Kicking it Old School

NANOWRIMO is nearly upon us. The big writing frenzy begins on Saturday. I don't think I'll go for the full 50k, because really, who needs that kind of failure in their life? There's a reason I live in Realsville . . . way less stressful. That being said, I am going to up my game this year and go for 1k words a day, which will give me a sweet word count of 30k in one month.

And I'm going to do it all with a Pilot G2 pen.

Is it because I fear typing on a keyboard will give me carpal tunnel before I get grandkids? Or am I terrified of developing cancer in my hinterlands from having a laptop radiating crazy vibes into my flesh? Perhaps I am a closet masochist?

Nope. No. And nuh-uh. Turns out there are some legit reasons to write long hand. Pay attention class. You're about to get educated.

Prevents Distraction
Who doesn't pop over to Pinterest or Facebook when the going gets tough? I've been known to have 52 tabs open at one time, bopping from Drudge to Twitter to Goodreads. And yeah, better check my email because who knows when the New York Times might send me a message that I'm on "The List." Squirrel!

Shifts Your Brain Into Gear
Recent studies suggest that writing in longhand engages the brain in a way that's different from typing. Virginia Berninger (professor at University of Washington) says, ". . . pictures of the brain have illustrated that sequential finger movements activate massive regions involved in thinking, language and working memory." She also says handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding involves selecting a whole leter by touching a key.

So Long Internal Editor
While writing in longhand, there's no backspacing, deleting or re-working sentences to make them pretty. Sure, you can cross out sentences and re-write, but after the first few paragraphs, that usually gets old and you quit doing it.

Plus, writing with pen and paper is extremely portable and I don't have to worry about plugging in. But really, I just love the feel of a pen in my hand as it sweeps across the page. Ahh. Simple pleasures.