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This isn't really an analysis or survey. It's more like an observation and perhaps a bit of a rant as well. I work for a magazine as an editor, and most of the documents I receive are electronic and, hence, typed. However, every year we send out forms for companies we work with to update contact and product information. Most of these forms are returned (gulp) handwritten, and I am the lucky one who gets to process these updates. Needless to say I get a good idea of who actually read the portion of the letter that reads “please type or print legibly."

So after spending a good part of my day looking at these forms, it's becoming increasingly evident that the more we depend on computers, especially word processing, the less emphasis we put on good penmanship (and I'm not pointing the finger. Mine is by no means stellar and I still do a lot of writing by hand). While I'm by no means saying we should go back to doing everything "by hand," I think we should at least try improve our handwriting skills, if for no other reason, for the sake of the professors who have to grade those in class essay exams or the people who have to interpret the forms we complete (such as myself). After all, good penmanship was at one time a matter of pride because education was a privilege.

Posted in Musings of a Wordsmith | | | | 301 reads