I journal and take notes regularly by hand and have written novel-length manuscripts in the last couple of years by hand. I prefer using fountain pens or else my hand cramps up. I don’t know if it’s better for my memory, but I prefer it for other reasons.
My process is to write a first draft by hand to minimize digital distractions. I take my notebook and pen somewhere without internet, and leave my laptop and phone behind. Then, I type it up, and this is a sort of “natural” 2nd draft process, as I obviously make smaller or larger edits as I’m re-reading my own work.
My mom still has notebooks from when she was in high school. Digital amnesia means I don’t have any of my high school and college homework anymore. My teachers and professors asked me to email stuff in and I didn’t think to keep the files, nor do I have access to any of those computers or computer systems or email accounts anymore.
When I said that I typed a manuscript up, I mean I type it up on my typewriter. Computers are fine for fun and games but my professional creative and academic writing happens totally offline. I’ll finally type it up into my computer for submission to publishers. Digital media is great because it moves so quickly, but that’s kind of a double edged sword as well, it can also be very ephemeral.
Digital media is great for moving fast and breaking things, so you can take them apart and fix them again, but that’s not my preferred way to write novels. I developed this system because realized I was putting a lot of effort into managing digital backups of all of my drafts and shit when simple folders and stacks of paper would do fine.
And that is why Waze has to go away. It’s giving people info on cops, so that’s becoming politically inconvenient for Google.