Writing by Hand

Last updated: March 28, 2026

Have you picked up a pen lately to write? If not, I encourage it. In fact, it’s my favorite way to get a first draft out, whether that’s a newsletter, blog post, or even novel (yes, I’ve written the bulk of each of my novels by hand).

It’s also my favorite way to help writers get unstuck, make progress on a difficult piece, or go deeper and really get at the heart or meaning of an experience, story, or idea.

When we pick up a pen, we turn our brains on in a way that typing or tapping a screen cannot.

I don’t know if it’s the sensory experience of using our fingers to grip and move the pen, the sound of the pen scratching the surface, or spaciousness of the blank page, but studies have shown over and over again, that writing by hand lights up areas related to memory and emotion in ways that typing does not.

It also leads to clarity and new ideas.

Why does this matter for you as a writer?

In this age of AI, it’s everything. You have a brain that can make connections and find the emotion and meaning in experiences in ways that AI cannot.

AI cannot do the deep work of excavating the meaning or truth an experience may have had for you, make new connections, or have stunning aha moments. Sure, it can skate the surface, but it doesn’t have a human brain and can’t make emotional connections that only humans can.

When you’re wanting to tackle a difficult section of your book or proposal, when you’re pondering how to communicate an idea, when you’re making connections between seemingly disparate ideas, start doodling and writing.

Typing will turn on “motor regions associated with repetitive finger movements and visual processing” (link to study), but not the whole brain, and AI will only regurgitate what’s already out there.

But the goal is to write an excellent book, develop and share original angles on ideas, communicate clearly, and to find your own creativity.

One of the easiest ways to do that is to get off the screen, grab a notebook and your favorite pen, and start writing.

Turn your brain ON, activate it and let it do what it’s really good.

To writing the old-fashioned analog way,

Amy

Links to studies mentioned in the article:

This study found that “handwriting activates a broader network of brain regions involved in motor, sensory, and cognitive processing, contributing to deeper learning, enhanced memory retention, and more effective engagement with written material.” Our brains are more engaged cognitively when we handwrite.

This study reiterates that handwriting increases connectivity between different regions of the brain.

This study looked at the value of taking notes by hand and drawing pictures vs. typing notes and found that “direct electrophysiological evidence that drawing by hand activates larger networks in the brain than typing on a keyboard… [and] sensory-motor information for the control of (pen) movement is picked up via the senses, and because of the involvement of the senses they leave a wider mark on establishing pathways in the brain, resulting in neural activity that governs all higher levels of cognitive processing and learning.”