Historically, literacy has not always tied knowledge of reading with the ability to write. Neither were those who could write necessarily authors. Great authors such as Pliny the Elder and Julius Caesar are known to have dictated their texts to scribes, although both men could likely write. There is speculation that many of the scribes in monastic scriptoriums were in fact incapable of reading the texts they were copying. For me, the two are inextricably linked. For me, this exercise was quite easy, as writing by hand is my preferred method for any kind of text creation. Having said that, it’s worth noting that I am a programmer by background, so I do much ‘composition’ by typing – just not in English. On the other hand, when faced with a math or physics problem, I return to paper and pencil. It might be clear from the photograph of my work that I wrote in pencil, which is absolutely my preferred writing utensil. Pens are only for official documents and my signature. This has the distinct advantage of providing the ability to edit with almost the same facility as a word processor (provided the edits are small) and to correct along the way. The physicality of the process is important to me, and I prefer the feel of the flow of a pencil over paper rather than the pen. It might also be clear that I chose a blank notebook on which to write. I actively dislike lined paper: all of my notebooks are either blank, dotted or gridded. I type very quickly, and typically my mind races comparably quickly when I’m forming ideas. The act of writing by hand forces me to slow down; to pause while I complete a thought. I find this very valuable. When I type I do much more editing after the fact. When I write I find there is very little editing required. Although I suspect that my end product might be essentially the same whichever technology I choose, I certainly enjoy writing by hand far more. I may be a bit of a dinosaur, but for me mechanization of printing is about reproduction and dissemination, not composition.