Today I read about research where the brain was studied while subjects wrote using a computer versus using a pen and paper. Significantly different parts of the brain were triggered when writing by hand versus typing.
This makes sense to me. Writing by hand requires a different skillset than typing does and I can understand that different instructions might be stored in different sections of the brain. But the researchers took that into consideration too and the differences were still too large to be explained by motor skill differences alone. It was concluded that we think in a significantly different way when typing versus when writing by hand.
I never really considered this possibility. I do nearly all of my outlining by hand and nearly all of my writing on the computer. And now I'm wondering if I'm maybe not reaching my full creative potential. I think I'll try writing the same scene by hand one day, and on the computer the next, to see if I make connections or associations using one method of writing which I didn't make using the other method. I don't know if it will end up being beneficial, but it's certainly an interesting idea.What about you? Do you do all of your writing by hand? On the computer? Or do you use a mixture of the two methods?
This is sooo interesting! I do both, actually. When I first get an idea I whip out the notebook and scribble away. It's later when I transfer that to the computer that I embellish and add details. But I prefer to write my scenes first by hand! There's just something about pen and paper for me...
ReplyDeleteI think you might be doing everything right :) That makes so much sense that different details might surface when you transfer your writing to the computer.
DeleteI always draft query letters by hand. I don't know why, but it makes a difference. First drafts are great to do by hand, too. Everything else is done by keyboard.
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff!
That sounds like the perfect process. Now, if only I could rely on being able to read my own handwriting later...haha
DeleteMy first attempts at seriously writing were all by hand, and I later typed them out. I then went to jotting some ideas down by hand, but writing mainly on the computer. I think it was the fact that the work needed to end up on the computer that made me think I should just start writing on the computer from the beginning. But I'm wondering if that's really the best way for me to work. I might go back to sketching out scenes and outlining on paper, and then writing up and editing on the computer. Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteI also just started typing everything from the beginning because I figured it needed to get into the computer anyhow. But, it seems like a mixture of the two methods might really be the best way to go.
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