Manual Script:
Reflection on Komodo National Park – The Land of the Dragons
Commentary on Manual Script:
Normally I use a combination of both manual handwriting as well as typing things out on my computer. I lean more heavily on using a computer to capture my thoughts, notes, letters, etc., everyday. However, I do always keep a scribbler on my desk for capturing notes from meetings or lists of what I need to do each day. Those pages are usually covered with an array of multi-colored Post-it notes with little reminders that I leave for myself. When I look at my writing, it is rarely smooth and neatly written. Usually it is rather messy and more often than not, hard to read by anyone else other than myself.
Knowing that I was going to be writing for this task, I chose to create a brainstorming page of what I wanted to focus on as this would allow me to stay on topic and create a flow to my writing. I also chose to write on a topic that was familiar to me and I therefore drew on a reflection from a travel experience with my family. I wrote as sort of a reflection as well as offering some advice as if I was to share it with a friend.
As I do not normally hand write this much, I knew I was going to have to be careful to try my best to be tidy. When I first started, right away I disliked my writing and the first few words were immediately full of spelling mistakes. I quickly tore that sheet out of my book, stretched out my fingers and began again. I tried to be careful as I wrote, maintaining my thoughts of what I wanted to say along with keeping the writing legible. I found as I was writing, that writing on a computer allows me to quickly fix what I am trying to write and of course it is more legible to read. As David Collier (Cooke, D. 2012, 1:46) mentioned in the YouTube video: Upside Down, Left to Right: A Letterpress film, “Where technology pushed forward is that we can arrange things in an instant,” which is not easy to do when you are manually writing text by hand. I could feel my fingers start to tire and I would have to adjust the pen I was holding to make it more comfortable. I could see the slight shift in the angle of my writing. As I wrote I also would need to stretch out my fingers from time to time as my hand would tire and at one point I even shook my hand to give it a break. One thing I also noticed as I was writing was how I shifted from printing to cursive writing on and off in the whole piece of writing. I also noted that I was putting too much pressure from my pen onto the paper and that the paper itself started to curl inwards.
One of the significant differences I reflected on between that of using a computer for digital writing and the hand writing, is that after writing out this reflection, I actually felt more pride in the ownership of the end product where I probably take writing with a computer more for granted as it is easier and more comfortable to use in my daily life. It is also easier to make copies of if I was to share it. This in turn reminded me of what Harris (2018) mentions towards the end of the podcast entitled, “The Printed Book: Opening the Floodgates of Knowledge.” In it he talks about, “Cultivating the progress of knowledge in our own time,” and how much has changed and advanced with the printed word. It makes me realize how we take for granted the technologies we use everyday! I am thankful for this advancement considering how much work it is to produce even a small passage writing by hand. I am dating myself, but I recall still hand writing lecture notes and essay writing in university. I remember being so excited when personal computers became accessible and we no longer had to use the university computers with the green or orange text on a black screen.
References:
Cooke, D. (2012, Jan. 26). Upside down, left to right: A letterpress film. [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6RqWe1bFpM&feature=emb_logo
Harris, B. (Producer). (2011, June 11). How it began: A history of the modern world. [Audio podcast] https://howitbegan.com/episodes/
