Option #1
Do you normally write by hand or type? Did you find this task difficult or easy? Explain.
This task was particularly challenging because I tend to write by typing, and only use handwriting for note taking. Even in approaching this task, I contemplated whether I wanted to write in cursive or use short form. I took a mid-ground by writing, as I normally do, using capitalized letters.
The task was not difficult but did require some additional contemplation as I wrote whereas using the computer, I can go back and revise. It is a similar approach that I take when shooting video or photograph digitally. When you have seemingly infinite amounts of space (media), you don’t mind testing out things or taking additional footage or images, but if space is a limitation than you need to be more guarded in your approach.
What did you do when you made a mistake or wanted to change your writing? How did you edit your work? Did your choice of media play a part in how you edited your work?
I processed my sentences in my head typically several words ahead of what I was writing. Competent news readers read off a teleprompter using a similar approach. In this exercise, I was not too concerned about what the final product looked like, but if I had been I would have done a draft first then taken my time in completing the final version.
As I mentioned above, the media does play a role in how the author edits their work. Writing by hand can provide the reader with another narrative to contemplate. Why did the author capitalize all the letters? Why were the words slanted? Did the author get tired at the end so the text was less accurate and difficult to read? With regards to that last question, should we all be reconsidering the teaching of cursive to school children even though the skill of cursive diminishes over time as Morgan Polikoff (2013) suggests.
What do you feel is the most significant difference between writing by hand and using mechanized forms of writing? Which do you prefer and why?
I prefer using a keyboard because that is what I have done for my entire working career. Notetaking by hand is something I am used to, but it is often done during a condensed amount of time (perhaps a meeting or interview). When writing by hand over an extended amount of time then my hand starts to cramp, and my shoulders start to get sore.
Mechanized forms of writing allow for flexibility as you can always go back and correct or change content without the reader ever knowing (that is unless you are tracking changes). Writing by hand does not provide that flexibility. The forms of mechanized writing highlighted by Bolter (2001), all require some contemplation by the writer. Errors would be indelibly included in the stone or parchment. There is something unique and real about tracking such “errors” that perhaps provides insight into what the author was thinking.
References
Polikoff , M. (2013, May 1). https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/04/30/should-schools-require-children-to-learn-cursive/let-cursive-handwriting-die
Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print [2nd edition]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Hi Sam,
I really appreciated reading your post and learning about some of the similar perspectives we both have on handwriting versus writing through typing. You touched on some important facts, where you mention “writing by hand can provide the reader with another narrative to contemplate” and “and how writing by hand allows room for contemplation, where errors are visible.” Which I agree on, also the fact that typing is much faster, allows for flexibility to alter/delete our thoughts quickly and efficiently. However, for me, I also found that handwriting, although it’s much slower and tedious, is much more personal because I can see my errors and it allowed me to develop a slightly more conceptual understanding of my thought processes. So I agree with you when you said, “there is something unique and real about tracking such “errors” that perhaps provides insight into what the author was thinking.” I also felt physically and mentally more at ease not having to stare into my screen during the process of writing my freestyle poem, which I felt allowed for a little more creative and critical thinking to emerge for me personally.
Ironically my thought processes led me to handwrite a poem that focused on my being mostly left-handed/ambidextrous and living in a right-handed world 🙂
Thank you for sharing a great post with me Sam! – Selene
I thought you depicted the constraints of space while handwriting, perfectly when you compared it to a videographer’s experience with space/memory on a camera. Feeling restricted in creativity limits the potential for great ideas, and candid thoughts or images, in the instance of a camera. I can imagine when you are doing a shoot, and only have room for 50 images, you want to make sure there is some planning in what you capture, or else you may fear that if you get to the end and there happens to be the perfect shot, you may not be able to capture it. So pre-planning perfect shots, or perfect writing coincides with space limitations. Akin to when there is only enough room for a certain amount of words on a line in a lined paper.
Thanks for the comment Agnes. Your post made me thing about the character restrictions on social media that have, in some cases, caused language to change and emojis to flourish.