Task 4

For the task this week I wrote a short story named “Bob the Frog Looks Back” as companion piece to my voice to text story from last week. I found writing a story much easier than trying to create and verbalize a story. I had more time to think when composing the story.  Articulating in writing came much more naturally than speaking a story. I really enjoyed writing by hand. I used to write by hand first for assignments in university and then college and it wasn’t until 6 years ago that I trained myself to compose while typing. I like the flexibility and easy editing that comes from typing, but there is a connection between pen and paper that I miss.  

 In the story I wrote for the assignment there weren’t too many mistakes. When there were, I scratched out a word and pressed down heavier with my pen to write over a letter. I only did one draft of the piece. If I was to do a second draft, I would scratch certain lines out and squeeze in new sentences or words wherever I could fit them. I found writing by hand made me more careful with my spelling. I’ve come to rely on auto-correct when typing and this has negatively affected my spelling.  

I feel that writing by hand is a much more thoughtful process. And there is something very tangible and satisfying with applying pen to paper. It feels more personal. Perhaps, I have this feeling because this was the primary way I composed work until 6 years ago. I’d be curious if those who grew up typing rather than writing would have a similar or different experience with this assignment. I appreciate typing because  it is much more efficient. It eliminates a second step when first writing by hand and then typing; it allows you to edit more easily and move text around; it is much easier for readers who may struggle with deciphering; handwriting, and it can be easily duplicated and shared. This was touched on in the podcast that handwritten texts were composed with more care and that readers would absorb the personality of the text, study and memorize it. But print made more information available to readers allowing for shared ideas, learning, and the scientific revolution.