[Essay] Handwriting

[nyggus]

Hi,

It's a short essay I wrote to practice writing. What counts for me is grammar, inconsistent style, clumsiness, incorrect wording and the like.

Thanks,
Nyggus


I just love handwriting. You might think it's a little old-fashioned and impractical, and if you do, you're partly right and partly wrong. Handwriting does not let you quickly put your thoughts down on paper. No one — at least no one I know — writes by hand for serious purposes, such as writing reports or theses or the like; I also don't. But the point is, I write by hand neither to save time nor to do serious assignments. I do it for two reasons. First, I've always loved handwriting, for no particular reason. Second, handwriting makes me think twice about each word I'm going to use. I am not saying you should ponder every single word you write. For this, you will have time when revising your text — but does it mean you should not think when scribbling your thoughts? I don't think so.

It's not that handwriting is better than computer typing: they're just two different processes. And if you only like handwriting, why not do it for fun? You might find yourself amazed that it gives you more than mere pleasure. You can, for example, formulate your thoughts in a different way than during computer typing. And, what's perhaps most important, if you like handwriting, do it because you like it. But if you don't like it, don't do it. As simple as that.

 

[teechar]

I just love handwriting. You might think it's a little old fashioned and impractical, and if you do, you're partly right and partly wrong. Handwriting does not let you quickly put your thoughts down on paper. No one — at least no one I know — writes by hand for serious purposes, such as writing reports or theses or the like; I also don't. But the point is, I write by hand neither to save time nor to do serious assignments. I do it for two reasons. First, I've always loved handwriting, for no particular reason. Second, handwriting makes me think twice about each word I'm going to use. I am not saying you should ponder every single word you write. For this, you will have time when revising your text. But does [STRIKE]it[/STRIKE] that mean you should not think about what [STRIKE]when[/STRIKE] scribble down? [STRIKE]ing your thoughts?[/STRIKE] I don't think so.

It's not that handwriting is better than [STRIKE]computer[/STRIKE] typing on a keyboard — they're just two different ways of writing something. [STRIKE]processes.[/STRIKE] And if you only like handwriting, why not do it for fun? You might find yourself amazed that it gives you more than mere pleasure. You can, for example, formulate your thoughts in a different way than [STRIKE]during[/STRIKE] by typing on a (computer) keyboard. [STRIKE]typing.[/STRIKE] And, what's perhaps most important, if you like handwriting, is that you should do it because you like it. But if you don't like it, don't do it; as simple as that.

.

 

[nyggus]

Hi teechar,

Sorry for getting back to this old thread, but I've been re-analyzing your changes (I find that kind of re-analysis an efficient way of learning) and have two questions.

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1. You changed old-fashioned to old fashioned. All dictionaries I checked list the hyphenated phrase (old-fashioned). Did you have any particular reason to get rid of the hyphen?

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2. You changed the following sentence:

A. And, what's perhaps most important, if you like handwriting, do it because you like it.​

to the following one:

B. And, what's perhaps most important, if you like handwriting, is that you should do it because you like it.​

I feel that both these sentences may be correct but have slightly different meanings. Below I share my thoughts and would appreciate your opinion whether they make sense.

In the green sentence, the phrase "what's perhaps most important" modifies the remaining part of the sentence, that is, "if you like handwriting, do it because you like it". What's important, the meaning of "what's perhaps most important" is non-restrictive; it's here to add emphasis. The main part of the sentence here is "if you like handwriting, do it because you like it".

In the dark blue sentence, on the other hand, the phrase "what's perhaps most important" becomes the subject of the sentence. (Am I right?) Did not, in that case, the clause "if you like handwriting" become non-restrictive? In that case, the main part of the sentence would be "what's perhaps most important is that you should do it because you like it".

Quite possible this question does not make sense, but I decided to ask it because I didn't "feel" this sentence. The structure "what's important is sth" is clear for me, but the dark blue sentence above gives me the trouble because of the if-clause.

Hope I was clear!

And, again, thanks teechar,
nyggus

 

[teechar]

1- Yes, I also see that most dictionaries hyphenate it. When used as an attributive adjective, it should certainly be hyphenated. In your sentence, it was being used as a predicative adjective, so I didn't see the need for a hyphen. Some also argue that since it joins two adjectives ("old" and "fashioned"), it should be hyphenated regardless. So I suppose you can stick with the hyphen to be on the safe side.

2- I added the text in bold to make your sentence easier to read.