personal differences (writing, typing)

[fountain_new]

Hello, all.

 

I have noticed in the last year or so that I write and think somewhat differently when I type as against when I write on paper.

 

Hard to describe. Given a choice (as I often have), I find myself switching back and forth without obvious cause. 

 

Thoughts about this, anyone?

 

 

[Prof Drew]

@fountain_new, yes, it is a very different experience. I'm assuming that you type on a computer, which means that there are so many more distractions compared with writing on a paper. I find that I am much more creative when enjoying a nice notebook and fountain pen in a cool cafe rather than sitting at a computer. There are just so many distractions (even FPN!) and pressures when I start to write on a computer. I find it worth free-writing on paper and then dictating to my computer or typing up notes. 

 

Of course it all depends on what you want / have to write and your mood, and the like. Fountain pens help to free up my inhibitions and make me feel like enjoying the art of writing.

[fountain_new]

No question there are more distractions when you stare at the computer screen. I wasn't even thinking of them, but for sure, they're there. 

 

I also often do what you do -- free-write on paper, mark it up with another color, then type something up out of the whole thing. 

 

It does seem, even apart from the question of distractions, that writing on paper is somehow different. I can type all day, even personal messages, but it feels like I can focus more deeply and somehow write in my true voice when I'm writing on paper.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I type fast, if not accurately.  Makes my fingertips hurt.  I am also unsure whether staring at a screen for hours might  be not the best thing overall.

[Runnin_Ute]

There are a number of studies that say that we use our brains differently when putting pen to paper than just typing. And you remember more.

[antares1966]

I definitely find that I’m much more thoughtful and deliberate when putting pen to paper, when it’s not so easy to edit as just hitting the backspace button…

[TSherbs]

I have been doing a good bit of typing the last two months on my manual typewriters. I am not a fast typist, but writing by hand also has its challenges for me (mostly fatigue). My writing has been better via typing: longer sentences, greater volume, greater stylistic variation. I have even included some verse I have composed in a few letters I have typed. None of this has to do with being able to edit ( I can't) or type fast (I can't). It is just physically easier. 

[TSherbs]

On 3/4/2024 at 6:08 PM, Sailor Kenshin said:

I type fast, if not accurately.  Makes my fingertips hurt.  I am also unsure whether staring at a screen for hours might  be not the best thing overall.

 

screens suck, including the one I am looking at right now

[inkstainedruth]

For some reason, this thread is making me think of an ad I heard on the radio at some point yesterday.  Don't even remember what it was for (an insurance company maybe), but at the time it made me think that describing it in the "Fountain Pens In Movies & on TV" thread might not be too off-topic.  Something to do with sitting in a cafe in the afternoon, writing in a journal with a fountain pen....  

The fact that the voiceover specifically said "fountain pen" made me kind of blink.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[TSherbs]

5 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

For some reason, this thread is making me think of an ad I heard on the radio at some point yesterday.  Don't even remember what it was for (an insurance company maybe), but at the time it made me think that describing it in the "Fountain Pens In Movies & on TV" thread might not be too off-topic.  Something to do with sitting in a cafe in the afternoon, writing in a journal with a fountain pen....  

The fact that the voiceover specifically said "fountain pen" made me kind of blink.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

You were maybe dreaming.

[inkstainedruth]

Nope, I *definitely* heard the ad on the car radio, driving to choir rehearsal last night.

Of course, I was also sort of goggling because rehearsal got cancelled last week and I forgot about Daylight Savings Time and how I could now get clear to the house where practices are held *without* having to turn on my headlights....  And also (a bit) about how there weren't too many idiot drivers or drunk pedestrians on the main drag through the neighborhood I drive through to get to the neighborhood where the rehearsals are held (there are an awful lot of bars and restaurants along Butler Street through the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh these days...). 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth