Manual Scripts

Do you normally write by hand or type? Did you find this task difficult or easy? Explain.

When writing for work, I usually use a computer for email, slides or coding; however, when writing creatively I always prefer to write by hand (as in this example: a letter to the baby we are expecting this summer, who we nicknamed "Poppy"). I find it challenging to get started, but once I begin to flow between sentences and connect my initial ideas, I form a stream of consciousness that becomes easier to follow the more I write. Perhaps similar to Bolter (2001, p. 15) termed mechanized writing as "the insistent rhythm of the machine", I find that typing is more an effort of muscle memory to recall which mechanical buttons ought to be pressed, than the more mindful process of writing by hand.

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?

When I make a mistake while writing manually, I typically scribble out the word in pen before re-writing the sentence with a preferable word choice. When editing professional work, I find it more stressful, as I have more factors to consider such as brevity, grammar, and redundancy so that I communicate as clearly and concisely as possible. When reviewing written work, I wish to revisit (and inhabit) that very stream of consciousness I had recorded, so few of these considerations feel as relevant. Furthermore, speed is much more of a consideration when typing in a professional context (as I generally want to spend as little time on email as possible), and as Innis (1950) describes the dramatic increases in production speed afforded by the printing press, so too am I grateful for the speed at which I can communicate with others when typing. However, the speed of production is seldom relevant to my handwritten journalling, as this is primarily an exercise in mindfulness and one which precludes patience and thoughtful choice or words.

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?

The most significant difference I have found is the association between emotion and memory with handwriting; as described earlier, I consider handwriting to be an exercise in mindfulness and deliberate recording of a particular stream of consciousness. Writing (and reading) by hand is therefore necessarily enhanced by one’s emotional state and this further enhances the memory associated with the written record. Furthermore, writing by hand requires sustained intentionality and effort to form the letters on the page, whereas writing on a keyboard is more a matter of muscle memory. In most professional contexts, the correspondence performed by typing is deliberately non-emotive, but more a record of facts and reports.