping by!
Until next time,
George
© 2026 GLT
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