Art and Communication: the Fountain Pen
11 March 2010Although it might look like handwriting is a dying art, it’s a skill that is even nowadays crucial in many areas of life. A written letter carries more importance than a typewritten missive, such as an invitation, an apology, or an application for a job.
You might suppose it’s a recent fad of the masses shunning handwriting and using a keyboard instead, yet way back to the late 1800s, there were cries that penmanship was being disregarded because of the typewriter. Nowadays, the rap is being corresponded to the use of computer keyboards.
However, there is still a strong requirement for penmanship skills in both the business world and academia. Hand written missives are considered as to a greater extent more honest, they demonstrate the writer has carefully thought out his words, while demonstrating more deference to the recipient. In the modern era of “canned responses”, the hand-written letter has never been more important.
I must confess to something. I’ve often been caught red-handed with my own poor hand writing - made even worse by years of reliance on my computer keyboard. In times in which I’ve had to hand-write something, my writing’s been a sloping scrawl. What did I do? I handwrote whenever the chance came to do so, and my writing improved greatly. So it’s best to brush up on your hand writing by practise.
Another piece of advice is to get a pen you are comfortable with, with refills. Great pens to refill with include the famous mont blanc fountain pens. This permits you to polish your style with the same pen.
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