Writing (by hand) to remember

New research suggests that writing by hand helps us remember.

These past couple of years, as I’ve begun to take the craft of writing more seriously, I’ve found that writing by hand tends to make me more thoughtful and more engaged in the writing process. Also, when I compose ideas for stories on paper, I tend to have better recall of those ideas than those I tap out on a computer, smartphone notes app, or tablet.

Now there’s some research that supports the idea that writing by hand helps us remember.

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When you’re not feeling it

I wasn’t feeling the whole writing vibe this morning. But I pressed on.

Sometimes, it’s just hard to write.

This morning was one of those mornings. It began with my standard morning journaling routine, notebook open and pen in hand. I wrote a single-sentence paragraph describing a mundane task ahead of me for the days, and thought, This is it. This is all I’ve got today.

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The tyranny of the blank page

How much should you write in one sitting? And for how long? These are questions that nag at me daily.

Once we’ve embraced the idea of beginner’s mind and have opened ourselves to the limitless possibilities before us, it’s time to get down to the act of writing itself.

It’s time to begin. And sometimes, that’s the hardest part of the writer’s experience.

Sometimes, despite our best intentions and efforts, we freeze before the blank page or screen before us. Where to begin? How to start? How to conquer the tyranny of the blank page?

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