Between the widespread adoption of emails, evolving technology, and dependency on digital devices to take notes, writing longhand has been pushed to the sidelines. Writing letters or cards seem to have also gone out of fashion, as most holiday and celebratory cards now have printed text within them. Friends spend months not talking to each other only to have one short burst of cellular communication that eventually dissipates back into the ether. A short “u okay” and the subsequent “they have liked your message,” or even the ever wonderful and/or annoying “👍” emoji tends to be the end of it. There’s no tangibility. It feels impersonal, and honestly, a little grim.
This is why we should take a page out of human history and bring back letter writing! It doesn’t take much effort and can range anywhere from a short three line “thank you” note, to a three page cursive essay updating your long distance friend of all the recent, juicy details of your life. Besides the personal touch that handwritten work has, there are many other benefits to writing longhand and letter writing.
Letter writing requires you to step away from a screen and create. It takes an ordinary sheet of paper and, with the graphite of a pencil or the ink of a pen, transforms it into something new, something worth sharing and keeping. Rather than seeing your loved ones’ lives through phone screens, digital pictures and short texts, you get to hold a narration, a record of who they are at that moment in time. And, as an extra perk, it can reduce your screen time if you adopt it as a hobby! It truly engages and holds your attention in a way that typing does not.[1] The time it takes to gather your thoughts and write a letter is sufficient to make a difference in how much blue light you’re absorbing, plus your eyes are moving progressively and aren’t bombarded by overstimulating images.[2]
An article from Psychology Today notes that when you write longhand, you “both think about and condense what [you are] observing,” which facilitates recall later.[3] There is a breadth of research that showcases how writing things down by hand can boost your memory retention. It has been found to help encode new information and to promote learning through enhancing brain connectivity by “precise hand movements and sensory engagement.”[4] This is true for taking notes in class as well as writing down moments that you find to be important in a journal or letter. Through the same act, you can also develop better reading comprehension in real time.[5]
Furthermore, writing by hand can also help with creative flow! As you write, you can record different versions of the same thoughts in order to find which one works best. It feels less final and clinical than typing up words on a laptop. Personally, all my written papers in college have begun as scribbles in a college-ruled spiral notebook. Those scribbles eventually form an amalgamation of my arguments and evidence in a concise manner that carries the personality of my writing voice. An article by Nova Weetman for The Guardian corroborates this, as letter writing can help you find your creative voice.[6] There’s no need for what you write to be absolutely polished, nor is there any grading pressure upon you, which means that you can experiment with writing conventions, use different tones, and apply different imagery to convey your feelings. Eventually you’ll construct a way of writing that is unique to you.
Additionally, writing a letter requires intentionality.[7] It’s like journaling with a destination! Maybe you’re able to communicate difficult thoughts or make amends for words said in the heat of the moment that you didn’t exactly mean. It’s purposeful communication, and it adds solidity to your emotions.
Aesthetically speaking, there’s just something about pouring your heart out onto a piece of paper and sending it off to a specific destination. It is like chipping off pieces of yourself and sending them to the ones you love the most for them to hold. If you’ve ever said “I’d give you my heart if I could” to someone, a written letter is the closest you can get to that without dying. They become little treasures that sit in adorned boxes, are pinned to a board as a lovely reminder, or are glued to a scrapbook, all for safekeeping.[6] Plus, you can add other notes of personality to your letters. Stickers can be glued to the pages and envelope, glitter gel pens and pretty paper can be used, and you can stick pressed flowers, bookmarks, and a whole other variety of things to enhance the words inside and show care for the other person. Make it fun, make it your own!
[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-writing-by-hand-is-better-for-memory-and-learning/
[2] https://thebritishschoolofexcellence.com/uncategorized/4-unexpected-benefits-of-letter-writing/
[3] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/shut-and-listen/202205/the-creative-benefits-writing-longhand
[4] https://www.psychiatrist.com/news/handwriting-shows-unexpected-benefits-over-typing/
[5] https://stackoverflow.blog/2022/11/23/why-writing-by-hand-is-still-the-best-way-to-retain-information/
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/may/03/we-know-there-are-many-benefits-to-writing-by-hand-in-a-digital-world-we-risk-losing-them
[7] https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2024/06/04/a-psychologist-shares-3-unsung-mental-benefits-of-writing-letters/
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