Have We Lost the Art of Handwriting?

For many years I took pen to paper for hours on end in a day. I took notes by hand through all my schooling – right through college, wrote papers by hand (unless it was a “big” paper – that got typed), doodled, sent handwritten cards for birthday’s, Christmas, and just to say Hi, made a handwritten shopping list, and journaled most every day. I relished in getting a new pen and discovered my favorite was a fine tipped ink pen or a 0.5 mm mechanical pencil. Now I’m hunched over a desk typing away on a computer and I think we are losing the art the handwriting.
 
A computer keyboard is efficient but there are few things I miss by about writing things out by hand.

•  I’m not sure I really know how to spell anymore. The word processing program alerts me to any errors, but I’m missing the ability to catch the error myself as I’m thinking about writing the word. That thinking is a key part of the learning experience.
• Electronic notes don’t carry the emotion of handwritten notes. There is something about recognizing a person’s handwriting – seeing the newness of a child learning to write or watching an elderly loved one’s writing become almost illegible due to shaking and poor eyesight. An email doesn’t share the individuality of the person that handwriting does.
• You don’t get to pick beautiful paper and your favorite pen. Sure – you can change the font, the color, and the size when writing on a computer, but you miss on the feel of the ink gliding across a lovely piece of paper and never get to say – is that cotton?
• You remember better when you write things down. When handwriting notes, you must conceptualize the most important things. You can’t write down 100 words, but you can get the top 10  word captured. When typing, people try to type everything, which doesn’t necessarily engage the mind.

 
Here are a few things you can do to bring back the art of handwriting.

1. Get yourself a nice pen. There are so many options, you are certain to find something that makes you want to write.
2. Start a journal. Write down your thoughts, share what you did in the day, or list the things you are grateful for.
3. Send a handwritten note. There is nothing like getting real mail with a personal message inside.
4. Write your grocery list by hand – you’ll probably remember items better that way.
5. Put a “love note” in your child or spouse’s lunch. Think of the smile they’ll have when they see and read the note.
6. Start writing you life history. Generations years from now will be entertained by your stories.
7. Take notes in class. Then be amazed at how much you learn.

References: Muller P, Openheimer M. The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of long-hand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science 2014. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581