Does Hand-Writing Matter?

Now that that old bloodhound Writing-by-Hand is banished to the doghouse out back, while the twin white poodles named Tapping and Typing are on our laps at the dinner table, should we care? Is there any evidence that taking pen in hand is somehow better for thinking or remembering? At Levenger we have a dog in this fight, since we sell lots of nice writing instruments and quality paper. So I’ll admit we have a bias to seek out such evidence and share it widely.

With that confession, let me also say that we’re attempting to take a balanced look at the evidence. My biggest fear is that we jettison writing by hand on paper prematurely, without considering its benefits. And one thing is sure—we’re all falling more deeply in love with our smartphones and tablets, me included.

So I’ve asked Mim Harrison, editor of Levenger Press, to do a deep dive into the literature and write up her findings. Here is her report:

—Steve

Richard Mason’s novel The Gilded Curve: History of a Pleasure Seeker is not just a digital book; it’s a multimedia, interactive experience known as an eLumination. Tap onto an illustration of a street or building and it comes to life in video. Tap the gramophone icon (gramophone!) and it’s an audiobook, with one of the cast of Downton Abbey reading to you. Historical context of the story, set in Amsterdam in 1907, is just another tap away.

What you’re really tapping into is your imagination, in ways that an electronic platform can uniquely offer.

There’s one other button to tap, and that’s the one where this 36-year-old author tells you why he wrote his novel—by hand.

“I wanted to introduce something physical to the process,” he says in the video clip. Hand-writing, he says, “encourages concision and briskness and quickness.”

Or, as the novelist Mark Helprin  says, “a pen (somehow) helps you think and feel.”

A number of neuroscientists would agree.

It is all in your head

Humans have been writing—putting their hands to something­—since the Sumerians started chiseling away at cuneiforms around 3500 B.C.

“Handedness is uniquely human,” writes the neurologist Frank R. Wilson in his book titled, appropriately, The Hand. We humans are the only one of the evolutionary bunch to favor one hand over the other.

It’s one of those instances where saying “it’s all in your head” has more than a modicum of truth. “Any theory of human intelligence which ignores the interdependence of hand and brain function…is grossly misleading,” Dr. Wilson asserts.

Brain changer

Our brains are wired in ways not only intricate but specific. We use one set of circuits to add, for example, and a different set to subtract.

Much of this wiring begins early. At the Library of Congress’s international summit on books and literacy, Karen Keninger, the director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, stressed the importance for the blind of learning Braille when they’re young.

“It’s difficult to learn Braille as an adult because of the wiring you have to do between your hands and your brain,” said Karen (who is blind).

Occupational therapist Marion Wilm maintains on her Child and Family Development blog that children who don’t know how to hand-write are compromising the development of their fine-motor skills. These skills provide the kind of dexterity that surgeons and scientists need.

As it is with surgeons and scientists (and plumbers and mechanics), so it is with humans who write: tools matter. Picking up a pen can put in motion a different set of circuits from tapping on a keyboard.

Anne Mangen and Jean-Luc Velay, two European researchers, describe some of these different “neural pathways” in their 2010 study, “Digitizing Literacy: Reflections on the Haptics of Writing.” (Think tactile for haptics; from the Greek for to grasp.)

They cite experiments that showed how Japanese readers would use different sets of circuitry in their brains when they read two different kinds of Japanese writing, kana (used for foreign words, proper names, and grammatical elements) and kanji (which is based on older, Chinese characters).

These different neural pathways were also evident in another study the researchers cite, where some subjects hand-wrote characters and others typed them. Magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI (the f is for functional; it measures changes in blood flow in the brain) revealed that different parts of the brain kicked in, depending on whether someone was hand-writing or typing.

How, then, does this different circuitry affect how we think and remember and execute?

Write, memory

A 2010 study at Indiana University showed, again through an fMRI, that children remembered letters better when they wrote them out than when they merely studied them. Adults have been shown to respond in a similar way, particularly when learning a new set of symbols or characters.

But does hand-writing have the upper hand over typing where memory is concerned?

There is some evidence to indicate that it does.

On a keyboard or typewriter, every letter or symbol is exactly the same touch (those haptics again). With a pen or a pencil, as University of Washington educational psychologist Virginia Berninger has noted, your hand is acknowledging each stroke involved in making that symbol or character. Your brain seems to pay more attention when your hand is so invested. Her studies, often conducted with other researchers, have found that schoolchildren who hand-write have better recall.

“The physical act of writing or tracing provides an additional layer of memory,” write three other researchers from the University of Central Florida, Timothy J. Smoker, Carrie E. Murphy and Alison K. Rockwell. Hand-writing involves distinct, specific movements. Typing is the same, repetitive movement. Handwriting, say these researchers, “creates more context, thereby increasing retention.”

This results in more than simply remembering the letters you wrote. It can make you a better note-taker.

Take note

Philip Hensher, the author of The Missing Ink: The Lost Art of Handwriting, is also a frequent classroom lecturer. He can tell you which students do the worst and the best in his classes:

“The students who make no record…do worst….The second worst are the ones who plonk a tape recorder on the desk….The worst ones after that are the ones who get out their laptops, and type furiously as you speak….because typing as someone talks encourages transcription without much thought.”

And the best?

“The very best students are the ones who take out a piece of paper and a pen, and write down the things that they think are interesting as you talk, making sense of it as they go.”

A 2011 study conducted by Tina Weston and Randy L. Newman at the University of Manitoba corroborates clinically what Hensher found empirically. Taking notes by typing on a laptop worked better than hand-writing notes if the students were tested immediately, but this advantage disappeared if testing was delayed.

“Handwriting,” write the Manitoba researchers, “is more likely to withstand the test of time.”

Brain craves

In a virtual world, then, there is still virtue—and value—in the physical. And, says technology forecaster Paul Saffo, “it isn’t just the ink. It’s the interaction of ink and paper and stylus.”

He is using stylus in its ancient reference to a writing utensil. But what about the new definition of stylus—the kind you use to tap an iPad and a smartphone? How will writing and learning and memory change, the more we use a 21^st-century stylus to write on a 21^st-century tablet?

In The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, author Charles Duhigg tells us that for an activity to become a habit, there must be not just a cue and reinforcement but also a craving.

Many of us came quickly to crave email, then smartphones, then e-readers and tablets. We’re teaching ourselves new habits as far as how we read as well as write. Our brains have apparently readily engaged with the digital.

So does it really matter if we no longer write by hand, even if it can be beneficial? Most of us can’t easily read Middle English, either, but we can readily find a modern-English version of The Canterbury Tales.

True. But here’s the thing: we have a unique opportunity in this decade to use both these skills, hand-writing and digital printing—whether the latter be keyboarding or texting or writing through voice-recognition software. Why not leverage all our assets? Use all of our tools—and more of our brains?

We do eventually lose the skills we don’t use. But why relinquish something that’s so easy to hold onto?

Especially since we now know that the kinesthetics of writing by hand affects how we think by brain.

“I think, therefore I am,” wrote Descartes long ago. Perhaps today he would say:

“I write, therefore I think.”

What think you?

—Mim

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Just click on the Comments link below with your submission. (If you’re reading this as an email, click here and you'll connect to Comments).

Comments

[Wendy Gregory]

I agree that handwriting By HAND using the old fashioned paper and pen is so important - and not just for learning and remembering. Would that love letter from your husband or the thank you card from your young niece mean even half as much to you if they were sent to you as an attachment or an email? I don't think so.

[John C. Miller]

I will speak for myself only but I find writing something down on paper is far more powerful than typing it. It's as if writing something down burns itself into my brain. When I type, for me, I concentrate on where the keys are and the execution of typing. When I write there is no thought of "how do I make the letter t?". I learned that as a small kid 60 years ago - there is no thought of that anymore. When I hand write anything I focus totally on what I'm expressing.

I still have hand written letters of my Dad, Mom and Grandparents. I recognize their handwriting, take comfort in seeing them again and when I read their letters it's as if they're with me again. An email or typed letter would not be the same.

Hand-Writing matters to me. Thank you for your article.

John in Marietta OH

[Jeff Poulin]

It's good to have those studies showing the benefits of handwriting, especially as they reinforce my own observations over many decades. The slight effort and the judgement needed to take useful notes in a class or meeting make a huge difference in retention.

Beyond the benefits for memory and motor skills, there is physical pleasure, or at least satisfaction, in writing legibly with a quality instrument. Young people may dismiss this as unimportant and time consuming but they are denying themselves an enjoyable experience on many levels.

Thanks for an excellent column.

[Elizabeth S. Wheeler]

Mim,
A lovely article. Thanks so much. I agree that physically writing down things helps me remember. . . . even take notes in church!

One granddaughter, senior in high school, does not like to write by hand because her hand writing is not good, she says. She also has trouble writing essays, book reports, most anything requiring creative thought. I certainly will relay your essay to her for consideration.

Liz Wheeler

[John C. Miller]

I have a comment for Liz and her granddaughter. When I was in the third grade back in 1956 I had a teacher who taught writing. I remember her telling me that she gave me a D on my report card because in all her years of teaching she had never had a student as poor as I was in writing individual letters. She said she didn't give me an F because I was trying. After all these years I still remember her and how bad I felt afterwards. But as years went on I learned to love writing - not only the mechanics but what I wrote. I have no idea who told your granddaughter that her hand writing is not good, but tell her it's fine - it's what she writes that's important and she should be proud. Encourage her to write by hand even if the final product is typed. Just my thoughts. John

[Limner]

I read your lovely post last night, just before bedtime. I remembered it tonight in time to include a link in my own post. My pen friends, readers, blog followers and I, think handwriting matters. We want penmanship taught in schools again. Handwriting is a necessary form of communication. Thanks for the nod to writing.

[Barbara F Campbell]

As an older adult (61) I find writing a letter is not as easy as in previous years. So I really appreciate being able to type it out on my computer. However, when neatness is not an issue I love to write in my journal and especially I love to doodle. It just feels good to write and even more fun to doodle.

Great article...thanks!
Barbara
Cleveland, Ohio

[Mim Harrison]

Dear Wendy, John, Jeff, Liz, Limner and Barbara,

Wow! Thank you all so much for your thoughtful comments. In answer to our own question of whether hand-writing matters, I would say it most definitely does to Levenger readers.

Limner, many thanks for the shout-out on your lovely site--much appreciated.

Liz, didn't you love John's advice for your granddaughter? Here's a bit of incentive for her: if she'd like to write a short note to Steve at Levenger, there will be a reward waiting for her. Our pen-mail address (sounds better than snail-mail) is 420 South Congress Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33445.

My best to you all, and with thanks,

Mim

[Stephanie]

I made it a resolution this year to send hand-written notes to friends for no reason at all, so I am working hard at getting my handwriting back to Palmer-esque quality. So much wonderful history is being lost to emails: received and deleted. I still treasure the box of cards and letters that my mother had send me while I was in college...such treasures now that she is gone.

[Lisa Roden]

Interesting observations, Steve. I commented via Twitter. The only way to hand-write a note.

[Scott]

While I am addicted to my iPad, iPhone and laptop, I do miss writing and I find the less I write the worse my writing becomes. So much so that I can seldom decipher my notes when I get back to the office.

Writing is also a more intimate act. We can all type the same word on a screen and not tell who typed which one. Our handwriting, though, is unique to each of us.

Thanks for this well written reminder that handwriting is important.

[Diane Maher]

This is a subject that is frequently brought up on the Fountain Pen Network, a forum for fountain pen enthusiasts. You would be surprised at the number of people who post a thread wanting to improve their handwriting, but who are not sure how to do so.

I enjoy writing in a journal with any one of my fountain pens. I still take notes on paper at meetings and when asked to review something, will frequently print it out because I can make comments on the page.

I think that handwriting is important too.

[Yoke Yin]

Of course the hand-writing matters!! Unfortunately, people nowadays don't see it that way. I used to love writing with pencil, fountain pen and brush (Chinese caligraphy). When we were in school, every day, the teacher assigned us a Chinese Character and an English letter to practice writing.

I type on the keyboard but I also miss the days that I sat at the desk and wrote a letter to my family and friends. I stopped doing that a few years ago because they thought I was weird. How sad?

[Kevin Thomas]

I love this article! It reminded me fondly of my late father who would always use the expression 'talk paper', if he wanted to remember something or if he needed to think, he'd say son, hand me that pad, i need some talk paper! And he was right, it did help him think better, to solve problems, to work things out in his mind. And so it's been passed on to me.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[Rus Stolling]

Hand writing has been an art since the first letters were formed with sharp sticks and wet clay. Writing serves not only for transmission and recording of information, but as well for expression - thus, Art - Art of thought, Art of composition, Art of skillfully formed characters.
Some of the most significant and beautiful documents in the world were written by hand; The Magna Carta, the Constitution and Bill of Rights of the United States, the Bible, ad infinitum; and with the most primitive equipment - pens cut from reeds or feathers.
At our college, I cut quill pens from goose feathers and challenged students to write a few words. Of course, it was the graphic arts students who did best. Even I, who have been credited with "good, nice" handwriting "for a guy", produced laughable results. If you have ever seen an original document written by Thomas Jefferson or George Washington, you will marvel at the skill of the writer.
I detest writing with a ball-point pen. For speed in writing, it can't be beat; but speed degrades legibility. Years ago, I used to write with a fountain pen, slowly, carefully, with thoroughly formed thoughts and well formed letters. Now may be the time to return to those days of slower living and greater deliberation.