Do you prefer to write by hand with pen on paper or on a keyboard? Does it affect your creativity? We had this discussion at our last Use Your Words writers group meeting. We were talking about writing every day – some like to write in a journaI while others prefer the keyboard.

I write both ways (sounds kinda sexy!). For work, I hand write copious notes and lists in my work notebook and then write copy for newsletters, brochures, social media, etc., on the computer keyboard. I like writing for work on the keyboard because I type lightening fast and can edit/correct/change as I write.

But, because I have a tendency to edit/correct/change while writing on the keyboard, I prefer to write my personal stuff by hand. I write by hand in my Travel Journal.  And, every morning, my sister Becky and I write for 10 minutes in our journals and then read out loud what we wrote. Unedited handwriting is raw, not so pretty, truthful.

I found an interesting article on the I-net about the benefits of writing by hand http://mentalfloss.com/article/33508/4-benefits-writing-hand. In the short time I spent searching, I saw lots of information about the benefits of writing by hand but none on the benefits of typing. We’ll just have to make up our own.

Last year, our writers group read “Writing Down Your Soul,” by Janet Conner. One entire chapter is about choosing your writing tools. I had never thought about the physical connections between our hearts, minds and hands when writing.

What about you – pen or keyboard?