What is the fastest way to generate notes? The question is very simple, the answer can be complex. The main question to ask here: how will the notes be used? Our own training is also very important.
Dictation, pen, or keyboard?
We can speak pretty fast. Between 200 and 300 words per minute can be good enough for AI to translate our words into written text. If our text is simple, our speech is clean and without an accent, the environment is not noisy and we are relaxed, dictation to the mobile phone may be good enough. As you understand, this is not an option for me.
For heavy lifting and editing, like many many pages of dense text, there is no substitute for a good computer with a large screen and an efficient mechanical keyboard. The expected typing rate can be 100 words per minute if you practice for a while or 50 words per minute if typing speed is not your main limitation.
Writing with a rollerball pen or mechanical pencil on quality paper, we can expect between 100 and 200 words per minute. And we can add doodles, sketches, embellishments, and highlights as we go.
What are the most popular forms of notetaking?
The most popular forms of notetaking are definitely not the most efficient. We favor immediacy and flexibility over productivity. And if we have money or care about mindfulness, we care about the positive experiences more than about other aspects.
I think, using small uncomfortable keyboards of our mobile devices is our main way to communicate. They are always available and very effective for very short messages. This is a very bad ergonomy, slow writing, and a permanent attention magnet.
A non-digital alternative would be post-it notes with a ballpoint pen. Ballpoint pens do not need caps, do not break or leak, and are universally available. Post-it notes are small and disposable, and they are great for small grocery lists, dates and places, or reminders. They will not hurt you, but they will not add to your style.
If you value the experience, you way write slowly with a quality fountain pen on quality paper. This is great when sending packages to your customers, or signing important documents.
How fast or slow are fountain pens?
As luxury products, fountain pens draw a lot of attention. Generally writing with a fountain pen can be faster than writing with a ball pen. You do not have to apply pressure with your hand, and so your hand can move faster. With a golden #6 or titanium nib, your hand can probably glide on a paper as fast as your coordination allows. However…
If you use a flexible nib, like Pilot 912 FA, you can create very beautiful calligraphy. Then you need to slow down for the ink to flow properly and for the pressure on the nib to change smoothly. You add beauty, but you sacrifice speed.
Also, fountain pens create a lot of fuss. It can bleed through poor paper. When the ink dries slowly you may smear it, or may need bloating paper. If the nib does not sit properly or you apply too much pressure, the result can get ugly. You may experience issues on an airplane. Also, you must know what you are doing with the size and the weight of the barrel, the kind of nib and ink you use. That is a lot of very specific and very personal information. Usually, the mid-range pens will do the best job.
Weight also matters, with the best pens between 15 and 30 grams. A heavy pen will look very solid and add control to your handwriting, but will also add inertia slowing you down and requiring frequent rest. A very small or light pen will not sit sufficiently well on your hand.
Is speedwriting handwriting?
For your diary or grocery lists, you can probably use handwriting. Unless you need it to be searchable and editable. And you can probably use handwriting in your margin notes for people who work for you. That will be faster than typing. However, if you need to send documents to many places, or if your documents require the ability to search and editing, you will better off typing.
There are software products for quick handwriting recognition, and you can use them with a stylus pen. With good AI you may expect above 99.7 % accuracy in English. However, to use them your writing needs to be very organized, recognizable, and error-free. Typing is usually still a better option.
Livescribe Sky WiFi Smartpen is a pen and can be used with traditional paper but it works more like your computer mouse. The result can then be downloaded Evernote.
Honestly, I never personally use stylus or optical pens. They feel counterintuitive and my main issue is formulating my thoughts, not writing them down. I also do not really like the tactile feedback of the smart devices.
Tactile feedback
Why do we enjoy writing using some devices rather than others? There can be many reasons, and tactile feedback is definitely one of them. We simply love the way pressing mechanical keyboards or quality fountain pens feels.
The best devices are responsive and smooth, yet crisp. They are very ergonomic, visually aesthetic, and almost alive when we touch them. Their colors are vibrant… Even if we do not have anything smart to say, we still say something just to activate the device. And then we focus effortlessly and our thoughts flow.
The experience is sensual, emotional, aesthetic. Explaining it in words is like explaining the taste of your dinner. It can probably be done by a great poet, but even then it is not like the real thing.
People who have to write all the time honestly value tactile feedback above most other properties of their device.
Bilateral or ambidextrous writing
I can write with both hands. When I write with my right hand, I write faster and more beautifully. When I need speed, I can use my second hand with a highlighter or a different color for “special effects”. A text with two colors is easier to read, as the keywords look different. Blue and red are classical colors. Penophiles will appreciate dark blue with orange.
A very different use for the second hand is doodling while the main hand rests. It activates a different area of the brain and further improves creativity.
Some people train to write mirrored text with their second hand, quite like the text in Leonardo Da Vinci’s diaries. When hidden between doodles and embellished, mirror writing can hide secrets.
Writing with two hands does not double the writing speed. The coordination of that would be too complex for most brains. The speed usually decreases when using the less dexterous hand. And even ambidextrous people do not have equal dexterity in both hands. One is stronger while the other is faster, one is more sensitive while the other provides better control…
Cursive or printed letters
Stenographers whose job is quick writing, usually use a sort of unconnected letters. The stenographic symbols are very simple, and there is no time for any embellishments. If stenographers used true signature fonts, reading their notes could be very hard. To be crisp they do not connect letters and use the finest nibs they can find. Typically 0.5 gel or mechanical pencil. If we write with such devices, we almost feel like we scratch the paper.
Calligraphic tools are just the opposite. They use broad nibs with special shapes that feel like butter on quality paper. Calligraphic letters are usually connected and embellished, as we want very fine control over the pressure on the writing device. There are exceptions. For example, almost all Arabic scripts use connected letters, while Hebrew scripts are not connected and Chinese letters are better suited for a brush than a quill.
Words in cursive letters are better separated from each other. We do not have to take the pen from the paper very often, typically increasing the writing speed. Cursive is a better exercise for motoric speed. However, cursive is harder to read.
Writing used to be a form of art and fashion, so the type of script is chosen not really to be efficient or legible, but often to look stylish…
10 commandments of faster writing
This is my own list. You are welcome to use a different list if you want.
- Use the best tool for the job. For example, wide or flexible nib fountain pens are great for signatures, but not so much for regular writing.
- Enjoy flexibility. A multipurpose reliable tool can often be better than a tool optimized for a specific task.
- Be legible. Whatever you produce needs to be read quickly without mistakes.
- Use markers. In a printed text, this means headlines, bullets, or words in bold and italic. In handwriting, this can mean highlighter, different color, or block vs cursive letters.
- Enjoy your tools. It is not enough to write efficiently, we should enjoy the tools of our trade.
- Understand why you do what you do. Writing a text that needs to be searched or edited is very different from writing a personal diary which is almost meditative. Why should we use the same approach?
- Focus on what truly matters. Your message convened accurately and effectively is much more important than the font you use.
- Practice. Currently, I feel very good typing in English and handwriting in Russian. That is what I need, and that is what I practice. I did not need to produce a handwritten text in English for a while…
- Explore new options. I still feel most comfortable with the Parker Jotter that I used when I was 14 years old. Yet, I replaced the ballpoint refills with gel and a cheap keyboard with a mechanical one.
- Ask questions… You cannot predict what you might find…