Nick Hall’s Manual Script
https://blogs.ubc.ca/etec540njh/2021/09/11/task-4-manual-script/
Nick Hall’s response to the Manual Script task was a breath of fresh air to me because he chose the road less traveled, where instead of potato printing he optioned to write out a story by hand. I think what was the most striking to me was the feeling I experienced while reading his story by means of his own unique calligraphy. The plot of the story felt very much like a fairy tale because of its simplicity, message, and elements of fantasy. I think the hand-written texts added to this, much like reading an old story from an old storybook from ancient times.
As I reflect on Nick’s writing I realize that writing by hand is becoming a dying form of text, much like the carving of letters for publishing and printing. Now that digital technology has taken over the world, texts have been converted to digital input. The demand of fine motor skills of our hands to write and carve have converted to fine fingering skills as we type or text our communication. It is even coming to a point where our thumbs have become the main means of documentation as mobile devices have grown in use over the past 10 years.
Finally, my thoughts come to efforts. The effort it takes to carve a potato (as I did), or write by hand, is far more physically demanding when compared to typing or texting. It is this required effort that I think can weed out the worthy from the worthless, and the quality from the quantity. The ease of communication that digital technology has created allows for people to say anything with minimal effort and I think this causes more documentation of wasted texts. For example, online trolls are rampant, but how often do they mail mean letters to the local newspaper about their issues? On the other hand, this new-aged ease of writing can allow those with physical challenges or lack of motivation to communicate valuable thoughts. Can you imagine if Shakespeare didn’t bother with writing because he was too lazy to pick up a quill in the 16th century?