Computers Have Ruined My Handwriting
Jan 17th, 2007 by Jeremy
Most of my life I have had pretty decent handwriting. I am not talking about anything to win awards, but legible, even and pleasant writing. I never really took pride in it, but it was something I was conscious of. Recently I have noticed that my handwriting quality has digressed, quite a bit in fact. This is not an old age thing, it is more of a laziness thing I am afraid. I don’t want to say it is horrible, but it just isn’t up to what it used to be. I blame it on my ultra-use of computers. I can type like a speed demon, but at the expense of my writing abilities.
I remember realizing later in my high school years that I never wrote in cursive, instead writing almost exclusively in standard printing. I don’t remember when or why it happened, but I just quit writing in cursive. I think that may have been my first step in the degradation in my handwriting, though I did keep up writing in decent style. I had an architectural drawing class my freshmen year, which helped true up my form a bit as well. To this day, if I had to sit down and write a full paragraph in cursive it would look like a middle schooler because I would have to sit and think about every letter. The only thing I ever write in cursive is my signature.
Into college, I was writing plenty. Notes in class like a madman because I have always been one to get a lot more out of lecture than from reading the text. In fact, I picked up the technique to copy my notes again into a second notebook to help commit things to memory. Nifty, eh? All through this I had a computer, but it was only a smaller part of my life.
Fast forward to post college years. Now computers are a huge part of my life. It is my work as well as part of most of my hobbies. Photography - digital of course. Now blogging. I rarely find any reason or opportunity to write anything down. In fact if I take notes, it is often on a laptop or even my Treo for a quick reminder. So as a result, my handwriting is getting worse and worse.
What I find really sad is that I have no handwriting endurance. Kind of sounds funny, but you know what I am talking about. I used to be able to take notes through several classes a day without difficulty. Now if I write more than a few paragraphs my hand aches like a bad bought of arthritis. That’s pretty pitiful.
I think this I am really taking note of it these days because my son is in second grade, and though he is a brilliant kid, his handwriting is terrible. He started with a bad hand position habit that we are still trying to break, and he writes just plain horrible. I did a little research before writing this post, and I was comforted to find the first Google search result for “bad handwriting” was an article attributing bad handwriting as a common problem in gifted young boys. Whether that is his situation or not, I’d like to think so. But as I encourage him to get better, I feel the need to get mine back in shape.
On an incidental note, 90% of the rest of the search results (for numerous pages of results) were articles about bad doctor’s handwriting leading to incorrect prescriptions and even avoidable deaths. At least my handwriting is just something for my to complain about and not alter or ending someone’s life!
I am not quite sure how I am going to do it, but I think I will try to do some writing exercises of some kind. I would like to find something useful to write though and not just write for the sake of writing. Have you experienced the same phenomenon? Any ideas?
Hey thanks for that link bro, now I know why my handwriting was always so much worse than yours!
In truth I can’t blame computers on my handwriting, which starting off as really bad, and just got worse. In high school I shattered the bones in my right hand index finger, which had some amazing results in my handwriting, what was bad just got worse as I had to relearn how to write with a now rather stiff finger (it makes quite a difference).
Add to that my earlier age entry into computers than you, and my higher usage of them, and I have truly horrible handwriting, and even less usage of it.
Just remember bros, I took calligraphy during the summers (6th and 7th) from one of the neighbors–it was the only way Mom was able to encourage me to have better handwriting! So the horrible handwriting runs in the family as well. Of course, I was using that knowledge elsewhere, and still do to this day with my hobbies of SCA and so forth.
I’ve been threatening to make all of my family learn too-because it helped Nick with his handwriting for a bit when he had to write the letters in calligraphy for our Sergeantry Trials.
But I too have noticed that unless I take care, my handwriting is sloppier now also, and Teren’s got worse when he was trying to rely on only the Alphasmart for school, so we are making him write out more of the day-to-day work, and only allowing final copies to be done on the computers.
Oh and for the useful ideas? How about with calligraphy-making awards for Cub Scouts, or helping with homemade valentines for school instead of purchased ones?
Nice surprises for your wives?
I have to admit, the one thing I miss most about computers, is not writing enough. I LOVE to write, I love handwriting…I guess it is my creative side ;)
I used to have such a creative brain in my head(still might be in there somewhere!)
used to write reams of prose and poems, and they are all gathering dust in the loft now!
I dont have the ideas for my poems that I used to, but if I do have a “brainwave” I find I have not got the patience to write it out by hand!!!!!
I suppose I could be getting old(er ) or something!
Same with me. My handwriting is just awful and it was always readable before.
My assistant types up stuff wrong constantly and it’s because she can’t read what I wrote. I really do have a little arthritis but it’s mostly because of the computer. And I cannot STAND to handwrite stuff now.
I just found your blog because I wondered if anyone else had the same problem and of course someone else does.
Hi
I came across your blog when I was searching for help with my bad handwriting. I am ashamed of it and decided that this year I would make the effort to do something about it. Its never been that good but since I started using computers its just dived. It mainly consists of printed capitals which are barely legible. I am making real progress. I bought a large ruled notebook and a decent pen and every day I try to write something. Here’s a website that has really helped me http://briem.ismennt.is/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.1.quick.htm.
I have mainly been spurred on because I am getting married soon and really want to write a nice letter to my bride on our wedding day.
Best of luck, its just practice.