Why Writers Should Write By Hand

Writers should write by hand – we keep hearing this all the time, but why? This blog post will tell you why writers should write by hand.

Why Writers Should Write By Hand

Let’s face it: it’s the age of the computer, and most writers use a keyboard to write. Still, writing teachers insist that we should write by hand. They say manual writing has enormous benefits for creative writing. Let’s see if there’s any truth in this.

To find out, I tried to analyse the writing process like a scientist. I looked at what the body does, what the brain does, and what my creativity does. My focus won’t be on typing, but I will reference this as a comparison. Most scientific studies do, too.

What Our Body Does

When we type, we mostly use our fingers. Our wrists and our arms are not really engaged. No matter how many fingers we use for typing, the movement is the same: a finger moves up and down to tap on the key. Essentially, it’s always the same for each letter. For the body, this means it’s faster than writing by hand, but rather boring.

Now writing by hand is a very different experience. First, we hold a pencil. There are various ways to do this, and we must decide what is ideal for us. Once we’ve accomplished that, we move our wrist in ways that are different for each letter. Cursive and block writing require two different sets of movements.

These intricate and multi-directional hand movements are possible through our fine motor skills. These fine motor skills enable us to do something scientists call ‘ideation.’ This means the idea of a letter, for example, becomes the letter itself.

Comparing these two movements, it’s clear that writing by hand is complex and engages more muscles. It’s not repetitive but slow.

Now we need to take this to the upstairs department, to our brain.

What The Brain Does

We all know that our brain has certain areas responsible for specific tasks. For example, there’s an area to process what our eyes need to do when writing. The hand movements are processed in another area. The language centre is involved as well since we’re creating a text.

These three areas of our human brain need to be activated when writing. This goes for both kinds of writing (but to varying degrees). Whenever two or more areas are activated, data is exchanged between them. The more activity, the better. It keeps our brains agile and young.

Now we need a bit of theory. Let me guide you through the science. It’s groundbreaking. In 2024, neuropsychologists  Ruud Van Der Weel and Audrey Van Der Meer measured brain activity when typing or writing by hand. They found that both kinds of writing are likely to involve different neural networks. For the brain, both ways of writing aren’t the same at all!

These scientists proved that writing by hand stimulates the brain more than typing. That is considered evidence that writing by hand promotes learning and memory. The complex hand movements seem to be contributing significantly to this. It is still unclear why.

Another study shows that writing by hand and especially calligraphy have a wide variety of beneficial effects on brain functioning. The authors call calligraphy the ‘most important art therapy for improving cognitive function.’ This makes it a fundamental tool in the treatment of dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Essentially, writing by hand is just an incredible gift to your brain. But enough of the science. Let’s recap and go on.

What We Know So Far

Typing is easier to learn and faster to execute. Writing by hand is a more complex activity. It engages the hand more, and it stimulates the brain more than typing. That makes writing by hand an excellent learning strategy and a mnemonic device! It’s also a great anti-ageing activity.

But all of that doesn’t answer our initial question. Let’s look at what happens when we create.

Writing And The Creative Process

The whole idea of writing is that we want to create a text. But where does that creation take place?  When typing, it’s the keyboard that translates a boring up-and-down movement into a letter, a word, or a text. The computer creates it.

Writing by hand lets the magic happen as soon as our hand moves across the paper. It’s our hands that create. We can feel it happening. And that makes such a big difference. We are instantly connected to our creation. That’s so satisfying!

Which brings us to the advice of writing teachers.

Why Writing Teachers Recommend Writing By Hand

Science cannot yet prove that writing by hand makes us more creative. Still, taking all the above benefits together, we can answer the question of why writing teachers usually advise writing by hand. They tell you this most often in these three situations:

1. When you lack inspiration

Sometimes we want to write, but we can’t. We’re either uninspired or we procrastinate. This comes from feeling dissociated from our creativity.

It’s one of those moments when writing teachers tell us to write anything as long as it’s by hand. Can you guess why?

It’s because moving our hand, even if it’s just to copy someone else’s text, we get back into the process. Writing becomes tangible again. We show our body what it’s like to create and how rewarding this experience is (Here are more ideas on how to write without your muse).

2. When your inner critic is too loud

We all know that our inner critic exists. We’ve all typed things and then immediately deleted them. But that’s not how you create. We need to separate creation from editing.

When you write by hand, writers tend to be so caught up in the activity’s sensuality that they develop the thought instead of killing it off immediately. It’s like putting the inner critic in a waiting room until you are ready to edit.

Remember that enhanced brain activity science told us about? That’s what it feels like.

3. When your story needs it

When you write by hand, the whole process is slower. That turns manual writing into a pacing tool. This tool works for writers and for texts. The slower we write, the more we tend to pay attention to detail. Suddenly, our text doesn’t gloss over things, listing events. No, the text explains how events evolve.

That means, we use a lot more ‘show, don’t tell.’ We all know that this is what needs to happen on the page to hook our readers. No wonder writing teachers tell us to write by hand!

4. When you plan your story

Planning your story means you need a bird’s-eye perspective of the events happening in your story. It’s best to get that by making that sequence of events visible. Doing this on a computer will limit your vision; you will only see as much as the display allows. Mapping out your story on a whiteboard with hand-written index cards will give you an incredibly deep and detailed understanding of your plot. Again, writing by hand on paper will make your plot tangible. If you’d like to know more, here’s a blog on The Importance Of Paper When You Plot Your Story.

The Last Word

So, it really is true what creative writing teachers have told us all those years: writing by hand is indeed very helpful for writers. And now you know why! I hope you have enjoyed our little excursion into the science behind the advice.

There are situations when other writing tools might be a better option. But this will be discussed in my next blog: How Your Writing Tool Shapes Your Text

Happy writing!

Additional Reading:

1. Why EVERYONE Should Write By Hand
2. Writing by Hand
3. Why should I write by hand?
4. The Power of Writing by Hand
5. What Your Handwriting Says About You
6. How To Edit Like A Pro

By Susanne Bennett. Susanne is a German-American writer who is a journalist by trade and a writer by heart. After years of working at German public radio and an online news portal, she has decided to accept challenges by Deadlines for Writers. Currently she is writing her first novel with them. She is known for overweight purses and carrying a novel everywhere. Follow her on Facebook.

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