The importance of handwriting

 

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SEPTEMBER 30TH 2023

The Economist this weekend A special edition on handwriting

Lane Greene Language columnist and Spain correspondent

If you are like me, you haven’t handwritten anything longer than a short note for many years. In modern life, writing means typing. But for a back-to-school column, I took up the subject that gave me my worst-ever grade in school: a scowling “Needs Improvement” (the worst given) in handwriting. A few years ago I typed a column on my phone as an experiment. Another time, I dictated one to transcription software. This time I took pen to paper. The medium may not exactly be the message (with apologies to Marshall McLuhan, who said that it was). But it certainly has an impact on the message. One series of studies has found a big advantage in note-taking by hand. The very inefficiency of the medium is its advantage: it seems to force writers to think and compress information as they jot, rather than mindlessly transcribing verbatim. Such research has made many school systems start to reduce the role of technology in the classroom—especially in early years—and increase the teaching of handwriting (including my bête noire, cursive). Whether you are a technophile or technophobe, calligrapher or chicken-scratcher, I hope you’ll enjoy the column, along with some other pieces from our archive about writing and technology.

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Editor’s picks A selection of must-read articles

Johnson The importance of handwriting is becoming better understood Research on pens and paper highlights their benefits

Johnson: Writing The medium matters How much does the physical way of writing affect the content?

Johnson Is it possible to “write” using speech-to-text software? Turning the spoken word into clear prose requires more planning than the human brain is capable of

1843 magazine Handwriting: an elegy As more and more of our words are tapped out on keyboards, writing by hand has become an endangered species

Johnson The everyday miracle of writing Give thanks to the people who resolved to make pictures stand for sounds

How to write What to read to become a better writer Five texts that explain how to write simply and well

Pulp fiction How to write a bestseller No one knows. But a good guess is quickly. And don’t stint on the full stops

Live digital event

Subscriber exclusive Inside The Economist’s language and style What makes good writing? What should you leave in or out? And what are the basic dos and don’ts to bear in mind? Join Lane Greene, the editor of our in-house style guide, on Thursday October 5th at 5pm BST / 12pm EDT / 9am PDT.

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