Letters melding together in a harmony on the page. Graphite scratching the paper, pencil sharpened every five minutes. Lined paper, perfect for doodles and random thoughts. Neat and pretty. No flowery ...

I'm a writer, and to generate words I care about I first write them longhand, with pen and ink on paper. I'm also a teacher of creative writing, and when I tell my students—virtually all of whom write ...