no unnecessary and/or distracting music, no flashing images too fast that are too stimulating, no exagerating tone. just simple explanation about thoughtful ideas from a wise, honest man. love this video 🫶
An aspect that I like about handwriting is that it seems harder to get writer's block. I theorize that it's because of the slower speed. When you type, the words can come out so fast, and there might be a point all those thoughts are already dumped out to the screen, and now you are staring at the next blank line. But when you write, your thoughts are most certainly faster than your hand, so it feels like there's always the next idea, and the next idea, and the next, and they just keep coming and coming.
I haven't really gone very deep into it, and the writing i do is usually only the notes for my classes. But, one thing i really like is writing with a pencil. It just gives me more satisfaction and seems really neat when the whole page is filled.
I personally do the process the opposite way. I like using obsidian as a form of making a general summary of the content I want to study, and when I finish it, I handwrite a more concise summary of it. I do this because 1) It's much faster to write on a keyboard, so you can dump a lot of stuff with details 2) With this way I still have the memory retention benefits of handwriting and 3) It forces me to think about the content, summarizing in real time to my notebook. Anyway that's just my way of doing this.
Another advantage of this approach is that it's easier to reshuffle stuff while its digital so doing it this way allows you to experiment with different outlines and orders, and then commit to paper the one that works best.
Love handwriting. And appreciated this video. Digital is great for utilitarian purposes and seeing the big picture to facilitate editing. But with journals and other notebooks, you can revisit what you've written, look at the date, maybe notice a stain on the page from food or drink, and it can bring you back to where you were, what you were up to at that time, and a host of other memories. Well done!
I agree totally. I've always written and taken notes by hand. (I'm older than you - BC - Before Computers.) As well as leading to more thoughtful writing, it does something to your brain. Something about the left/right brain. I also enjoy the aesthetics very much (next step is fountain pens and/or coloured inks - it adds another level). I would encourage you to use what was called running writing or cursive writing when I was at school - or joined-up writing when my son went to school. It's much more efficient than printing. Also, I take pride in the "look" of my writing. It's very satisfying. One final comment - you can certainly edit rather than transcribe directly when moving the the computer, but sometimes I want to keep my original. I've discovered the absolute best handwriting recognition tool is Evernote. Believe me, I've tried them all. Simply snap a photo of each page, upload to Evernote and "Transcribe". It seldom requires fixing and usually gives me a 100% correct transcription - and I use cursive writing. It's a joy.
+1 for cursive writing. I learned it in school, but preferred to print until in my early 20s when I decided to practice cursive for a while--purely for the aesthetics. After using both for a while, I gradually found myself "reaching for" cursive more and more when I wanted to note something quickly. It really is more efficient! Plus, it and fountain pens go together-- cursive is easier with a fountain pen than with a ballpoint, and a fountain pen writes cursive more easily than it does print.
Love physical handwriting, love buying a notebook. I do enjoy my remarkable because the notes are (usually) transferable to digital and there is no re-typing. With young kids, this is a valuable time saver.
I usually handwrite my notes but back it up digitally, input it in digital format with AI so I don't have to rewrite it so long manually + get the best from both worlds (analog means connected emotionally, very flexible for adding personal touch like drawings, more 'windows' through zettelkasten system in A6 format; digital means access to AI, digital backup, easy sharing). Just have to correct some point + reading it again = means repeating what I learned, internalize my knowledge / journal.
yep, i fully agree on your point of being able to use pens. writing got me into the habit of investing into high quality pens and paper and every time i write i cant help but think about the time and craftsmanship that was put into this single pen
I love Sailor fountain pens! They give a little feedback while writing that makes you feel like you're really writing! They're also incredibly beautiful and the nibs are handmade.
I study ancient literature (greek and latin) so when you said medieval monk i really heard you 😂. Anyway I always prefered handwriting beacause you initiate a deep connection with what you're writing just by feeling the touch of the pen on the paper. Then you start listen to yourself, the way you grasp the pen, or how much pressure you use, how much tense you are, all of this just by noticing how you're writing. You get to know your real self and your real writing. There are studies that say that it increase your cognitive abilities too.
I do love the feel of smooth ink gliding across high quality paper. I usually make notes by hand in an indexed notebook. I type them into obsidian as a next step. This allows me to think about the topic at least twice. I will try writing a first draft by hand though. Thanks for the encouragement.
I have always taken notes with one of my fountain pens. I find the flow of the nib/ink on paper produces the right attention to the detail of what I am writing. I'm looking at Obsidian to organise my notes. What we really need is a good system for translating hand written notes into digital format.
i've been writing so many essays in school by hand and i've been journaling for a few years consistently at this point, that if i don't have some kind of pen and paper before me just simply laying on the table i feel empty and that something isn't right. It sounds like it's bad, but over time it grew to be a little side hobby for me: buying a good notebook and pen, feeling good quality paper and how the pen glides on it, the color of ink... it brings me that little amout of joy and happiness that is missing in my day to day life sometimes
I retype my paper notes into org-mode emacs. I type at 100 WPM so it doesn’t take too long and it improves my writing and reading since I have to read what I wrote. This encourages me to write better naturally
During this gap year after I graduate, I found your channel and other creators when I’m lost. Creators that help me learn throughout this gap year. Because how helpful your content is, everytime you post a new video I always put it on my ‘watch later’ playlist, and make sure that I don’t skip your video because how important it is for me. Thanks for show me obsidian, and writing. It really means a lot to me. Tysm!✊
It is really great hearing someone talk about this so genuinely. I so many notebooks for various purposes (philosophy, psychology notes, a diary, a knowledge collection) and one more person realizing how satisfying and "mysterious" it is to write on paper with a pen. It truly bring a smile to my face
Valid points, even though I don't see myself writing long form with pen and paper. Yet, no doubt that handwriting makes you think clearer before writing and perhaps reach your true voice. Sometimes, I write "industrialized" articles in my computer, I guess I'd write better if in handwriting.
I like the part where you went and got a glass of water. I think this makes you more relatable ☺️ No need to comment on the content, it’s awesome as usual.
This video is pure gold to me right now, because I've been trying to figure out a good way to compromise between handwriting, which I love, and Obsidian, which is super practical. The aesthetics and rituals of it are not silly at all, since I no longer study/write because I have to (quit academia for various reasons), but because I want to. I got a really nice Parker fountain pen and ballpoint pen, and some really gorgeous notebooks, but it wasn't practical digging through them every time I wanted to find anything. My process now is this: mark books up with a pencil as I read -> go through the book again and make handwritten notes of the marked up places -> summarize them in Obsidian while noting where the handwritten version could be find, like my own personal library catalogue. Works like a dream and I get the best of both worlds.
this was a great video !! glad to know my approach wasn't anything out of the unusual, considering I write my note drafts in my journal first, and i've always thought if it was worth it considering i was afraid it would just be me wasting my time :)
I've been handwriting Morning Pages for 188 consecutive days today, and I can say that it has brought my life into focus, and many new ideas for essays and fiction have emerged. It is for me a life-changing habit now.
I'm with ya 100%... I thought owning a zfold I could have this as an everything device, but that's the problem is it has everything on it. It can make it hard to focus and finish thoughts.
I am way older than you young man but I have been using fountain pens and write everything down in notebooks for over 50 years now. Organizing your notes digitally is great but you lose out on what you learn by writing in down with your own hand on paper. I also use an E-ink tablet from Boox which still allows me to write by hand my notes. Though nothing surpasses pen and paper at least to me. I wish much luck in your endeavors and whatever you choose make sure its right for you. Kudos from NYC.🗽
I totally agree with your view on handwriting and am an avid about handwriting. I would love to hear your views about why you favour paper over E-ink tablet. Both have pros and cons: portability/ space spacing v no need for electricity and so on. What are your reasons for preferring paper?
@@seasun7745 Well just the fact that the feel of a pen or pencil on paper is totally unique for many reasons. I mainly use fountain pens not as a hobby but since I was 8 years old as I was lucky to go to school abroad. Today, finding good fountain pen paper significantly from Japan has gotten more expensive throughout the years and saving trees is on my conscience. Thus the swing to an e-ink tablet which as you stated has its pros and cons is something to consider. In essence, I use a paper notebook for journaling and a Boox Note Air 3C for work notes so not to waste paper. Hopefully, this will give you some my perspective on the matter. Cheers!
@@em4me-Dan Thank you for your reply, which has given me perspective. The feel of deliberatly tracing notes with a (in my case italic) nib on quality paper is one of my greater pleasures. I purchased a Kindle Scribe for all the advantages of electronic format and the writing experience its screen was said to provide. For the first week I thought it was a mistake and that I would never derive the same pleasure as writing with fountain pen. One year on, I don't miss the pen and though it may be a somewhat more satisfying experience, I am happy to sacrifice that for the benefits of going digital. Handwriting on my Scribe brings me hours of pleasure.
You almost convinced me. I’m digital all the way through - haven’t handwritten anything meaningful in maybe 10 years - but now I’m considering it. 😄 I think for me the value wouldn’t be in the actual writing, but in expressing my thoughts in a visual way. I think in structures and connections, and it’s much easier to draw those than to write about them.
I remember that when I was watching your channel, you talked a lot about Obsidian and its goods, and I always had that thought in the back of my mind: "O.K., that's neat, but isn't writing on paper more efficient when learning?" I wanted to go to Obsidian but found that Obsidian had updated, and things had changed, so I waited for a new tutorial. Hope you bring more of this because I also want to learn about writing on pen.
I can't write in any way other than by hand. Especially after reading in a book that writing by hand-particularly in cursive or oriental symbols-enhances information retention and comprehension. The problem is that my office is getting full of scattered papers, and I always end up losing track when I try to find something I've written. I came across your video about Obsidian a few days ago, and it opened up a fantastic possibility for storing all this information in a way I had never imagined. What I've been doing to transfer my notes from paper to Obsidian is taking a picture of what I wrote with GPT Plus and then asking GPT to transcribe the text for me, instead of having to type it out line by line. Congratulations on your channel and great content!
What you say about the aesthetics of pen on paper truly resonates with me. I have been an avid user of fountain pens, even for my uni notes, as I have always appreciated the feel of them. Solid production and pronunciation of the "Drehgriffel" btw!
For me, I carry a pocket notebook everywhere for thoughts and observations, some of which gets fleshed out in my notebook, then take it digital. I've found I use a physical notebook far more often than getting out a notes app, and it's fun to doodle in too. Would definitely recommend trying that!
Good stuff. I found your channel while trying to make an obsidian zettelkasten work for me, but I spent more time thinking about the note taking system and software than I did actually reading and taking notes. I couldn't get out of my own way with it. Not to mention the procrastination that came with being on a computer with internet access. Eventually I made the switch to pen and paper. Its hard to beat the simplicity of just writing down your notes in a notebook. And with a little work, you can do an analog version of note linking too if that helps you think. No wonder the humble commonplace book has served millennia of great thinkers. Some added benefits to me are that the physical act of writing helps me remember much better than typing, and the note existing as a physical thing in space between other notes also helps me remember approximately where I can find a specific note in my book (kind of like a memory palace, but external to your mind). And the final change is that I also got a little into quality stationery as a result of this change
I have indeed been handwriting longer than you (I turned 40 this year, so the math checks out) and I think you hit on all the pros: fewer distractions, better focus, greater flexibility/portability, and nicer aesthetics/user experience. Can't think of anything you missed! Taking notes by hand and then translating them to the digital realm (editing along the way) is a workflow that also serves me well. So I don't have anything to add except fountain pens are great and my favorite are the Pilot Metropolitans. Compared to a disposable pen, they're expensive. Compared to many fountain pens, they're cheap. They also write very smoothly, start with no trouble (even after not having been used for a while) and are very durable. 10/10.
Agree on that 100%, so much easier to focus when working only with paper and fountain pen. Also to add that You can just take paper and pen everywhere, in bus, in train etc. You can write while waiting for someone, on bench etc.
One more reason why handwriting can be easier and even faster is that you can immediately write in any language! If you speak multiple languages, you might suddenly remember a word or a phrase in one but not in the other, but you don't have to switch keyboards or figure out different shortcuts to get funky letters that you can't find in (for example) English! This might not be that big of an issue for most, but it's still one more thing that I find makes me want to write with a pen than digitally sometimes. Great video, gotta get out my notebook now!
Your video reminded me of a TED Talk Jake Weidmann did 10 years ago now on handwriting, which I think you may find interesting. In this talk, he centers on three areas of literacy you gain from handwriting. The video is on the TEDx Talks Channel and is from TEDxMileHigh.
Loved your video! I’ve recently fallen completely in love with the Traveler’s Notebook phenomenon. I’ve been writing mostly for personal purposes, and my forgotten love for writing and paper has fully blossomed. Besides journaling, I’ve also started bullet journaling. I think the Leuchtturm1917 120g will become my notebook for work. I’d love to integrate writing more into my work as a project manager in the creative industry, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet. If anyone has tips, I’d love to hear them!
Most of my thesis drafts I wrote in pen and paper, yeah, it takes longer, but just as you said: the extra time makes us think a little more and properly organize our thoughts
The two most important things in my opinion are the aesthetics and the distractions. In any field that requires creativity, aesthetics are important. You need to want to put in the effort. And aesthetics are an important factor for doing that. I'm an easily distracted man. Not in all types of works, but in plenty. So not having any possibility of distraction is nice. But even though I can apprechiate your ideas I probably won't change much. Writing is mostly something I do as a hobby. I take notes on random thoughts of mine and write those on my phone during the day. When I start writing them into a tool like obsidian, then I can concentrate decently well and usually can finish without problem. In other places I struggle more. For example when it comes to programming or writing stories or making youtube videos. And in those cases I don't see how switching to pen and paper can be an improvement in my situation.
No Obsidian sponsorship for you! I started using Obsidian from your suggestion, but had always written out the notes long-hand first (see commonplace book idea from Ryan Holliday). One other thing I try to do with all of the Obsidian notes, once they're typed about one particular source, is to print out those notes and re-annotate it in handwriting...sort of one last reflection on what exactly I am taking from this piece of information. It's probably overkill, but what here isn't? That's sort of the point - the fact that hustle-based, life-hack stuff is the opposite: no reflection, no rumination, no "inconvenient" time spent with the material. Thanks again for everything, love this account!
I write about handwriting as thinking on paper on my Substack. It is a game changer. Every letter I publish has a picture of my first draft, which I write in cursive. Pro tip: you can use AI to transcribe your notes and then edit them before implementing them into your Obsidian vault. I do this all the time. The best OCR for me seems to be Claude.
That's cool, especially if you can pull off the nice handwriting. The transcription is also helpful, but I feel like my handwriting is too far gone for it.
One advantage of speedy writing is that sometimes I have to get all ideas on paper before I forget them again. In that case having a slow and thoughtful writing method is counterproductinve.
I have always written longhand (script) for just about everything I have written (about 30 years, now). I find that the movement of the arm, the hand, the fingers helps the flow of words; it is lyrical where as typing is staccato (not in the good way a Balkan tune in 11/16 is). In addition, when you are done, you have an actual MANU-script. I only write on one side of the paper (the more textured side) so when I do my first edit, I can make changes on the page in question on the facing blank, back side of the previous page. This edit is mostly big picture stuff, then the next edit come when it goes into the computer & it is more of a line edit, honing each sentence to my satisfaction. My fiction writing is done on a linen paper & I always use a Pelikan fountain pen (fine nib). I always carry a sketch book with me to jot things down, & my standard, daily use, pen is the wonderful Zebra F-402, also a fine point. If you prefer a medium I would suggest the F-701.
I use two notebooks for hand writing. I bounce between the two in what might be called sub drafts, adding more as I go because I tend to under write. That's just me. As I say, I bounce between notebooks copying what I like, editing out what I don't, back and forth until I have a final draft to be typed. Of course I make many changes after a piece is typed up. As Paul Valery said Poems are never finished--but abandoned. Same goes, in my experience, for any writing.
I also enjoy handwriting for the joy of using my fountain pens and bottled inks, which can be a lot of fun with different ink colours, different ink properties like shading, sheening, or shimmering, and so on. The pens I use most often, are ones by Lamy, specifically the Safari and Al-Stars models - which are basically the same, just made from plastic and aluminium respectively - and TWSBI, the Eco and Diamond 580 models. I have several versions of each model, in different colours, special editions, and so on. Lamy fountain pens are usually cartridge/converter pens, with proprietary designs rather than standard international cartridges/converters. TWSBI on the other specialises almost exclusively on fountain pens with piston or vacuum filling systems, and their pens are usually demonstrators, meaning they are transparent. So you can see the ink slosh about in the barrel while you write, and keep an eye on how much ink is left in the pen before you need to refill it. And regarding bottled ink, it's just more economical AND ecological. More choices of inks, you get more ink per dollar/euro/pound/whatever currency, and you don't have to throw spent ink cartridges in the rubbish, since you have a refillable cartridge converter, or the pen itself is a piston- or vacuum-filler so you can just fill the pen directly without using a removable ink reservoir. It is my strong suggestion you check out bottled ink if you intend on writing by hand a lot. Odysseas, you mentioned having a Parker fountain pen, perhaps you could start by checking out their offer of Parker Quink inks. They don't have too many colours, but from my knowledge, their inks are pretty safe and well-behaved. Personally, most of my inks are from the brands Diamine, De Atramentis, and Jacques Herbin, which have a much wider range of colours, colour variants, and ink properties. Regarding paper, I would advise anyone who wants to write with fountain pens to make sure you get fountain pen friendly paper, as not all paper is well-suited for that. Moleskine is pretty bad for writing with fountain pens, Leuchtturm is a much better candidate that is also widely available. Always funny to hear English-speakers try and fail to pronounce it *evil grin*. But don't forget there are also other options besides notebooks, like using binders (check out Japanese brands, like Kokuyo, which have innovative opening mechanisms that don't risk pinching your skin between the metal rings, like Western ones), or notecards.
Love it, this is the type of experience I aspire to. I already use the quink cartridge for my parker, but I do want a converter-style pen and to try the bottled ink. Have to do some research for what to get next, but thanks for all the suggestions!
@@odysseas__ A blunt syringe and a bottle of quink! You can refill and reuse the cartridge a handful of times before they fall apart, and it's the least complicated or messy route.
The aesthetics of a practice matter because they make the practice itself easier or more enjoyable. If there’s even a small bit of enjoyment added to a process, that makes a big difference. It might not be measurable but it’s definitely there.
If you choose a fountain pen, consider the Pilot Vanishing Point. Never skips and always ready to use and as convenient as a ballpoint. I have a dozen fountain pens , all good, but the Pilot is the go-to tool.
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I think I process information differently on paper. Something about physically writing makes me process the information, write down the good stuff and forget the rest. I think the shapes of the strokes being different, vs being all the same as a press of a key helps me remember more. I re read project notes from a typed brainstorm and sometimes I don't even remember I wrote them, vs a notebook has a memory attached that I recall when reading it again weeks later.
Great video! Had the exact same feelings not long ago. Writing by hand is just so much nicer and a welcome change from staring at a screen all day. I also was a bit anxious about ditching my digital note-taking systems and how to structure my analogue notes. But I settled on a "paper first, digital later" approach as well. But only if it fits the need. I certainly don't need my more-or-less-daily journaling in Obsidian. Only notes I think I'll need again, need to be shared with others or that need to make connections with each other make it over. Everything else stays in notebooks, preferably with an index in the front so I can quickly find what I'm looking for. I actively decided against loose paper or binders. Trying to structure these just takes up too much headspace and I have the feeling things can get lost more easily. Also I noticed your sleek new haircut! Then you said you had a girlfriend and now I know where that came from haha.
Great! I use both handwritten notes for capturing thoughts and Obsidian for final drafts. Sometimes I go for a walk and stop every now and then to write something down on my notebook. People do stop and stare amused- specially old people who genarally aren't in a hurry working or commuting. I feel like a private detective of sorts haha.
I've tried writing down thoughts and experiences by hand for almost a year, and it has slowly decreased from every day to once a month. I just can't deal with the fact that my thoughts move a lot faster than my hand. It feels tedious to sit there and write out the words instead of thinking forward and formulate the next part of the text. This makes me impatient, and my handwriting suffers. Sometimes, when I just want to be done with it, it is hardly legible. It's a shame really, I have some nice fountain pens and I like the idea of having my writings in a physical format, but writing by hand has become a chore to me now. Maybe obsidian is the solution for me, I'll give it a go and see what happens.
I've stopped handwriting completely, not that I was ever an avid hand-writer (?) but I've filled a few notebooks. The points you bring up about slowing down and thinking more are all good, but I think most of the benefits of handwriting come just from that - the more you think and polish your mental model of an idea, the better things will turn out. As long as you can engage in the same processes it doesn't really matter how you write, so you might as well do it digitally. Those are great mental habits to cultivate in general, just stopping and thinking more, something I'm working on myself right now. And you can make a mind map which is also a nice alternative to thinking about a topic and drafting things out. I know that digital-anything comes with distractions and everything but at this point we have so many tools of dealing with that that it's a problem but definitely not an excuse. I'm completely with you on the point of aesthetics though, if only not for the convenience of writing digitally... 😛 Great vid!
The main thing I like about taking rough notes/brainstorming on paper is that it's easier to 'write outside the margins', and to draw arrows and other doodles to visualise connections/ideas.
I mostly write with fountain pens. I love them and even though I’m a senior I have been able to collect a few relatively expensive pens that some collectors drool over. I remember the first time in a trendy coffee shop in Banff in 2010. I was sitting there writing my letters , enjoying my morning coffee and I have often wished I was able to have a similar experience again.
I do most of my writing with a bog standard Lamy fountain pen, like the ones you start out with in elementary school, except this one is a nice metallic teal colour. I also have two fountain pens with calligraphy nibs, and a while ago I experimentend with a feather quill (that got a bit messy). It's a fun rabbit hole to go down 😄
I've always written out my zero drafts longhand first. I don't know why, but I've always felt like it would be weird to me to just start typing straightway. My handwriting is basically squiggles as I'm writing fast, just trying to get thoughts out of my head and they're not very creative at this point, so I'm not sure I'm getting any benefit from it 😅 I do recommend the remarkable to those who are able to purchase one as it distraction free and digital note taking, in general, gives a nice balance. I also appreciate the lack of music, etc, in these videos.
The satisfaction from writing with pens (especially fountain pens) is unalterable experience. I just stumbled upon fountain pens for 1 week, literally one of the best writing experience. Combines with my journal that I've been doing for the past 3-4 months, it gives a taste of life in it rather than just controlling it from my screen. What I encourage you to do is also learning penmenship! Cursive especially, which is what im learning right now as a side hobby... Making my handwriting even beautiful is probably one of the most meditating and enjoyable activities that I can do in the morning 😅. Try out Barbara Nichol's, polishing your penmenship (iirc) book, and you can also try some other style of writing such as italic or copperplate (which im about to learn). Thanks for the vid!
You can also have fresh perspective if you write with your left hand using mirrored letters. I can never think the same way if I switch to left hand. Sometimes I go with right and left interchangeably (3-5 lines with each).
Hello Odysseas, it is wonderful that the handwriting works for you well. As a person who used to have a truly horrible handwriting and spent three years only to make it somewhat legible, I cannot agree that handwriting is a better means for drafting any material, at least for me. De-cyphering my handwriting is always such a tourture, even when i write Spencerian, lol.
Nothing beats pen and paper. Soon you'll be going about your day with a little pocket notebook for those elusive ideas 😂Having a nice pen is a must. I had an old lamy safari that died recently, it carried me through most of school and uni and then almost a decade past that, it owned me nothing at this point. As it was my only fountain pen I more or less stopped writing for a while until I got a replacement. The only writing I did during that time was with a dip pen. Those classic bics are only for drawing imo. Also get a nice cover for your notebook. There are plenty of nice and fancy leather ones to choose from. I use a "tactical" military one, just fits my style more. What ever you get it's like going from a cheap pen to a nice fountain pen but for your notebook. Other then that, you're doing practically exactly what I've been doing for as long as I remember. I go through the extra step of printing my typed notes in a little booklet. Screens don't compare to just reading from a page. For reference I do all my typing in Neovim in just plain markdown. I have a few custom key-binds and snippets and I use Marksman LSP for all the nice linking and stuff like that. I do treat markdown as if it were code. End result is just about exactly what you get in Obsidian, and as far as I can tell there is a pandoc plugin for that too. So printing your notes should also be easily doable if you wanted.
PhD student here. Handwriting is the only way I navigate complex topics. My research is based on ambitious as fuck concepts (why I did this we’re still working out lol), but handwriting slowly rather than fast paced summaries of articles actually sped up my understanding. I use obsidian to organise my ideas, but it’s always after a solid handwriting session. And it’s pretty cool to have a collection of handwritten books to represent my phd process.
I used to have my notes or writings all in cursive back when I was young since I got taught how to do it and got used to it. People kept saying that my handwriting is unreadable since they are not used to reading cursive. This made me switch back to writing in latin and now completely digitally. I too want to go back to the times where my contemporary looking book looks like it was written 300 years ago. Now when I look back at those old notebooks, the essense of time is much more impactful.
Completely anecdotal, but in college I always felt a huge drop in understanding when I tried to take notes digitally. Always ended up going back to paper.
Same for me...but at work/during meetings. It's almost like there is some sort of disconnect if I try with my laptop. So during these big State meetings while everyone is clacking at their keyboards, I'm furiously writing.
I love my notebooks and pens! I enjoy writing anywhere I like without screens. I too use Obsidian after I have written my thoughts down. I like having the freedom to chose what are the most useful bits and what needs to incubate. It’s amazing what you find in your writing when you come back to it. I like to revisit journals to see what I was thinking about 25 or 30 years ago or even yesterday. I love a good pocket notebook (Field Notes) and a 6x8 ish journal. I love Lamys and my Waterman, but don’t get me started on my Japanese pens😂
I love to read and I journal from time to time and do a little on line blogging but a tiny amount. Both writing and reading in the non digital world have a significant advantage over any digital form and it is the kinetic, gestural and logistical nature of those activities. All letters and words written digitally are little more than the "punching" of a key and have no significant physical shape that enables us to craft and encode the word, to give it an extra meaning based on how it was formed. The physical act of writing is entwined in our experience and significance of what we produce and contributes enormously to our intellectual understanding of what we are doing. As for reading, this is how I see it. I can locate something I read in a physical book that I own based on its logistics. Left page or right page, top middle or bottow, and more or less how far into the book it was. Some skimming of the physical book will allow me to locate something significant that I read even if I did not mark it or annotate it, and I have found passages in books that i had read 20 years ago. While of course you can bookmark and annotate digital books, we don't have that physical experience of them. All of these activities are essential in the richness of the experience of anything.
@@odysseas__ OK, also true, 🤔 I Will try handwriting again then. I do it for journaling from time to time as I suspect it to be more connected with emotional stuff
Using a fountain pen makes all the difference. I began writing this way as an exercise in improving my handwriting. I just like the look of the words on paper. I’m now 75 pages into a novel. No machine to get between you and the thought.
Key Arguments: slower thinking (if better is debatable), more portable (if better is debatable, but mostly not true), aesthetics (you look good if you do it, shouldnt matter when focused on the task and not the appearance of the task to others). I think reflecting on the process of working itself is important and valid, but it should not be over-engineered like in this video. If handwriting is really beneficial depends strongly on the person and not the weak arguments presented here. Try everything, but don't carve your tools longer than you use them.
For me it's the opposite when it comes to speed and quality. For me, the faster I go the more ideas I have that I can organize later. I enjoy seeing how many directions I can take certain ideas, and how one idea led to another, which led to another. However, when I slow myself down, I start to get bored and then I get stuck, not knowing what to write. For me writing slow means I'm on the verge of "writers block", but when I write fast it means I'm overflowing with ideas.
As someone who grew up procrastinating / pretending to do classwork by writing, it also strongly boosts your creativity and the tactile experience helps you better remember your writing, so you're not always repeating yourself or specific words.
@@odysseas__Yoo myyy broo Ody!!! Love to see you here, and really grow, you are the best bro! Kind, caring, loving, funny, enthusiastic, hard working, and smart, I just saw you in my “subscribed to” list, and saw you, and was wow 😊😊😊 Always here bro for you!!! ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
Sincerely, this is a deed i have been ignoring, not knowing it is the best factor for my brain.Writing randomly draws things I thought I had forgotten for a long time back to my mind.In fact it is something that edifies my mind.It seems supernatural, though.
I started carrying a notebook on me. I always have something to talk about because I have specialized notebooks for any particular interest, and it starts conversations effortlessly.
I thought that was a Leuchtturm ink pen I saw you using in the video! Now I want to buy the Leuchtturm pen I talked myself out of the other day! Thanks... 😉
In a digitalized world, handywriting isn't anymore an essential skill but a form of art which you can take to taking care of yourself (as like for exemple, painting).
Funny enough I teach cursive and handwriting instruction for younger students, and there is research out how the movement of body (hand and finer motor skills) relates to brain interaction and development. I have found for myself that having daily reflective entries in cursive helps speed up the process, and then having commonplace and more refined (a second press, if you will) in print all located in its own notebook helps me find that balance of personal introspective writing and my "writing for work" writing. One notebook for at-home, and another for out and about.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both Obsidian and handwritten notes. In some cases, handwritten notes are more effective, and in others, Obsidian is.
well, at age 11, i started to write poetry. Back in the day, there were no smartphoes, facebook or anything like thay and always carried a notebook and a bunch of pens. when technology came, i switched to something more practical. so I started to write digitally. However with the rise of AI and after learning it coud steal your work eventually , i started to think about using my notebook stash again but i still get the best of both worlds, depending on the circumstances
I felt that typing is great if you already have an idea of what you want to write. You want to give it a structure and save it. But handwriting is great if you don't know where you are going and you want your writing to flow with your thought. Handwriting for creativity, typing for organization. I like writing on tablets more than analog.
i think the most difficult to write is , find feeling's when we thinking and writing in this same time . as introvert i can do it when I'm in night situation . i feel's free from distraction , I can focussed . but it can break my rest time and prepare to work .
Exactly! As a teacher, I always insist on the fact that if you actually write things, you'll remember them. It's part of the process of learning. Aside from that, talking about notebooks and pens, well, I may have fallen into a (very nice) rabbit hole 😂
this dude made me switch from paper to obsidian and now back to paper
I still use both, don't worry. The obsidian hasn't changed.
This made me laugh so hard. Thus the nature of what's popular on "hustle" entrepreneur UA-cam lol
😂😂😂
Don’t worry, the next video is how obsidian changed everything again 😂
For rough notes
no unnecessary and/or distracting music, no flashing images too fast that are too stimulating, no exagerating tone. just simple explanation about thoughtful ideas from a wise, honest man. love this video 🫶
Really appreciate all your words, and I'm glad you enjoy that style.
i agree. he really is.
An aspect that I like about handwriting is that it seems harder to get writer's block. I theorize that it's because of the slower speed. When you type, the words can come out so fast, and there might be a point all those thoughts are already dumped out to the screen, and now you are staring at the next blank line. But when you write, your thoughts are most certainly faster than your hand, so it feels like there's always the next idea, and the next idea, and the next, and they just keep coming and coming.
Very true, I never considered this!
I feel the same with handwriting. Is dificult when You finish a paragraph, But for that, is a great exercise to structure your mind
Ever since I found your channel, I've been waiting for you to have this realisation, and make this video.
Hope it delivered! To be fair, I always did my lecture notes in college by hand, so I wasn't always sleeping on it.
I haven't really gone very deep into it, and the writing i do is usually only the notes for my classes. But, one thing i really like is writing with a pencil. It just gives me more satisfaction and seems really neat when the whole page is filled.
I personally do the process the opposite way. I like using obsidian as a form of making a general summary of the content I want to study, and when I finish it, I handwrite a more concise summary of it. I do this because 1) It's much faster to write on a keyboard, so you can dump a lot of stuff with details 2) With this way I still have the memory retention benefits of handwriting and 3) It forces me to think about the content, summarizing in real time to my notebook.
Anyway that's just my way of doing this.
Fair play, I can see that working well
Another advantage of this approach is that it's easier to reshuffle stuff while its digital so doing it this way allows you to experiment with different outlines and orders, and then commit to paper the one that works best.
Love handwriting. And appreciated this video. Digital is great for utilitarian purposes and seeing the big picture to facilitate editing. But with journals and other notebooks, you can revisit what you've written, look at the date, maybe notice a stain on the page from food or drink, and it can bring you back to where you were, what you were up to at that time, and a host of other memories. Well done!
Filthy
I agree totally. I've always written and taken notes by hand. (I'm older than you - BC - Before Computers.)
As well as leading to more thoughtful writing, it does something to your brain. Something about the left/right brain.
I also enjoy the aesthetics very much (next step is fountain pens and/or coloured inks - it adds another level).
I would encourage you to use what was called running writing or cursive writing when I was at school - or joined-up writing when my son went to school. It's much more efficient than printing.
Also, I take pride in the "look" of my writing. It's very satisfying.
One final comment - you can certainly edit rather than transcribe directly when moving the the computer, but sometimes I want to keep my original. I've discovered the absolute best handwriting recognition tool is Evernote. Believe me, I've tried them all. Simply snap a photo of each page, upload to Evernote and "Transcribe". It seldom requires fixing and usually gives me a 100% correct transcription - and I use cursive writing. It's a joy.
+1 for cursive writing. I learned it in school, but preferred to print until in my early 20s when I decided to practice cursive for a while--purely for the aesthetics. After using both for a while, I gradually found myself "reaching for" cursive more and more when I wanted to note something quickly. It really is more efficient! Plus, it and fountain pens go together-- cursive is easier with a fountain pen than with a ballpoint, and a fountain pen writes cursive more easily than it does print.
"It's not fair to dismiss the aesthetics of your hobby" such a great line
Thanks. It's half the fun.
Oh, you mean writing by hand, not handwriting.
Love physical handwriting, love buying a notebook. I do enjoy my remarkable because the notes are (usually) transferable to digital and there is no re-typing. With young kids, this is a valuable time saver.
For sure, it's a great best of both worlds
I usually handwrite my notes but back it up digitally, input it in digital format with AI so I don't have to rewrite it so long manually + get the best from both worlds (analog means connected emotionally, very flexible for adding personal touch like drawings, more 'windows' through zettelkasten system in A6 format; digital means access to AI, digital backup, easy sharing). Just have to correct some point + reading it again = means repeating what I learned, internalize my knowledge / journal.
Finally, a real person on YT.
Cheers man
I want to point out the editing of the video, simple, separated by subtopics and straight to the point. Its refreshing. Also cool pens :)
yep, i fully agree on your point of being able to use pens. writing got me into the habit of investing into high quality pens and paper and every time i write i cant help but think about the time and craftsmanship that was put into this single pen
I love Sailor fountain pens! They give a little feedback while writing that makes you feel like you're really writing! They're also incredibly beautiful and the nibs are handmade.
I study ancient literature (greek and latin) so when you said medieval monk i really heard you 😂. Anyway I always prefered handwriting beacause you initiate a deep connection with what you're writing just by feeling the touch of the pen on the paper. Then you start listen to yourself, the way you grasp the pen, or how much pressure you use, how much tense you are, all of this just by noticing how you're writing. You get to know your real self and your real writing. There are studies that say that it increase your cognitive abilities too.
I do love the feel of smooth ink gliding across high quality paper. I usually make notes by hand in an indexed notebook. I type them into obsidian as a next step. This allows me to think about the topic at least twice. I will try writing a first draft by hand though. Thanks for the encouragement.
Much appreciated, and that's a great point I didn't put into words -you get a chance for repetition as you transfer stuff over.
Care to share your indexing system.
I have always taken notes with one of my fountain pens. I find the flow of the nib/ink on paper produces the right attention to the detail of what I am writing. I'm looking at Obsidian to organise my notes. What we really need is a good system for translating hand written notes into digital format.
i've been writing so many essays in school by hand and i've been journaling for a few years consistently at this point, that if i don't have some kind of pen and paper before me just simply laying on the table i feel empty and that something isn't right. It sounds like it's bad, but over time it grew to be a little side hobby for me: buying a good notebook and pen, feeling good quality paper and how the pen glides on it, the color of ink... it brings me that little amout of joy and happiness that is missing in my day to day life sometimes
I retype my paper notes into org-mode emacs. I type at 100 WPM so it doesn’t take too long and it improves my writing and reading since I have to read what I wrote. This encourages me to write better naturally
During this gap year after I graduate, I found your channel and other creators when I’m lost. Creators that help me learn throughout this gap year. Because how helpful your content is, everytime you post a new video I always put it on my ‘watch later’ playlist, and make sure that I don’t skip your video because how important it is for me. Thanks for show me obsidian, and writing. It really means a lot to me. Tysm!✊
Super grateful to hear this, thank you. Good luck finding your path.
i switched back to paper too and i feel absolutely the same thing! great video as always.
Thanks, and I'm glad to hear it
It is really great hearing someone talk about this so genuinely. I so many notebooks for various purposes (philosophy, psychology notes, a diary, a knowledge collection) and one more person realizing how satisfying and "mysterious" it is to write on paper with a pen. It truly bring a smile to my face
You should, I have joined your camp
Valid points, even though I don't see myself writing long form with pen and paper. Yet, no doubt that handwriting makes you think clearer before writing and perhaps reach your true voice.
Sometimes, I write "industrialized" articles in my computer, I guess I'd write better if in handwriting.
I like the part where you went and got a glass of water. I think this makes you more relatable ☺️
No need to comment on the content, it’s awesome as usual.
It made me hit the subscribe button!
This video is pure gold to me right now, because I've been trying to figure out a good way to compromise between handwriting, which I love, and Obsidian, which is super practical.
The aesthetics and rituals of it are not silly at all, since I no longer study/write because I have to (quit academia for various reasons), but because I want to. I got a really nice Parker fountain pen and ballpoint pen, and some really gorgeous notebooks, but it wasn't practical digging through them every time I wanted to find anything.
My process now is this: mark books up with a pencil as I read -> go through the book again and make handwritten notes of the marked up places -> summarize them in Obsidian while noting where the handwritten version could be find, like my own personal library catalogue. Works like a dream and I get the best of both worlds.
Kind a Zettlekasten system, then? (Google, I'm just learning about it myself, but it fits with how I think/learn)
If it was good enough for Gauss, Davinci,Newton, Galileo, and Von Neumann, its good enough for me
subscribing to you one month ago was one of the best decisions i ever made, i can finally relate to someone
Grateful for this, thank you!
this was a great video !! glad to know my approach wasn't anything out of the unusual, considering I write my note drafts in my journal first, and i've always thought if it was worth it considering i was afraid it would just be me wasting my time :)
I've been handwriting Morning Pages for 188 consecutive days today, and I can say that it has brought my life into focus, and many new ideas for essays and fiction have emerged. It is for me a life-changing habit now.
I'm with ya 100%... I thought owning a zfold I could have this as an everything device, but that's the problem is it has everything on it. It can make it hard to focus and finish thoughts.
I am way older than you young man but I have been using fountain pens and write everything down in notebooks for over 50 years now. Organizing your notes digitally is great but you lose out on what you learn by writing in down with your own hand on paper. I also use an E-ink tablet from Boox which still allows me to write by hand my notes. Though nothing surpasses pen and paper at least to me. I wish much luck in your endeavors and whatever you choose make sure its right for you. Kudos from NYC.🗽
I totally agree with your view on handwriting and am an avid about handwriting. I would love to hear your views about why you favour paper over E-ink tablet. Both have pros and cons: portability/ space spacing v no need for electricity and so on. What are your reasons for preferring paper?
@@seasun7745 Well just the fact that the feel of a pen or pencil on paper is totally unique for many reasons. I mainly use fountain pens not as a hobby but since I was 8 years old as I was lucky to go to school abroad. Today, finding good fountain pen paper significantly from Japan has gotten more expensive throughout the years and saving trees is on my conscience. Thus the swing to an e-ink tablet which as you stated has its pros and cons is something to consider. In essence, I use a paper notebook for journaling and a Boox Note Air 3C for work notes so not to waste paper. Hopefully, this will give you some my perspective on the matter. Cheers!
@@em4me-Dan Thank you for your reply, which has given me perspective. The feel of deliberatly tracing notes with a (in my case italic) nib on quality paper is one of my greater pleasures. I purchased a Kindle Scribe for all the advantages of electronic format and the writing experience its screen was said to provide. For the first week I thought it was a mistake and that I would never derive the same pleasure as writing with fountain pen. One year on, I don't miss the pen and though it may be a somewhat more satisfying experience, I am happy to sacrifice that for the benefits of going digital. Handwriting on my Scribe brings me hours of pleasure.
You almost convinced me. I’m digital all the way through - haven’t handwritten anything meaningful in maybe 10 years - but now I’m considering it. 😄 I think for me the value wouldn’t be in the actual writing, but in expressing my thoughts in a visual way. I think in structures and connections, and it’s much easier to draw those than to write about them.
I remember that when I was watching your channel, you talked a lot about Obsidian and its goods, and I always had that thought in the back of my mind: "O.K., that's neat, but isn't writing on paper more efficient when learning?" I wanted to go to Obsidian but found that Obsidian had updated, and things had changed, so I waited for a new tutorial. Hope you bring more of this because I also want to learn about writing on pen.
I can't write in any way other than by hand. Especially after reading in a book that writing by hand-particularly in cursive or oriental symbols-enhances information retention and comprehension.
The problem is that my office is getting full of scattered papers, and I always end up losing track when I try to find something I've written. I came across your video about Obsidian a few days ago, and it opened up a fantastic possibility for storing all this information in a way I had never imagined.
What I've been doing to transfer my notes from paper to Obsidian is taking a picture of what I wrote with GPT Plus and then asking GPT to transcribe the text for me, instead of having to type it out line by line.
Congratulations on your channel and great content!
What you say about the aesthetics of pen on paper truly resonates with me. I have been an avid user of fountain pens, even for my uni notes, as I have always appreciated the feel of them. Solid production and pronunciation of the "Drehgriffel" btw!
For me, I carry a pocket notebook everywhere for thoughts and observations, some of which gets fleshed out in my notebook, then take it digital. I've found I use a physical notebook far more often than getting out a notes app, and it's fun to doodle in too. Would definitely recommend trying that!
Great idea, I will look for one!
Same realisation a few weeks ago. Handwritting = Deep learning = Deep thinker
Thx for this video
Bloody hell. Love it. Thanks for not editing that out!
Of course, couldn't dare to
Good stuff. I found your channel while trying to make an obsidian zettelkasten work for me, but I spent more time thinking about the note taking system and software than I did actually reading and taking notes. I couldn't get out of my own way with it. Not to mention the procrastination that came with being on a computer with internet access. Eventually I made the switch to pen and paper. Its hard to beat the simplicity of just writing down your notes in a notebook. And with a little work, you can do an analog version of note linking too if that helps you think. No wonder the humble commonplace book has served millennia of great thinkers.
Some added benefits to me are that the physical act of writing helps me remember much better than typing, and the note existing as a physical thing in space between other notes also helps me remember approximately where I can find a specific note in my book (kind of like a memory palace, but external to your mind). And the final change is that I also got a little into quality stationery as a result of this change
Handwriting my notes cements them in my minds so much better
I have indeed been handwriting longer than you (I turned 40 this year, so the math checks out) and I think you hit on all the pros: fewer distractions, better focus, greater flexibility/portability, and nicer aesthetics/user experience. Can't think of anything you missed! Taking notes by hand and then translating them to the digital realm (editing along the way) is a workflow that also serves me well. So I don't have anything to add except fountain pens are great and my favorite are the Pilot Metropolitans. Compared to a disposable pen, they're expensive. Compared to many fountain pens, they're cheap. They also write very smoothly, start with no trouble (even after not having been used for a while) and are very durable. 10/10.
"Antinet Zettelkasten" by Scott P. Scheper is really good for what you're talking about: analogue thinking systems.
Looks good, thanks -I'll add it to the list
About point 1: very true, i stress myself too much and should take the slowness as a benefit.
Paper for research, learning and brainstorming.
Obsidian for archiving.
Agree on that 100%, so much easier to focus when working only with paper and fountain pen. Also to add that You can just take paper and pen everywhere, in bus, in train etc. You can write while waiting for someone, on bench etc.
One more reason why handwriting can be easier and even faster is that you can immediately write in any language! If you speak multiple languages, you might suddenly remember a word or a phrase in one but not in the other, but you don't have to switch keyboards or figure out different shortcuts to get funky letters that you can't find in (for example) English! This might not be that big of an issue for most, but it's still one more thing that I find makes me want to write with a pen than digitally sometimes.
Great video, gotta get out my notebook now!
Your video reminded me of a TED Talk Jake Weidmann did 10 years ago now on handwriting, which I think you may find interesting. In this talk, he centers on three areas of literacy you gain from handwriting. The video is on the TEDx Talks Channel and is from TEDxMileHigh.
Loved your video! I’ve recently fallen completely in love with the Traveler’s Notebook phenomenon. I’ve been writing mostly for personal purposes, and my forgotten love for writing and paper has fully blossomed. Besides journaling, I’ve also started bullet journaling. I think the Leuchtturm1917 120g will become my notebook for work. I’d love to integrate writing more into my work as a project manager in the creative industry, but I haven’t quite figured out how to do that yet. If anyone has tips, I’d love to hear them!
Most of my thesis drafts I wrote in pen and paper, yeah, it takes longer, but just as you said: the extra time makes us think a little more and properly organize our thoughts
The two most important things in my opinion are the aesthetics and the distractions.
In any field that requires creativity, aesthetics are important. You need to want to put in the effort. And aesthetics are an important factor for doing that.
I'm an easily distracted man. Not in all types of works, but in plenty. So not having any possibility of distraction is nice.
But even though I can apprechiate your ideas I probably won't change much. Writing is mostly something I do as a hobby. I take notes on random thoughts of mine and write those on my phone during the day. When I start writing them into a tool like obsidian, then I can concentrate decently well and usually can finish without problem. In other places I struggle more. For example when it comes to programming or writing stories or making youtube videos. And in those cases I don't see how switching to pen and paper can be an improvement in my situation.
I go to Obsidian for note-taking, but now I have switched to paper due to the higher level of concentration
Nice, I like it
No Obsidian sponsorship for you! I started using Obsidian from your suggestion, but had always written out the notes long-hand first (see commonplace book idea from Ryan Holliday). One other thing I try to do with all of the Obsidian notes, once they're typed about one particular source, is to print out those notes and re-annotate it in handwriting...sort of one last reflection on what exactly I am taking from this piece of information. It's probably overkill, but what here isn't? That's sort of the point - the fact that hustle-based, life-hack stuff is the opposite: no reflection, no rumination, no "inconvenient" time spent with the material. Thanks again for everything, love this account!
Thank u man for being so useful to us, your are a model to follow, i like your focus and your fun to learn
I write about handwriting as thinking on paper on my Substack. It is a game changer. Every letter I publish has a picture of my first draft, which I write in cursive.
Pro tip: you can use AI to transcribe your notes and then edit them before implementing them into your Obsidian vault. I do this all the time. The best OCR for me seems to be Claude.
That's cool, especially if you can pull off the nice handwriting. The transcription is also helpful, but I feel like my handwriting is too far gone for it.
@@odysseas__ give it a try. GPT and Gemini are not that accurate, but Claude made just 3 words wrong out of 15 handwritten pages.
One advantage of speedy writing is that sometimes I have to get all ideas on paper before I forget them again. In that case having a slow and thoughtful writing method is counterproductinve.
I have always written longhand (script) for just about everything I have written (about 30 years, now). I find that the movement of the arm, the hand, the fingers helps the flow of words; it is lyrical where as typing is staccato (not in the good way a Balkan tune in 11/16 is). In addition, when you are done, you have an actual MANU-script. I only write on one side of the paper (the more textured side) so when I do my first edit, I can make changes on the page in question on the facing blank, back side of the previous page. This edit is mostly big picture stuff, then the next edit come when it goes into the computer & it is more of a line edit, honing each sentence to my satisfaction.
My fiction writing is done on a linen paper & I always use a Pelikan fountain pen (fine nib). I always carry a sketch book with me to jot things down, & my standard, daily use, pen is the wonderful Zebra F-402, also a fine point. If you prefer a medium I would suggest the F-701.
I use two notebooks for hand writing. I bounce between the two in what might be called sub drafts, adding more as I go because I tend to under write. That's just me. As I say, I bounce between notebooks copying what I like, editing out what I don't, back and forth until I have a final draft to be typed. Of course I make many changes after a piece is typed up. As Paul Valery said Poems are never finished--but abandoned. Same goes, in my experience, for any writing.
i use notebooks to draft my story and i carry it wherever i go and boy oh boy does it makes you feel aesthetic as hell
I also enjoy handwriting for the joy of using my fountain pens and bottled inks, which can be a lot of fun with different ink colours, different ink properties like shading, sheening, or shimmering, and so on. The pens I use most often, are ones by Lamy, specifically the Safari and Al-Stars models - which are basically the same, just made from plastic and aluminium respectively - and TWSBI, the Eco and Diamond 580 models. I have several versions of each model, in different colours, special editions, and so on. Lamy fountain pens are usually cartridge/converter pens, with proprietary designs rather than standard international cartridges/converters. TWSBI on the other specialises almost exclusively on fountain pens with piston or vacuum filling systems, and their pens are usually demonstrators, meaning they are transparent. So you can see the ink slosh about in the barrel while you write, and keep an eye on how much ink is left in the pen before you need to refill it.
And regarding bottled ink, it's just more economical AND ecological. More choices of inks, you get more ink per dollar/euro/pound/whatever currency, and you don't have to throw spent ink cartridges in the rubbish, since you have a refillable cartridge converter, or the pen itself is a piston- or vacuum-filler so you can just fill the pen directly without using a removable ink reservoir. It is my strong suggestion you check out bottled ink if you intend on writing by hand a lot. Odysseas, you mentioned having a Parker fountain pen, perhaps you could start by checking out their offer of Parker Quink inks. They don't have too many colours, but from my knowledge, their inks are pretty safe and well-behaved. Personally, most of my inks are from the brands Diamine, De Atramentis, and Jacques Herbin, which have a much wider range of colours, colour variants, and ink properties.
Regarding paper, I would advise anyone who wants to write with fountain pens to make sure you get fountain pen friendly paper, as not all paper is well-suited for that. Moleskine is pretty bad for writing with fountain pens, Leuchtturm is a much better candidate that is also widely available. Always funny to hear English-speakers try and fail to pronounce it *evil grin*. But don't forget there are also other options besides notebooks, like using binders (check out Japanese brands, like Kokuyo, which have innovative opening mechanisms that don't risk pinching your skin between the metal rings, like Western ones), or notecards.
Love it, this is the type of experience I aspire to. I already use the quink cartridge for my parker, but I do want a converter-style pen and to try the bottled ink. Have to do some research for what to get next, but thanks for all the suggestions!
@@odysseas__ A blunt syringe and a bottle of quink! You can refill and reuse the cartridge a handful of times before they fall apart, and it's the least complicated or messy route.
The aesthetics of a practice matter because they make the practice itself easier or more enjoyable. If there’s even a small bit of enjoyment added to a process, that makes a big difference. It might not be measurable but it’s definitely there.
If you choose a fountain pen, consider the Pilot Vanishing Point. Never skips and always ready to use and as convenient as a ballpoint. I have a dozen fountain pens , all good, but the Pilot is the go-to tool.
I think I process information differently on paper. Something about physically writing makes me process the information, write down the good stuff and forget the rest. I think the shapes of the strokes being different, vs being all the same as a press of a key helps me remember more. I re read project notes from a typed brainstorm and sometimes I don't even remember I wrote them, vs a notebook has a memory attached that I recall when reading it again weeks later.
Great video! Had the exact same feelings not long ago. Writing by hand is just so much nicer and a welcome change from staring at a screen all day. I also was a bit anxious about ditching my digital note-taking systems and how to structure my analogue notes. But I settled on a "paper first, digital later" approach as well. But only if it fits the need. I certainly don't need my more-or-less-daily journaling in Obsidian. Only notes I think I'll need again, need to be shared with others or that need to make connections with each other make it over. Everything else stays in notebooks, preferably with an index in the front so I can quickly find what I'm looking for. I actively decided against loose paper or binders. Trying to structure these just takes up too much headspace and I have the feeling things can get lost more easily. Also I noticed your sleek new haircut! Then you said you had a girlfriend and now I know where that came from haha.
Great! I use both handwritten notes for capturing thoughts and Obsidian for final drafts. Sometimes I go for a walk and stop every now and then to write something down on my notebook. People do stop and stare amused- specially old people who genarally aren't in a hurry working or commuting. I feel like a private detective of sorts haha.
Love it -even more mystery to surround you, aside from the cafe writings.
I see what you did there 6:47 noty noty
Exposed
I've tried writing down thoughts and experiences by hand for almost a year, and it has slowly decreased from every day to once a month. I just can't deal with the fact that my thoughts move a lot faster than my hand. It feels tedious to sit there and write out the words instead of thinking forward and formulate the next part of the text. This makes me impatient, and my handwriting suffers. Sometimes, when I just want to be done with it, it is hardly legible. It's a shame really, I have some nice fountain pens and I like the idea of having my writings in a physical format, but writing by hand has become a chore to me now. Maybe obsidian is the solution for me, I'll give it a go and see what happens.
I've stopped handwriting completely, not that I was ever an avid hand-writer (?) but I've filled a few notebooks. The points you bring up about slowing down and thinking more are all good, but I think most of the benefits of handwriting come just from that - the more you think and polish your mental model of an idea, the better things will turn out. As long as you can engage in the same processes it doesn't really matter how you write, so you might as well do it digitally. Those are great mental habits to cultivate in general, just stopping and thinking more, something I'm working on myself right now. And you can make a mind map which is also a nice alternative to thinking about a topic and drafting things out.
I know that digital-anything comes with distractions and everything but at this point we have so many tools of dealing with that that it's a problem but definitely not an excuse. I'm completely with you on the point of aesthetics though, if only not for the convenience of writing digitally... 😛
Great vid!
The main thing I like about taking rough notes/brainstorming on paper is that it's easier to 'write outside the margins', and to draw arrows and other doodles to visualise connections/ideas.
Makes sense, nice point
I mostly write with fountain pens. I love them and even though I’m a senior I have been able to collect a few relatively expensive pens that some collectors drool over. I remember the first time in a trendy coffee shop in Banff in 2010. I was sitting there writing my letters , enjoying my morning coffee and I have often wished I was able to have a similar experience again.
Love this. That's exactly what I mean by 'romanticising' the experience.
I do most of my writing with a bog standard Lamy fountain pen, like the ones you start out with in elementary school, except this one is a nice metallic teal colour. I also have two fountain pens with calligraphy nibs, and a while ago I experimentend with a feather quill (that got a bit messy). It's a fun rabbit hole to go down 😄
I've always written out my zero drafts longhand first. I don't know why, but I've always felt like it would be weird to me to just start typing straightway. My handwriting is basically squiggles as I'm writing fast, just trying to get thoughts out of my head and they're not very creative at this point, so I'm not sure I'm getting any benefit from it 😅
I do recommend the remarkable to those who are able to purchase one as it distraction free and digital note taking, in general, gives a nice balance.
I also appreciate the lack of music, etc, in these videos.
The satisfaction from writing with pens (especially fountain pens) is unalterable experience. I just stumbled upon fountain pens for 1 week, literally one of the best writing experience. Combines with my journal that I've been doing for the past 3-4 months, it gives a taste of life in it rather than just controlling it from my screen. What I encourage you to do is also learning penmenship! Cursive especially, which is what im learning right now as a side hobby... Making my handwriting even beautiful is probably one of the most meditating and enjoyable activities that I can do in the morning 😅. Try out Barbara Nichol's, polishing your penmenship (iirc) book, and you can also try some other style of writing such as italic or copperplate (which im about to learn). Thanks for the vid!
You can also have fresh perspective if you write with your left hand using mirrored letters. I can never think the same way if I switch to left hand. Sometimes I go with right and left interchangeably (3-5 lines with each).
Hello Odysseas, it is wonderful that the handwriting works for you well.
As a person who used to have a truly horrible handwriting and spent three years only to make it somewhat legible, I cannot agree that handwriting is a better means for drafting any material, at least for me. De-cyphering my handwriting is always such a tourture, even when i write Spencerian, lol.
Totally understandable. Mine's not the best either, and I find it too slow when I focus on being neat, so I get you.
Nothing beats pen and paper. Soon you'll be going about your day with a little pocket notebook for those elusive ideas 😂Having a nice pen is a must. I had an old lamy safari that died recently, it carried me through most of school and uni and then almost a decade past that, it owned me nothing at this point. As it was my only fountain pen I more or less stopped writing for a while until I got a replacement. The only writing I did during that time was with a dip pen. Those classic bics are only for drawing imo.
Also get a nice cover for your notebook. There are plenty of nice and fancy leather ones to choose from. I use a "tactical" military one, just fits my style more. What ever you get it's like going from a cheap pen to a nice fountain pen but for your notebook.
Other then that, you're doing practically exactly what I've been doing for as long as I remember. I go through the extra step of printing my typed notes in a little booklet. Screens don't compare to just reading from a page.
For reference I do all my typing in Neovim in just plain markdown. I have a few custom key-binds and snippets and I use Marksman LSP for all the nice linking and stuff like that. I do treat markdown as if it were code. End result is just about exactly what you get in Obsidian, and as far as I can tell there is a pandoc plugin for that too. So printing your notes should also be easily doable if you wanted.
PhD student here. Handwriting is the only way I navigate complex topics. My research is based on ambitious as fuck concepts (why I did this we’re still working out lol), but handwriting slowly rather than fast paced summaries of articles actually sped up my understanding. I use obsidian to organise my ideas, but it’s always after a solid handwriting session. And it’s pretty cool to have a collection of handwritten books to represent my phd process.
I used to have my notes or writings all in cursive back when I was young since I got taught how to do it and got used to it. People kept saying that my handwriting is unreadable since they are not used to reading cursive. This made me switch back to writing in latin and now completely digitally.
I too want to go back to the times where my contemporary looking book looks like it was written 300 years ago. Now when I look back at those old notebooks, the essense of time is much more impactful.
Completely anecdotal, but in college I always felt a huge drop in understanding when I tried to take notes digitally. Always ended up going back to paper.
Me too. I couldn't stand typing during a lecture.
Same for me...but at work/during meetings. It's almost like there is some sort of disconnect if I try with my laptop. So during these big State meetings while everyone is clacking at their keyboards, I'm furiously writing.
I love my notebooks and pens! I enjoy writing anywhere I like without screens. I too use Obsidian after I have written my thoughts down. I like having the freedom to chose what are the most useful bits and what needs to incubate. It’s amazing what you find in your writing when you come back to it. I like to revisit journals to see what I was thinking about 25 or 30 years ago or even yesterday. I love a good pocket notebook (Field Notes) and a 6x8 ish journal. I love Lamys and my Waterman, but don’t get me started on my Japanese pens😂
Very true, they're like relics for the future generations to go through.
I love to read and I journal from time to time and do a little on line blogging but a tiny amount. Both writing and reading in the non digital world have a significant advantage over any digital form and it is the kinetic, gestural and logistical nature of those activities. All letters and words written digitally are little more than the "punching" of a key and have no significant physical shape that enables us to craft and encode the word, to give it an extra meaning based on how it was formed. The physical act of writing is entwined in our experience and significance of what we produce and contributes enormously to our intellectual understanding of what we are doing.
As for reading, this is how I see it. I can locate something I read in a physical book that I own based on its logistics. Left page or right page, top middle or bottow, and more or less how far into the book it was. Some skimming of the physical book will allow me to locate something significant that I read even if I did not mark it or annotate it, and I have found passages in books that i had read 20 years ago. While of course you can bookmark and annotate digital books, we don't have that physical experience of them.
All of these activities are essential in the richness of the experience of anything.
If u want to write slow on digital, you can just type with one finger.
True, if you have the patience. I couldn't do that without getting annoyed.
@@odysseas__ OK, also true, 🤔 I Will try handwriting again then. I do it for journaling from time to time as I suspect it to be more connected with emotional stuff
Using a fountain pen makes all the difference. I began writing this way as an exercise in improving my handwriting. I just like the look of the words on paper. I’m now 75 pages into a novel. No machine to get between you and the thought.
Key Arguments: slower thinking (if better is debatable), more portable (if better is debatable, but mostly not true), aesthetics (you look good if you do it, shouldnt matter when focused on the task and not the appearance of the task to others). I think reflecting on the process of working itself is important and valid, but it should not be over-engineered like in this video. If handwriting is really beneficial depends strongly on the person and not the weak arguments presented here. Try everything, but don't carve your tools longer than you use them.
For me it's the opposite when it comes to speed and quality. For me, the faster I go the more ideas I have that I can organize later. I enjoy seeing how many directions I can take certain ideas, and how one idea led to another, which led to another. However, when I slow myself down, I start to get bored and then I get stuck, not knowing what to write. For me writing slow means I'm on the verge of "writers block", but when I write fast it means I'm overflowing with ideas.
That makes sense honestly, like a brainstorm through writing.
As someone who grew up procrastinating / pretending to do classwork by writing, it also strongly boosts your creativity and the tactile experience helps you better remember your writing, so you're not always repeating yourself or specific words.
Letttssss gooo broooo!!!! ❤❤❤ Well done, and keep going!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Yooo my guy! Hope life has been well for you, same with the piano progress. So cool to see you comment here -really appreciate it.
@@odysseas__Yoo myyy broo Ody!!! Love to see you here, and really grow, you are the best bro! Kind, caring, loving, funny, enthusiastic, hard working, and smart, I just saw you in my “subscribed to” list, and saw you, and was wow 😊😊😊 Always here bro for you!!! ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
Sincerely, this is a deed i have been ignoring, not knowing it is the best factor for my brain.Writing randomly draws things I thought I had forgotten for a long time back to my mind.In fact it is something that edifies my mind.It seems supernatural, though.
Good luck with it
Also this is a plus to get a better handwriting, wich in this age it seens everyone has a shitty way of writing. Great video buddy!
Thanks, and you're totally right.
I started carrying a notebook on me. I always have something to talk about because I have specialized notebooks for any particular interest, and it starts conversations effortlessly.
I thought that was a Leuchtturm ink pen I saw you using in the video! Now I want to buy the Leuchtturm pen I talked myself out of the other day! Thanks... 😉
Mi pluma favorita es la Lamy 2000, excelente, pruebala
In a digitalized world, handywriting isn't anymore an essential skill but a form of art which you can take to taking care of yourself (as like for exemple, painting).
Funny enough I teach cursive and handwriting instruction for younger students, and there is research out how the movement of body (hand and finer motor skills) relates to brain interaction and development. I have found for myself that having daily reflective entries in cursive helps speed up the process, and then having commonplace and more refined (a second press, if you will) in print all located in its own notebook helps me find that balance of personal introspective writing and my "writing for work" writing. One notebook for at-home, and another for out and about.
You pronounced it pretty good: "Drehgriffel"
I am overjoyed at this
There are advantages and disadvantages to both Obsidian and handwritten notes. In some cases, handwritten notes are more effective, and in others, Obsidian is.
Exactly
well, at age 11, i started to write poetry. Back in the day, there were no smartphoes, facebook or anything like thay and always carried a notebook and a bunch of pens.
when technology came, i switched to something more practical. so I started to write digitally.
However with the rise of AI and after learning it coud steal your work eventually , i started to think about using my notebook stash again but i still get the best of both worlds, depending on the circumstances
I felt that typing is great if you already have an idea of what you want to write. You want to give it a structure and save it. But handwriting is great if you don't know where you are going and you want your writing to flow with your thought. Handwriting for creativity, typing for organization. I like writing on tablets more than analog.
i think the most difficult to write is , find feeling's when we thinking and writing in this same time . as introvert i can do it when I'm in night situation . i feel's free from distraction , I can focussed . but it can break my rest time and prepare to work .
Exactly! As a teacher, I always insist on the fact that if you actually write things, you'll remember them. It's part of the process of learning.
Aside from that, talking about notebooks and pens, well, I may have fallen into a (very nice) rabbit hole 😂
It's one of my favorite lessons from school, exactly as you say. I'm falling down that same hole too, gladly and recklessly.