Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash
Last Thursday, I wrote “Learning through Paper vs. Tech” Geeking Science blog post (7/20/2023). Ready to apply science to your writing?
In the studies, scientist pointed out while tech allowed faster reading and faster note-taking, comprehension and higher level processing and retention suffered.
How would this apply to writing? I remember when I first began writing, and the computer was buried in the basement and not constantly on, writing the first draft on paper and then spending hours in the slightly damp and slightly dark basement transcribing the material. When transcribing the first draft into the second draft, I was rewriting so much of the material – making it better, getting the flow right. The story bloomed during my dark, damp times.
As time has gone on, computers and typing have become a way of life and my hand now cramps within minutes of writing instead of hours. All the muscles are for typing, not writing.
Hmm, that is telling – “not writing”. Is not writing the first draft out by hand one of the reasons I am not writing much? I know a lot of my writer friends, who are writing regularly, swear by their journals.
Obviously tech lets writing be faster with the computer, but is it better?
Today’s writing exercise is to physically write.
WRITING EXERCISE: Write a scene out by hand, and then retype the second draft. How is this product different from the normal written scene done through typing?