Embracing the Flow: Why I Swapped Screens for Fountain Pen and Paper When Note-Taking
The clanging keys ring out throughout the lecture hall, a familiar sight for students as they document their lecturers lesson, noting down phrases, names and observation of the presentation slides in bitesize chunks for future consumption.
I used to use my laptop for taking notes in an academic setting just like the one described above. I found it in time to be a struggle to take those notes and stay focused on what was being described, then in weeks to come I would struggle to find those notes. After a chaotic lecture where my laptop died, I changed to pen and paper and found bizarrely that it was easier to document what I heard. After this experience I looked for ways to make this easier for me. I ended up buying out of curiosity a parker jotter (recognising it from madmen). To describe the scratchless writing in comparison to the cheap plastic tube of a biro is an understatement.
I stuck with the jotters until my BA year when I found I needed a faster writing experience and one without the inevitable hand cramps you get in three hour lectures of harsh fast paced notetaking. This was the moment of discovery for me getting a fountain pen. Feeling like levelling up in a video game, even more smooth than jotter and I believe far more eco-friendly than the disposable plastic biro, even more so when you use glass ink and refillable cartridges. This change flowed into my work outside of uni as I chased fast notetaking and rapid annotations that the pen provides over a pc. While I experimented with a rollerball I found that I discovered this at the wrong time as I left my masters, the benefit of smooth writing but without the regular refills a fountain pen required in a lecture would have been a game changer for me. But I am glad this occurred this way in the end, had I used a rollerball before a fountain pen, I doubt that I would have started using a fountain pen.
An additional benefit that became apparent was that my writing improved dramatically with the fountain pen. Less forced, I believe it was in part due to the removal of the scratchy thin makeup of the biro and also due to the fact that you do end up caring more about what you write with a fountain pen. The process of semi-regularly cleaning the nib and adding ink when needed seems to be a ritual that helps. On a more scientific side, I think this has something to do with the angle you write with a fountain open, being more natural. As opposed to the crayon-like handling I have witnessed in school and in some workplaces.
Price was an attractive factor for this improvement in stationary. My first jotter cost £10. With replacement cartridges being at two for £5 (cheaper can be found online but I found when I ran out I needed a replacement almost immediately). My first foundation pen cost the same amount, with 50 cartridges costing £2.50. While not the smoothest pens in the world, this was a world better than what I was using before.
Outside my personal musing, what does the science say? It has been found that hand written notes aid in how your memory processes and then retrieves information later on in addition to helping to build up your ability to remember more information [1]. In addition, it has been found that using a keyboard does not help you process information in a way that long hand writing does [2]. In fact the only better way to process information than handwriting is to take part in collaborative session with peers (in a classroom setting for example) [3]. In addition handwriting takes a form of permanence that digital form does not [4].
[1] The benefits of note-taking by hand — BBC Worklife
[3] Deeper Learning: A Collaborative Classroom Is Key | Edutopia
[4] Handwritten valentines create a legacy of love and literacy (theconversation.com)
