Writing by hand is good for your brain • Hacker News Board

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#651

Post by hliyan » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 12:48 PM UTC

alexpotato wrote: post #649

Wacom tablets come with a stylus that simulates a pencil lead. It actually wears down over time which may sound like a bug/trying to get you to buy more but I have to say that it really does feel like using a pen. There is just enough drag to give you the sense of moving without it feeling like drawing on glass (like an iPad). A lot of people reading this may say "But I'm a SWE, not an artist. Why would I ever need t…

Kobo stylus is similar. Closest experience I've had to actually writing on paper. Quality of thought too, is closer to that of actual paper writing, compared to typing.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#652

Post by spacecadet » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 12:54 PM UTC

20 years ago when I use to instruct a 101 class on programming, in the first 2 weeks, I made everyone write simple programs with paper and pencil. Students thought that was insane, I would catch them mocking it. I always had the last laugh... those who took it seriously always performed the best and went on to have more successful careers.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#653

Post by another-dave » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 1:06 PM UTC

haritha-j wrote: post #624

The core idea is really solid, but isnt half the article about finidng the right type of paper and taking care of fountain pens? I don't think my setup (free notebooks from events + ballpoint pens) will reduce yourt brain activity compared to a fancy fountain pen and fancy italian paper.

That's not the point he was making at all though.

He wasn't saying "buy a fancy pen, it's better for your brain".

The positioning is "every time people hear that I write on paper, they come up with all these reasons why it won't work for them (crap/smudges/etc). These are the things I do so that's not a problem for me"

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#654

Post by jjulius » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 1:20 PM UTC

Diogenesian wrote: post #606

jibal wrote: post #547

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one is forcing you to buy books that have been scribbled in. If someone buys a book then they own it and can do what they want with it, without concern that maybe some day they will sell it and some narcissistic rando will resent them for what they have done with their own property.

"narcissistic rando" half of these replies are making personal attacks. Knock it off.

FWIW, I'm picking up a very aggressive tone from the majority of your responses here. I'm not at all justifying the personal attacks, but I would posit that the tone perhaps invites them to a degree.

If there's no aggression intended, that's great, but I'm struggling to not see it when I read them.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#655

Post by hecifato » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 1:34 PM UTC

neovive wrote: post #59

I'm curious about everyone's opinion on writing "by hand" with a stylus on tablets like the Remarkable, Kindle Scribe, iPad+Pencil, etc. I like sketching and outlining with pencil and paper, but my handwritten notes are often illegible and disorganized. I know it's partly process and my poor penmanship, but digital surfaces compensate for this with built-in organization, searchability, and easier integration into pro…

I used an iPad + Apple Plencil for my last 2 years of University. I love the idea of digital notebooks, but for me writing 99% of the time in cursive zero friction between Pencil and glass was not a good combo. I find, at least for me, cursive needs that friction.

I tried some big name matte screen protector, I can’t remember now what it was called, and it was pretty good. It was like 70% of the way to feeling like paper. The Pencil tips would wear away but they still lasted much longer than the sticks for a mechanical pencil would. But the way the matte finish would diffuse light hurt the sharpness of the iPad display so I’ve been using these Pencil tip covers instead. It took some getting used to, and I still prefer actual pencil to actual paper but this at least saves me from buying and storing tens or hundreds of notebooks.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#656

Post by RandomWorker » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 1:56 PM UTC

ricardobayes wrote: post #638

dhosek wrote: post #519

On the gadget front, I really love the paperlike screen protector for the iPad. This combined with the Apple Pencil made a huge difference in the usability of my iPad for writing/drawing. I still prefer to write on paper, but it’s really great for things like my writing group where we generally meet over zoom & I can give the author a marked up manuscript (with multicolor notes). I’m also opposed to getting too preci…

Not a sarcastic response, instead, to double down on your point. If you show this to 99.9% of the world and require the spend of $50 for the screen protector on the $500 iPad to get the "paper feel", they will tell you might as well just get that Leuchtturm or Moleskin notebook.

That’s what kept me from going iPad. At the price of a 1000 setup you can buy about 25 Moleskins with, 280 pages each, + pens. If you fill 10 pages a day, that’s two years of high quality paper. My rate is more like 3-4 pages a day. So, I’m just so far out. My sense is that an iPad would last 3-4 years then it needs a battery replacement.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#657

Post by jacoueszzx » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

bunun ilerde işe yarayacagını düşünüyorum

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#658

Post by qiller » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:18 PM UTC

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #608

pims wrote: post #601

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm left-handed and always tilt paper at least 45° clockwise, effectively writing from below. Never had any smudging issues, even with fountain pens, as my hand simply never goes over any ink. Left-handed people who write from above by bending their wrist have always confused me, as it's both less comfortable and does not completely avoid smudges.

You meant counterclockwise, I guess? Because clockwise would mean to write from above, not below? Interested because my son is learning to write and is the only leftie in the family, so I struggle to help him.

Counterclockwise, correct.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#659

Post by NidhiTiwari2026 » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:37 PM UTC

ignu wrote: post #34

I switched from an Obsidian fanboy to only writing by hand, and I'm never going back. It seemed preposterous to put notes in something I can't back up or "CTRL+F" search, but I've found that yes, sometimes I spend two minutes looking for a note, but when I do I generally never have to look up that information again... as opposed to things I'd search Obsidian for constantly that seemed to never get stored in my brain.

Hi. Retention is a problem not because there is something wrong with our memory but that’s how the brain works. Science shows that we forget 70% of what you read in 24 hours. I have had the same issue and always left me with the feeling that I am not getting the best out of my reading. So I created LearnBetter. It applies learning science principles to help you retain by converting what you read into short exercises. Re-reading, highlighting or writing it yourself by creating then organizing notes won’t give you the results you are looking for. Atleast not to me. Trust me I have done them all. Try out Learnbetter. See if that helps you. It’s free. I am passionate about this problem and I want to help others who are going through what I did. It’s getlearnbetter.ai. It’s in beta so expect some minor issues here and there. Would love to hear what you think if you decide to try.

Re: Writing by hand is good for your brain

#660

Post by Multicomp » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC

beej71 wrote: post #382

dv35z wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. To others: The book is called "The Artists Way", and is an excellent guide to become more creative and expressive.

Another recommendation for this.

I've done that for a time, then fell off for the past few years. Today, I'm getting out my journal right after I hit 'send' and I'm doing this. To whoever is reading this and may be in a similar situation, let's start the streak up again today!

EDIT: I did it and am glad I overcame the inertia - it was a little over a whole year since I pulled out the journal, so if whoever out there is still on the fence, give it a shot, it's worth the accomplished dopamine afterwards!