Writing well builds a steep hill to climb.
Anne Lamott says to write, "sh*tty first drafts."
Joyce Carol Oates puts her drafts aside for months and returns to them.
Salman Rushdie distinguishes our "creative mind" from our "critical mind." (editing)
"Writing is rewriting."
AI PROMPT: Is there a material difference when composing writing on a keyboard than with pen and paper? (note that AI works to create a relationship with you)
RESPONSE (ChatGPT Plus):
Yes, I think there is a meaningful difference—not necessarily in quality, but in how the brain approaches the task. Research over the past two decades suggests that keyboarding and handwriting engage different cognitive processes, each with its own strengths.
Here are several observations that would make for an interesting essay.
1. Handwriting encourages thinking; keyboards encourage production.
Writing by hand is slower. Because your hand can't keep pace with every thought, you're forced to select, organize, and simplify ideas before they reach the page.
Typing removes much of that bottleneck. Ideas flow quickly, making keyboards excellent for brainstorming and first drafts—but they can also encourage writing before thinking.
As novelist Truman Capote famously quipped:
"That's not writing, that's typing."
Hyperbolic? Certainly. But he was pointing to a real distinction.
2. Editing changes everything.
On paper:
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deleting is costly,
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rearranging is awkward,
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revisions require commitment.
On a computer:
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everything is provisional,
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paragraphs can be moved instantly,
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experimentation is inexpensive.
That flexibility often leads to better-polished work.
3. Handwriting strengthens memory.
A substantial body of educational research has found that handwriting generally leads to better recall than typing, particularly when taking notes.
Why?
Because writers tend to summarize rather than transcribe. That forces deeper processing.
For coaching, this is an important lesson.
A player who handwrites practice notes may remember them better than one who photographs the whiteboard. (Important distinction for students)
4. The pace changes the writing.
Handwriting naturally creates pauses.
Those pauses often become moments for reflection.
Typing favors momentum.
Neither is inherently superior.
They simply optimize different parts of the creative process.
5. Different parts of creativity emerge.
Many writers report:
Pen and paper
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reflection,
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storytelling,
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journaling,
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difficult conversations,
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philosophical thinking.
Keyboard
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organization,
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editing,
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research,
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technical writing,
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long manuscripts.
Many professional authors still draft portions of books in notebooks before moving to a computer.
6. Friction can improve thinking.
One of the surprises from cognitive psychology is that making a task slightly harder sometimes improves learning.
Handwriting introduces productive friction.
Typing minimizes friction.
Each has value depending on the goal.
7. Technology changes our relationship with words.
A keyboard invites constant revision.
Paper feels more permanent.
Some writers become more willing to take risks on a computer.
Others become more careful with every sentence on paper.
Neither tendency is universal, but both are common.
What I suspect about your own process
Based on our many conversations, I think your writing naturally has two phases.
Phase 1: Thinking
You collect:
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quotations,
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coaching stories,
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investment principles,
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historical analogies,
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observations from books.
This stage is about making connections.
Phase 2: Crafting
You then reshape those ideas into:
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basketball blog posts,
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volleyball articles,
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QVG-R frameworks,
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leadership essays.
That stage benefits enormously from a keyboard because of the ease of restructuring and revision.
My guess is that you would enjoy a hybrid workflow:
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Notebook or e-ink device (such as a Kindle Scribe or BOOX) for capturing ideas, outlines, and reflections.
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Keyboard for developing, reorganizing, and polishing those ideas into publishable articles.
That mirrors the workflow of many accomplished writers.
One final thought
There's an irony here that I think fits your coaching philosophy.
A keyboard makes writing easier.
A pen sometimes makes writing better.
Not because ink is magical, but because it slows us down just enough to ask one more question:
"Is this what I really mean?"
That's a coaching question as much as a writing question. The best coaches, like the best writers, don't merely produce more. They pause, reflect, refine, and choose their words—and their actions—with intention.
