My penmanship has slowly decomposed from bold calligraphic writing with strong downstrokes and true horizontals to a wobbly, childish scrawl. I blame carpal tunnel, but in truth, I think it’s just that I’ve become used to composing at the keyboard. After all, holding a pen and using chopsticks use similar muscle movements, and no one’s ever caught me asking for a fork in a Japanese restaurant.
A blogger I read mentioned handwriting in his blog recently, and an exchange of comments and emails has me musing. I know that my ‘voice’ differs greatly when I’m using pen and ink. My keyboard compositions tend to be breezy, fast, and use one line paragraphs for emphasis or just for cadence.
On the rare occasions when I do things more organically, my words come slowly, with more introspection and consideration.
I ask, therefore, that people share their answers to the following:
1) Do you keep a handwritten journal in addition to your online writing?
2) Do you compose journal or blog entries at the keyboard, or do you create them on paper first?
3) Do you find that your voice changes with the medium in which you write?
4) If you do other writing (fiction, essays, etc.) that is not in your blog/diary/journal, do you approach it the same way?
This entry crossposted to OpenDiary and to LiveJournal. Apologies to those who encounter it more than once.
I do keep a handwritten journal but sporadically. I have a journal application on the computer I use for what I consider super private ruminations. I compose blog entries in Word and occasionally in my notebook to be transcribed later. And I definitely have a different voice when I write by hand.
I posted on this subject sometime last year after writing a letter to a fellow bloggee in the States.
I couldn’t believe how bad my written word had become since composing any form of text via electronic means.
1.No
2.Straight to the keyboard
3.I don’t write anymore so something I need to experiment with.
4.N/A
1) I do now – it takes a bit more focus and time, but I am finding it rewarding.
2) Blog entries are typically by keyboard, and journal entires do not resmeble blog entries.
3) Indeed. Blog entries seem very public, and I am therefore careful as too how much I share.
4) Not at all – something about the written hand seems more ‘important,’ and care is put into the thought behind the entry, but not what is written.