An old fashioned habit

I like handwriting.
I was informed by my Dad at an early age that an inability to write in a straight line without having a lined page to guide you was the sign of a Weak Mind.*
I can write in a straight line without having a lined page to guide me.
I can write in multiple sizes (1mm high is my favourite).
I struggle to write continuously in capitals when official forms require it (lower case is my natural habit).
I have nice, readable handwriting.
I write to people, because it’s nice to get a letter.
I keep every letter or postcard ever sent to me.
I make interesting line images using words.
I wrote all my University notes by hand…with bonus illustrations, when I was bored.
I keep to-do lists in my handbag, and delight in carefully scoring out things when they’re done.

So…writing: is fun, even though I barely do it for the bulk of my time – in my daily life, typing is King!

But I find that writing’s actually the best way that I learn: the physical act of writing transfers the information that I’ve read or heard into my brain, and it stays there. Typing the same information means it travels from my fingers, to a document…and leaves my brain.

I think there’s a few reasons for this.

I was never taught to type, or touch type. When ahh were a lad….you were either expected to go to university (and would therefore come out Fully Qualified in Excellence, and leap straight into a job where you’d have staff/minions to do typing for you…because that’s what a degree means, doesn’t it?), or you were going to be a secretary, therefore you did OIS (Office and Information Skills – there’s a misnomer!) where you learned to type. I was in the first group: ohhh, get me, expected to go to university, likely to have minions to do my typing, woo-hoo!

In reality, what happened was – I taught myself to touch type up to a point using a programme on a BBC Micro at home while in late Primary school/early Secondary school, and it was enough to get me by, including for Computing Studies (also using a BBC Micro – damn that Other Class who got to use the brand spanking new pcs!). Then, I went to Uni….in first year, handwritten assignments were the norm….in second year, there were guidelines on spacings for word processed documents…in third year, ALL documents had to be word processed. It was a rapid switch, and not one I (or many others) was totally prepared for.

So, I’m now a reasonably fast typer…but not properly. I’ve learned to get along using about 8 fingers, but almost certainly not in the right way (judging from how my fingers/knuckles can hurt at the end of the day). I still need regular glances down at the keyboard, I make plenty of typos (my favourites are “nihgt” and “hte”, with spacings between words being too earl yor too lat e.), and need to correct frequently. It’s too late really to fix that – I’d need to unlearn how to type wrongly in order to learn to type correctly and in my job, I need to type constantly.
So, typing: I can do it, but I’m partially thinking about typing when I do it, rather than focussing on the content of what I’m typing.

Writing’s different – I know the shapes of the letters so well that I don’t need to think about them, and I’m pretty good on spelling so I don’t really need to think about that either. So when I hand write something, particularly if it’s the points being made by a speaker, I listen, distil to the core point (if needed), write that point down as a note, and remember the information. I can also go back to my notes later, and they’ll really only be needed to refresh my memory, rather than have to be read and understood all over again.

People used to borrow my lecture notes at university, because they were clear, readable, and easy to understand and get the gist of the lecture. Unfortunately, this didn’t always work the other way round – I had a hard time trying to make sense of some other peoples lecture notes if I missed a class! I’d also work far better by transcribing points into notes, rather than photocopying the original material when I was studying. It’s just a shame that I get The Fear when in exams, and all useful information evaporates from my head!

So, I’m not being awkwardly old fashioned on purpose with my avoidance of using any technical devices to make conference or meeting notes – the iPad, iPhone tablets, smartphones etc may work well for other people, but if you see me at a conference or seminar, I’ll be the one sitting there with a pad of paper and a pretty pen, quietly scribbling away.

Does anyone else have this issue with not retaining information if you type it, but being fine if you hand write it? Or are technical devices the way forward for you?

*Please note: my Dad is 72, and had his own natural lefthandedness beaten out of him by vicious teachers in a 1940s schoolroom, leaving him semi-ambidextrous. He may not be the best judge of what is an appropriate way to write.

Author: Jennie

Law, libraries, books, crafts, and general geekery. View all posts by Jennie