TASK 4: Manual Scripts and Potato Printing

I chose to write a bit of a political piece. Please keep in mind that this was all just off the top of my head. Also, I realize I’m a terrible speller (thank goodness for word processing software!)

I write a lot by hand, but rarely ever share what I write by hand with anyone. Ever since I started University, I will organize essays by writing down my outlines by hand. I also like to annotate things I’m reading by hand as well. I’m a songwriter as well, and write most of my songs out by hand.

The actual writing that took place wasn’t challenging for me. I was aware that what I was writing was going to be viewed by my academic colleagues, and didn’t want to sound stupid. I find myself reading a lot more than I write these days, particularly about politics. This exercise was interesting in that it allowed me to “put-to-paper” some of my ideas that I haven’t really had the opportunity to mull over extensively.

I crossed out some of my mistakes but didn’t really edit my ideas. This is basically directly out of my head. I didn’t want to try and make it look perfect, and didn’t have any pencils or white-out around to fix mistakes. When I write things with paper and pen, I commit to it being messy. It’s still my most effective method for drafting.

I feel that using word processors on computers is a more linear form of writing. I take full advantage of the spell checking and grammar checking available through software. I can check my word count, or change my font with impunity. I can easily edit my mistakes in a way that is impossible for the reader to even see that they had ever existed in the first place.

When I write things out by hand things can get messy. I can make mistakes, fix them, and then go back and realize I had it right the first time. I can cross sentences out that show me paths I don’t want to truly follow. I can rearrange pages in an order that makes better sense. I can worry less about the final polished product and focus on the underlying structure.

I don’t prefer one or the other. To me, they are two different tools with two distinct jobs that coexist together. I use both depending on the task at hand.

Potato Stamp

Firstly, my stamps turned out HORRIBLY, so please excuse my shoddy workmanship. I didn’t realize that I needed to mirror all of the letters until I had put them onto the sheet of plywood that I was using… I also used too much paint on the first one, and not enough on the second. I was considering trying to redo it, but thought that perhaps my failure could lead to some good observation/commentary. Here it is:

I found the process challenging. Just to get those stamps cut into the potatoes took several tries. I kept cutting parts that I needed to leave in. I was trying to make a statement by replacing the last symbol with a peace sign (due to the fact that I wanted to do this word but didn’t want to repeat a letter.  The stamp making took me about 45 minutes.

My letters looked pretty good to me (based upon my limited ability at carving). That was until I dipped them in the paint!! That’s why I left the stamps in the picture so you can see what I was trying to do.

This was (obviously) a highly inefficient manner of mechanizing writing. I took almost the same amount of time to complete my stamp (which looked terrible) as I did to write my reflection (which I hope is at least somewhat articulate). But I understand how someone with more talent than me could use the potato method to consistently produce a message.