Days of Writing
a thought piece
Signing the receipt after dinner out with a friend and they remarked upon my “cute signature.” It prompted me to admit that I have been a “writing nerd” since before we all could access font types in a device.
I used to sit and practice writing letters in different types — mimicking ones I had seen on billboards, signs, advertisements, and also making my own. Before I learned to hand write, I would pull scraps out of the drawer at my grandma’s and try to “write” lines of things I had seen in the world.
Then, it dawned on me that I was talking in a meta way — about writing with pen and paper but also the act of creating a story, a poem, an essay, a piece…But this type of writing the kind I am doing right now with keyboard, home row typing, and a screen, we also call this writing. Though to do so, is using the act of typing or keyboarding.
How quick we were to adapt to this style of writing has me thinking through how long before a cursive, handwritten signature is rendered obsolete? There’s already digital signature software out on the market. We are asked to use pins, tokens, chip cards, one time access codes to “log in” or “sign in.” How long before pens, pencils, and handwriting tools are rendered obsolete? Will we get voice activation services to “sign” things for us? Will we sign things over in a virtual, augmented world?
Books in print have held on because there are those like me who still make these relevant but they, too, feel like their shelf life and timeline are shrinking.
How many “handwriting nerds” are left? Is handwriting a dying craft? What do you think?
