Manual Scripts

Producing this written text marked the first time in several years that I had completed a full page of handwritten work. Reflecting on my experiences as a younger student, I remembered how seamlessly I could write several pages during my high school years. It was never a daunting task, as my words flowed quickly and freely, my hand rarely tired, and I could comfortably produce multiple pages of writing. Since university, however, I have transitioned almost entirely to producing work on a laptop, as academic papers with citations are far less practical to complete by hand. Additionally, in my teaching practice, everything I create is also typed to ensure students can easily read and access the material. As a result, it has been several years since I last wrote a full page by hand.

The experience was more difficult than I anticipated. My hand tired much more quickly than expected, and I struggled to organize my thoughts as clearly as I would have if I were typing. This made me acutely aware of how heavily I rely on digital technology to complete my day-to-day tasks, and how the physical skill of handwriting has diminished in my own life. While I try to preserve this skill for my students, I often neglect to practice it myself. When I made a mistake or wanted to revise my writing, I either erased the word or crossed it out. If the change was an afterthought and I had already moved on to the next line, I went back and erased it. If I was mid thought, I struck through the word and wrote the correct spelling or replacement beside it. Using a pencil supported this process, allowing me to edit more freely than I could have with a pen.

The most significant difference between handwriting and mechanized forms of writing for me was the level of cognitive engagement required, as writing by hand demanded deeper thinking and more conscious effort. When I needed to recall spelling, I did not look it up instantly, as I didn’t want to interrupt myself. Instead, I had to pause and retrieve it from memory, rather than interrupting my train of thought by turning to a device. I also had to be more intentional about sentence structure from the outset, as revising entire sentences was far more difficult on paper than it would be when typing. When using mechanized forms of writing, which I do almost exclusively, I rely on the machine far more than I realized. I depend on it for spelling, searching for words or phrases, integrating information, and revising my work. I no longer expect myself to get it right the first time because I know the technology will help me polish and refine my writing. Overall, while I have become accustomed to and prefer mechanized writing in my daily professional life, this activity helped remind and reinforce that I must still practice the skill of handwriting in my personal life.