Making functions takes substantially more effort (and has some advantages).
Ctrl+R to start reverse search
Type enough to locate last command
Ctrl+X, Ctrl+E to launch command in $EDITOR
Wrap in fn() {} or alias
Save as, or append to some file, e.g. in Vim `:w >> ~/.aliases`
Ctrl-R serves a mnemonic purpose as well.. it helps you document your workflow and processes at the shell, and not hidden in some file somewhere.