The 23rd January is National Handwriting Day. There is a significant decline in handwriting as we utilize technology with multiple devices to ‘do’ our writing for us from simple texts to digital note taking for study lectures, to writing systems on our laptops. I won’t mention the BEAST – AI…!

However, when we use a pen we can appreciate the tactile pleasure and the slower pace of writing. Handwriting is still an important skill, which has been proved to sharpen our brains, slow the frenetic pace of our thoughts, and improve our memories.

For writers and authors especially, writing by hand aids the fostering of ideas and as our mind bounces ideas back and forth, we tap into the most powerful way to preserve our inspiration. As we all know if you don’t write it down its lost forever! Writing by hand also improves our comprehension and sharpens critical thinking. The science states that handwriting is a complex neurophysiological process integrating motor, cognitive, and emotional components.

For example, in a interview writer, Susan Sontag, said she penned her first drafts by hand prior to typing them up. “I write with a felt-tip pen, or sometimes a pencil, on yellow or white legal pads, that fetish of American writers, I like the slowness of writing by hand.” And novelist, Truman Capote insisted on a similar process. “No, I don’t use a typewriter, not in the beginning. I write my first version in longhand (pencil). Then I do a complete revision, also in longhand.”

For me, I always have a small notebook with me in my purse, and a larger one when I travel. We all know inspiration can strike at any moment.

Are you using a physical notebook for that initial story idea or for jotting down descriptions etc?