Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Anyone seen my handwriting?

The other day I had to write a birthday card for my brother, and while I was writing I realized that it actually felt a little strange...to be writing. Then I took a second to think about when the last time I had written was. Now of course I write...when I sign receipts or when I scribble down a grocery list, but I'm talking about my actual, proper, taking time to do it handwriting. And that....I haven't seen in a while. Why? Because everything has become about typing; I typed this blog post, I type on Twitter and Facebook, I type emails, and of course, I type my books. But that wasn't always the case.

My first four books were handwritten in spiral notebooks, so were the outlines and notes. And I loved it. For a few months it would be me, a pen, a notebook, a penlight, and I'd be on my bed writing while the rest of my family was sleeping. Then I'd type the books up. Time consuming, yes, but I loved it. Then I got older and realized the value of saving time, and books 5 onward started as Word documents from the get go. Now I won't go back to hand writing books, but I have to say there is some nostalgia for those days.

The only creative writing I keep hand written nowadays is poetry, I have a much treasured notebook where I write my poetry, and with those I take my time and write them all pretty like...but it's been at least six months since I've written a poem! Sigh.

Where I grew up, one of my school subjects was Penmanship and honing our cursive handwriting was taking very seriously, so I spent years learning the proper way to write cursive letters and in the end I came away with nice cursive handwriting that leans slightly to the right. I mean, how many ten years old write like this (maybe they do, what do I know about how 10 yr olds write these days):






(This is from a story I wrote for class)

But these days when I actually have reason to write something and write it properly, it feels a little strange, and that kinda makes me go...yikes. I kinda miss holding a pen and writing something meaningful....something beyond grocery lists and receipts, so I think I'll make an effort to write more, if not actual books then maybe notes for my books, and maybe a poetry kick will come in some time soon. See you soon handwriting.

5 comments:

  1. I'm only fifteen, so what do I know about having to write with a pen, lol. But before I bought myself my own computer, I always wrote the notes for my stories in this really pretty flowery notebook. I never finished filling it up because I got a computer, and I have to say, I kind of miss writing with my fine, different colored pens.

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  2. I love writing in cursive. There's something so beautiful and fluid about it. Of course, it gives me a hand cramp just thinking about it. ;) I usually reserve that skill for letters and cards. Great post!

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  3. Yes, I understand the strange feeling when it comes to handwriting with a pen and paper. I was only required to hand write everything up until high school. I felt that I learned to hand write well but now when I do use handwriting it feels weird. It is almost like I have forgotten the joyful task of handwriting and even sometimes have to think for a moment to clearly remember the exact loops to use. I love the way it looks but the simple beauty of it has been lost on computers and the "need" to understand printed text.

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