I am here to make a case for the written word.
Wait. Let me correct that:
I am here to make a case for the HANDwritten word.
I will use three arguments to support my belief in handwriting over typing. First, I’ll rely solely on educational data and studies in childhood psychology. Next, I will deal with the importance of handwriting from a historical, and socio-cultural, perspective. Third, and my personal favorite, I will share a brief account of how handwriting helps me in my darkest hour.
Yes, not very scientific…but just hear me out.
I.
In the era of social media, personal video channels, and blogs, the tradition of scribbling in a diary seems outdated, ancient, silly. However, studies show that handwriting remains a crucial skill for the successful development of cognitive, motor, and neuromuscular processes, especially during the stages of early childhood development.
In other words, most specialists agree that incorporating elements from printing, cursive, and touch-typing into a child’s formal training leads to greater academic success, complex data interpretation, and increased information retention. Therefore, as an educated society, we should push for the incorporation of all three skills.
Ultimately, by teaching print, cursive, and typing we will form “hybrid writers,” readers, and thinkers.
II.
From a historian’s perspective, access to someone’s diary/letters/collections reveals details of socio-cultural constructs, personal shortcomings and strengths, and a subject’s emotional, intellectual, and even physical, state.
in essence, It is an experience in time travel.
A handwritten document reveals a lot about a person, a specific time, context, moment. It reveals their struggles, deficiencies, and inclinations in ways that a typed version simply cannot. Let me give you an example:
After Alba’s passing, I found a treasure-trove of letters, cards, and diaries dating back to 1956.
I was giddy. The historian in me was giddy, even though I was still wading through sorrow and heartbreak.
One such document was a letter HANDwritten by MIGHTY Alba’s father to his daughter. The date was 1958, and through his elegant print I learned more about his level of education, his love and commitment to his family, his special bond with his daughter, some physical ailments that annoyed him, and so on. On a personal level, it was exciting to hold a piece of my grandfather, a man I had failed to meet due to his untimely death. Armed with my historical training, I examined his words within the perspective of rural 1950s Brazil. It was thrilling.
And there I was, peeking through the elaborate print of a fountain pen on yellowed paper, into another world, another time, another place.
I also found MIGHTY Alba’s diaries. She started writing in 1980, mainly because she needed a hobby while she adjusted to life in a foreign country, but also because she believed in leaving behind a personal witness to her life, something her daughter could cherish…something to connect her daughter to her past, to family members…to MIGHTY Alba herself. Oh, how MIGHTY Alba was wise, and how I appreciate her efforts.
And this is, perhaps, my strongest argument for the handwritten word:
III.
I would not have the same soothing experience if I read a typed letter. I whole heartedly believe that there is comfort in reading a loved one’s handwriting, rolling your eyes over the curves of each letter, running your fingers over that thin paper that was scribbled, pressed, scratched, and folded so many times and so many years ago.
This is personal, this is real.
You see spelling mistakes, you notice when their hands started hurting and the handwriting got sloppy. You sense the different emotions behind a pen pressing too hard on the paper, words scratched out in a hurry as someone tried to piece together all the dreams, fears, and accomplishments of a life well lived. I don’t think you can get that on Word. With type, there are no mistakes, no personal marks, no specially crossed “Ts” or funny dotted “I’s.”
So…here’s to the HANDwritten word. May you buy a journal, start writing, and enjoy it. And may society continue to teach our kids to read handwriting and cursive, for it would be a shame if we were limited to the coldness of typed text.
Cheers.
