Do you write every character? I have been studying Chinese for a few months now. I am using some software to test my knowledge of the characters. Sometimes I do not recognize every character of a word but I can still derive the meaning based on the character I do know. My Chinese wife thinks this is not such a good idea and I should be more demanding to myself.
Also, sometimes the differences between the characters is rather subtle and I make a mistake: when typing on the computer the first character the computer suggests is often the right one and I feel I depend too much on that.
I do notice when I study by writing down each character I pay much more attention and those characters are much 'deeper' in my brain, maybe this is the only good way to do it ? On the other hand, it feels like quite time consuming...

What are your experiences ?
This is my personal experience:


You will remember and learn much more by writing things down than by using a computer
Chinese writing is notoriously hard and that's why schooling in China is much more full on and you will struggle if you don't push yourself as hard as a Chinese school student
Learning to write helps with learning to read. However, unless you are practicing regularly, you will forget how to write after a while. A quote from one of my Chinese friends yesterday: "Most of us have forgotten how to write. If someone asked me to write a letter today, I'd be lost."
I've seen many a demanding Chinese wife. Make yourself a level playing field and start asking for hand written 1k word essays once a week.