I was torn whether to include the ubiquitous “Is handwriting important?” article in this week’s Link Love. This issue has been rehashed and mentioned on this site countless times (1, 2, 3… there were more). Pretty much each Fall, when students head back to school, the topic re-emerges. Each year, more and more students rely on computers and tablets for their studies and one of us stalwart pen users will pop up with the same list of why handwriting is still important. This time, it was a list from Lindsay at The Postman’s Knock, a blog focused on handwriting and calligraphy.
She left out one regularly touted talking point, however. Handwriting does not require electricity, an app, or any specific hardware or software compatibility. You can write with a pencil on the back of an envelope or napkin, use a ballpoint pen on an old receipt or use a beautiful Italian-made journal and fountain pen. They will all work to capture your message. In five years (or 50 years), as long as the ink or pencil did not fade or the paper was not damaged, the text can be read by anyone without having to find compatible software or hardware. Any of us who still have a stack of old hard drives, computer discs or CD-ROMs will tell you that accessing old files can be challenging.
If you’re reading this blog, though, you probably don’t need to be convinced of the benefits of handwriting. You already reap some sort of benefit from the experience. The likelihood we can convert anyone else to our way of thinking though? That remains to be seen.
Post of the Week:
- Does Handwriting Matter?: A Pro-Analog Argument (via The Postman’s Knock)
Pens:
- Why are Montblancs so Special? …Let’s Begin with Meisterstück (via Pen Boutique Blog)
- happy-pen: sailor pro gear slim winter sky (via A Fleeting Ripple)
- Smoothing out the crispy edges (via mnmlscholar)
- Kaweco Original Black Chrome Fountain Pens 060 and 250 (via dapprman)
Ink:
- Sailor x Tinterías Agave and Blue Corn – More Inky Deliciousness (via The Pen Addict)
- Visconti Sepia Ink Review (via The Pen Addict)
- Pilot Iroshizuku Chiku-Rin (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
- Ink Review Colorverse Electron & Selectron (via Mountain of Ink)
- Birmingham Salt Water Taffy on Leuchtturm1917 (via Inkcredible Colours)
- Robert Oster Napa (via Mountain of Ink)
Pencils:
- Blackwing Pencils – When a Pencil is More than Just a Pencil (via Cult Pens)
- What Is A Clutch Pencil And How Is One Used? (via Unsharpen)
Notebooks & Paper:
- The Best Daily Planners for 2023 (via JetPens)
- Reusing Old Diary Inserts (via Philofaxy)
- Guide To Notebook Systems: Vacation Week Recap (via The Gentleman Stationer)
Art & Creativity:
- Current Sketching Kit – October 2022 (via Liz Steel)
- Pentel Pocket Brush Pens with Color Inks (via Apple-Pine)
- Exciting InkTober (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
Other Interesting Things:
- London UK Pen Show October 2022 – Part 1 (via Penultimate Dave)
- Colorfully Cast Hands in Carol Milne’s Knitted Glass Sculptures Won’t Drop a Stitch (via Colossal)
- Teen Girl’s Purse From the 1950s Offers Glimpse Into the Past (via My Modern Met)
- Minimized and Matchy: Rickshaw Sinclair Model R (via Fueled by Clouds & Coffee)
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I different perspective on “does handwriting matter” … we can look at books and letters from way back to the the Roman empire; however, digital formats come and go.
It might not matter to you, but it might to your grand(^N)-child that is wading thru boxes containing notebooks, 3.25″ floppies, and VHS tapes of your family.
Also the ability to use handwriting, especially cursive, is related to the ability to read it. As a historian who has now had multiple interns that can’t read cursive, I fear we are loosing the ability to read those old documents as well!