Like any common wordsmith, I turn to my trusty word processor to get me through the best and worst of times. Some days the words come easy, some days it feels like pulling teeth. But on days where I have spare time on my hands and a moment alone, I like to pull out a notebook, a fountain pen, and get right down to it. In fact, I penned the very first draft of my novel by hand. Sadly, due to time constraints and the obvious need for the penned word to eventually become printed word has made that habit a onetime trick.

Still, I find it astonishing that much of the writing community doesn’t write longhand. Longhand of the adult life is meant for jotting a note or a reminder. It’s funny, because reading on the go might be popular, but writing on the go seems to exist only for the occasional cram student on their way to school. And aren’t we more concerned with putting more words on the page?

Then again, this doesn’t affect just writers. I remember learning script in the third grade; my youngest brother had that excluded from his syllabi. Sure, the only real world thing he’d lack is time to practice a proper signature, the lack of emphasis on handwriting is a prevalent trend in today’s society.

It’s unfortunate because there are plenty of benefits for doing it the old fashioned way. Here are 5 reasons:

1. It’s Good for the Brain

There’s plenty of science to back this one up. Handwriting helps children develop key functions of the brain as they learn to process language with the written word, activating parts of the brain normally not stimulated by typed letters. Students retain more note taking by hand versus typing on a laptop (very true for me!). On the social ladder: people are just more impressed by a legible penmanship. It even saves lives too (ever heard of the dreaded doctor’s scrawl?).

But the real benefit, for me at least, is that writer’s block rarely happens on the page. In fact, it’s one of my ways of block busting. While typing, I can stare at a blank page, wondering what to say next, because my hands have already gone through the next sentence before I can even form it in my head. As I’m penning it down though, my brain can forge on ahead as I work, even as I’m editing myself as I go. The process is smoother, and as the momentum builds, writing is more enjoyable: nothing is better than the feeling of a million words going by and knowing that the font won’t ever stop. For a time, at the very least.

There is one caveat though: there’s a lot of filler to this step. Even as my brain is unwinding, it’s still spitting out worthless words that get cut on a second pass. It might be wasted effort; but getting through the entire passage in my book, is worth a few hundred shaved here and there.

2. It’s Convenient

Read on the go? Write on the go. If inspiration hits me, I scribble down things on a scrap of paper, a napkin. Sometimes if I have neither, I boot up my phone and use a notepad app just so that maybe, one day, I can look back at it and use it as a springboard for a plot, or as a saucy clincher to the end of a chapter. And even if it’s just a few hundred words extra toward my active project, those few hundred words become a springboard for the night’s real work. There’s nothing like writing to your own writing prompt.

3. You Get to Use Cool Toys

Come on. I can’t be the only kid who grew up wanting to write in nice notebooks with colorful gel pens. Sure, I hated how they smeared, and I hated how thick they wrote, but something in sky blue or a deep violet made life a little more fun when I was still scribbling notes for a good six hours of my day.

As an adult with a somewhat functioning pocketbook, my obsession never changed. When I decided to write during my commute to work, I opted for the more ergonomic fountain pen. Instrument of choice for those with arthritis, I figured it would help me in my dreaded note taking wrist: the pain that was sure to come after just an hour of heavy student-level scribbling. One cheap fountain pen led to another and well. . . This was the result.

I’ll let that speak for itself.

4. It’s Relaxing

Did you ever have free writing as one of your early English class exercises? I did. Back in those ten to fifteen minute spurts, I wrote terrible fan-fiction in my own Mead 5-Star notebook. And while I can’t say my writing is any much better (Aha! Self-deprecating humor!), I derive the same sense of satisfaction of single minded focus whenever I get into my groove. I might spend half of my lunch break working, but when I leave, I always feel like I’m leaving something good behind, even if my penmanship transformed into nothing more than trailing scrawl. Not bad for an intentional writing prompt!

5. It’s Fun

I write because it’s enjoyable. It scratches the itch for a constant challenge: there’s nothing quite like the achievement of busting a writer’s block or the euphoria of riding the wave. I’m happy creating, no matter where I am: in my own headspace, on a computer, or with a simple piece of paper. All I need is a moment alone and the space to go: after that, reality is the only limit.

So there we have it. If anything, my daily routine is an excuse to enjoy my growing fountain pen collection now that convenience isn’t as pressing of an issue for me. Over to you: any fellow pen lovers out there? What’s your favorite pen? Your favorite ink, if you use another? Shout me some recs down below!