--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have lots of notebooks around, because…" description: "\"I have lots of notebooks around, because one great advantage of writing by hand-in addition to how much it slows you down-is that it makes me write at ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce1/john-irving-337_advantage_i-have-lots-of-notebooks-around-because_1677176.png" --- # I have lots of notebooks around, because one great… ![“I have lots of notebooks around, because one great advantage of writing by hand-in addition to how much it slows you down-is that it makes me write at the speed that I feel I should be composing, rather than faster than I can think, which is what happens to me on any keyboard.” quote by John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce1/john-irving-337_advantage_i-have-lots-of-notebooks-around-because_1677176.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce1/john-irving-337_advantage_i-have-lots-of-notebooks-around-because_1677176.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce1/john-irving-337_advantage_i-have-lots-of-notebooks-around-because_1677176.png) > “I have lots of notebooks around, because one great advantage of writing by hand-in addition to how much it slows you down-is that it makes me write at the speed that I feel I should be composing, rather than faster than I can think, which is what happens to me on any keyboard.” [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Writing by hand forces the pace to match thought, preventing thoughts from outpacing words and preserving clarity. **In simple terms:** Handwriting slows you to think before you write. Key Takeaway Write at a pace that matches your thinking. Themes creativity focus mindfulness Mood reflective contemplative Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - writing essays - journaling - creative brainstorming - learning new material Key Concepts cognitive load embodied cognition Questions to Reflect On - How does speed affect the quality of your ideas? - Can you balance speed and depth in digital writing? A Different Perspective Handwriting may be slower, limiting productivity in time‑critical tasks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/advantage/) [Composing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composing/) [Composing Faster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/composing-faster-920180/) [Faster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faster/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [I can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/i-can/) [Keyboards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/keyboards/) [Makes Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/makes-write-920181/) [Notebook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebook/) [Notebooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebooks/) [Notebooks Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/notebooks-great-920183/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speed/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Write Speed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-speed-920182/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [I guess the quality that makes one write poetry keeps one from selling it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-closser-hale/i-guess-the-quality-that-makes-one-write-poetry-keeps-one-from/) [Louise Closser Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louise-closser-hale/) > [“That which does not kill us, makes us write.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-poet-dreamer/that-which-does-not-kill-us-makes-us-write/) [The Poet Dreamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-poet-dreamer/) > [This strong sense of who I am that I've always had, since I was very young, is what makes me write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-s-crisp/this-strong-sense-of-who-i-am-that-i-ve-always-had-since-i-was-very/) [Quentin S. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-s-crisp/) > [When I knew what I had to do / I took all my notebooks, all my manuscripts / and ate them page by page…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-blackman/when-i-knew-what-i-had-to-do-i-took-all-my-notebooks-all-my/) [Nicole Blackman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-blackman/) > [“scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/scrolls-notebooks-tablet-computers-daggers-and-a-large-bowl-filled/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [Although I have felt compelled to write things down since I was five years old, I doubt that my daughter ever will, for she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/although-i-have-felt-compelled-to-write-things-down-since-i-was-five/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I have a penchant for fresh notebooks and mechanical pencils. It seems every time I go to the store, I buy a new notebook.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-paul-evans/i-have-a-penchant-for-fresh-notebooks-and-mechanical-pencils-it-seems/) [Richard Paul Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-paul-evans/) > [I carry a small spiral notebook with me at all times and have been doing this for many years. There's a shoe box in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-dewitt/i-carry-a-small-spiral-notebook-with-me-at-all-times-and-have-been/) [Patrick deWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-dewitt/) > [Now I have notebooks that are filled up, mostly with Doom Patrol, but also angry letters to myself mixed in with the comic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerard-way/now-i-have-notebooks-that-are-filled-up-mostly-with-doom-patrol-but/) [Gerard Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerard-way/) > [Where past generations had film cameras, scrapbooks, notebooks, and that part of the brain which stores memories, we now have a smartphone app for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graydon-carter/where-past-generations-had-film-cameras-scrapbooks-notebooks-and-that/) [Graydon Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graydon-carter/) > [Gaming notebooks aren't that abundant. Not that many gamers are able to play on notebooks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jensen-huang/gaming-notebooks-aren-t-that-abundant-not-that-many-gamers-are-able/) [Jensen Huang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jensen-huang/) > [I don't carry notebooks and I don't consciously store ideas. I try not to think that I am a writer and I am pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-don-t-carry-notebooks-and-i-don-t-consciously-store-ideas-i-try-not/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [My little notebooks were beginnings - they were the ground into which I dropped the seed... I would work in this way when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/my-little-notebooks-were-beginnings-they-were-the-ground-into-which-i/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [All my notebooks would be filled with lyrics instead of actual notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/koffee/all-my-notebooks-would-be-filled-with-lyrics-instead-of-actual-notes/) [Koffee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/koffee/) > [I am very, very old-fashioned and clumsy. I use those long reporter notebooks. This is what a troglodyte I am. The night before I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-quammen/i-am-very-very-old-fashioned-and-clumsy-i-use-those-long-reporter/) [David Quammen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-quammen/) ## More by John Irving > [Your memory is a monster; you forget - it doesn't. It simply files things away. 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Miss Frost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/nostalgia-miss-frost-cried-you-re-nostalgic-she-repeated-just-how-old/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [ “JUST BECAUSE A BUNCH OF ATHEISTS ARE BETTER WRITERS THAN THE GUYS WHO WROTE THE BIBLE DOESN'T NECESSARILY MAKE THEM RIGHT!" \[Owen Meany\] said… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/just-because-a-bunch-of-atheists-are-better-writers-than-the-guys-who/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [It is much easier to be flexible about where a story begins than it ever was for me to change my mind about where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/it-is-much-easier-to-be-flexible-about-where-a-story-begins-than-it/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [“Only the chicken-lover will understand me. He will give me a kindly look, maybe mildly desirous. 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