I usually switch between writing by hand and typing, depending on the purpose. If I’m journaling to help reflect on something personal, or documenting a dream, I prefer handwriting. There’s something almost magical about putting nonverbal thoughts and feelings into words—it feels like bringing them to life in a new way. Handwriting can feel frustratingly slow, especially when my ideas move faster than the pen allows. In those cases, I might use bullet points to keep up with my thoughts.

This task was interesting because it made me reflect on how I process my ideas in different mediums. When I handwrite, I tend to let ideas emerge naturally, allowing them to take shape as I go. Editing handwritten work feels a bit like pruning a garden—removing unnecessary details while highlighting the best parts. However, typing makes editing much easier and more fluid. If I catch a mistake while handwriting, I might cross it out or rewrite the sentence, whereas on a computer, I can instantly revise and restructure without a trace of the original error.

A little anecdote came to mind while doing this task—back in Ukraine, in grade 7, we learned typing on actual typewriters. It was a very noisy process, and mistakes required archaic white-out and a special pen to make corrections look seamless. Only the most skilled students could do it without leaving obvious traces, and I was definitely not one of them! Compared to that, the ease of modern word processors still amazes me.

The biggest difference between handwriting and typing, for me, is intimacy. Writing by hand slows time down—it’s just me, the pen, the paper, and my thoughts. It’s introspective, almost meditative. Typing, while still immersive, has a different rhythm. The ability to edit, tweak, and refine makes the process feel less permanent, more fluid. I can’t say I prefer one over the other because they serve different purposes. Handwriting is reflective , while typing is efficient; handwriting feels more generative than typing. That said, thinking about how slow a dissertation would be if written entirely by hand makes me grateful for technology!