Everyday Canvas

Writing by Hand and Smart-Pens

Prompt: When was the last time you wrote something by hand?

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This morning, and will do so probably a few more times in the afternoon. I write something by hand every day. I do like to write on the keyboard better, but decades of familiarity with writing by hand is a habit I wouldn’t want to break. Also, looking at the screen constantly does a number on my eyes.

It is said that writing by hand or taking notes is better for learning. Still, it doesn’t make all that much difference when I am writing creatively--or I think it is what I am doing.

Some of the authors, who came into the computer age from the first or second half of the twentieth century, have the fixation of writing by hand first, possibly out of having become used to it. To them, this must feel like they are casting a spell or something. If it were the slowness of handwriting to encourage one’s thought processes, one can also write slowly on the computer. The one thing that slows me down while typing on the keyboard is the MS Word’s Mr.Fix-it. So I turn off the auto-correct and I am fine. Actually I like the computer better because I won’t have to re-type anything for editing.

As to getting distracted while on the computer, shouldn’t one have the self-control not to be, if one is serious about what he or she writes? If the subject or the art of the writing is important to the writers, no e-mail checking, no computer games, and no social websites should hinder their work.

This prompt is rather timely for me because I was just looking into getting a smart pen, but as much as I have read on the smart-pen companies’ sites and what Amazon shows, I haven’t decided on one. I want something that writes on any paper or in any note-book, yet retains the info and is easy to attach to the computer like a camera, without me messing with an App. Maybe what I can use is not invented yet. Unless I find something like what I want, I’ll wait, as this is not the most important thing in the world, because I am quite happy with the status quo.