Writing for Penmanship

Lately I've been reflecting on the correlation between writing as a physical activity and writing as a mental activity. We often consider writing to be reflective, expressive, existential and many other things, but the phenomenon exists when the mind becomes written words. A thought can exist in images which then portray an event or emotion, and often times writers attempt to share or relive an emotion through words. Ironically, these emotions are often too complex to fully describe linguistically.

Regardless of the perception of thoughts, society spends more time teaching how to write than how to think and the result has become an awkward focus on penmanship. For many years, if someone could not write in shorthand (cursive) then they were labeled as bad writers, but what constituting this label? Were they really bad writers or did they lack the ability to physically write a working piece in their minds?

In recent years, typing has enabled many people to avoid penmanship altogether and rarely do we find a student who can neatly and properly utilize shorthand (cursive). Many people debate over this lost art, arguing, "What if they have to write something in cursive?" Honestly though, how many required moments will take place? Cursive possess a beauty and neatness but its' relevancy is in presentation and not syntax, style, voice or any other truly valuable aspect of writing.

Although in terms of penmanship, print still serves a significant importance, typing has become a way for many to write. I have overheard many adults referring to grammar and writing applications as being a blessing. The generations are changing and writing changes with them, but the question still remains, "Do we need to write neatly or write well?"

An Acknowledgement of a Losing Art

Let's think about writing as a means of entertainment. Throughout history, the masses gathered for a word of knowledge or to be entertained. For many years, writing served both attractions. In Ancient Greece, people esteemed poets as those who supplied a direct line to the gods, and provided the people with stories that entertained and aspired.
Today, many people in American society only value entertainment for its lack of thought. There's a moaning, zombie fetish with television, music and other forms of media, and sadly, most people don't even value the possibility of knowledge. Reality TV has replaced reality in an ironic twist of events, and in turn, tragically marginalizes our culture. Where has the value of entertainment gone?

Yes, there was a time when entertainment had literary value. Poetry ruled the literary world for many years when considering the Western culture. Poetry provided a way to enter society through beautiful language and soothing rhythm. Poets called upon their intellect, observations and emotions to form a poem which captured themselves and their world.

Today, the mere mention of poetry to many blinds them from its potential. Poetry continues to change and evolve with our culture, but generally speaking, slowly dies and fades with each passing day. Personally, I have always loved poetry and consider true poetry to be an experience which only a poet can authentically capture. But regardless of our personal definitions, the awe, mystery and potential of poetry remains to be only understood by few.

What can we do to share the experience of poetry with others? This question has a haunting tone to those who understand the value that has been lost, but may also bring comfort to a culture that is ready for the next step. Will we lose poetry completely or will it survive a long transition of cultural change? I guess we will have to find out for ourselves.

The Mystery of Blogging

What on earth am I doing? That would be an appropriate question for me to ask on a blog, and especially a blog about writing as an evolutionary art. As far as terms are concerned, writing seems a bit subjective to me, and almost as subjective as "love" would be in our culture. People approach writing from different backgrounds and perspectives and writers take the craft a step further by implementing purpose and devices to serve an end. Blogging though, seems to be both poetic and prosaic, both conversational and conventional, and both personal and global.

In order to fully capture the blog life, one has to let go of conventions (to a degree) and let loose. The blog then becomes a journal or free-write, where the blogger takes on the role of a useless communicator. But is this a fair assumption to make? Perhaps not, but in all sincerity, many blogs seem to capture and essence of carefreeness and release pointless information into a world of starving minds (starving for intellect of course).

But if the author comes alive in the text, the personality of the author becomes visible, or does it? Can the reader or follower"Know" the author through blog jibber jabber? Well, I'm not sure yet because I'm new to this whole process (as you can tell by the length of my blog). I mean, my blog has started off as a wonderful website. I have eloquent philosophies, and I've provided links to available and valuable information for myself (oops, and others), but does this blog really fit in?

At times I almost feel as though this new blog has already been ostracized by all its' school mates as he leans against a brick wall while everyone else throws dodge balls at "him" (assuming my blog also takes on my gender). Wow, this is becoming quite fun actually, At first, the idea of rambling on to the world appeared to be counterproductive, but I disagree now. Anyway, not to get off track from the original point of this post, but honestly, who doesn't want to read my mind? Isn't that the point?

In the end, what matters most is the point. Does it allow me the opportunity to share something? Does my blog fulfill the purpose I set out for it? Does it supply the reader with a clear definition of a blog in my mind? Does it share the conclusion I've made so far about blogging? I hope the answer is yes.

Hypertext

Hypertext opens a number of avenues to writing and communicating information online. With this mode of writing, one has the world wide web at their fingertips and uses its resources to create a multi-modal text. The web becomes a pun and a text becomes connected to many websites and informational avenues. In the world of hypertext, the author considers the key words which can enhance the piece and creates connections to other works in order to fully represent their points, messages or expressions to others.

Fascination with writing

One of the most fascinating aspects of writing would have to be the possibilities it holds. Not only can a writer choose from a number of avenues in communicating and expressing an idea or emotion, but s/he can manipulate those avenues to suit their own personality, style and cultural flare. What makes writing limitless? The qualities of humanity create so many unique and new ways to explore our world and that world put into a written representation makes us think ourselves and write ourselves.

Blogs on Writing

The following are blogs on writing which address authors in particular:

Journey's in Ink: Writers supporting writers

Beatrice: Author interviews from an experienced blogger

The Fiction Writing Blog:Writing, exercises, prompts and more from writing coach and bestselling author Emily Hanlon

Booksquare: Views and news for authors

Moorish Girl:Features literary news, commentary, book reviews and author interviews as well as occasional political and cultural links

Evolution of Text

A Tangled Web: Writers on Writing

NCTE

A Portaportal for Teachers of Writing

The Teaching of Writing

Today, writing has become digital and continues to change rapidly in our fast paced society. Many people communicate with text through phone messages, email, blogs, glogs etc. With this in mind, the educator’s job is to balance the requirements of writing with the modes of writing. Grammar and syntax still belong in the classroom but must be separated from the culture of our young people.

Writing begins with thinking. A thought stirs around in ones mind and eventually gets spit onto paper. When the written word appears, the writer than assures that the product is finished by revising and editing. Many students enter the classroom with a lot on their minds and go home with a lot on their minds. This is why we must create an environment where students can be themselves and think and analyze. After they spend time observing the world around them, they can begin to tear it apart and rebuild with words. And of course, once their thoughts are on paper, they can continue their writing process.

Writers today must have skills of grammar, syntax, philosophy and technology to survive in this new digital age. It’s not as simple as writing anymore. In order to ensure their success, we must continue to ensure our currency with today’s world.

My Philosophy of Writing

The sharing of information, the expression of self and the representation of the world around us, categorizes three reasons for writing. When words and thoughts become visible and able to be experienced by others through the ages, a society would consider this writing. All cultures have language and communication through sounds, and most cultures have a written symbol, which translates that message to others visually. We create written explanations, expressions, and observations to keep for ourselves or share with the world around us.

Writing provides a window into the souls of societies through time and continues to evolve around the world. Writing of genres with purpose and audience has become practically limitless, with new language and communication making new ways to write for an audience. Writing continues to change and continues to capture audiences’ interest, excitement, or relevancy. Writing will continue to change with the culture which cradles its’ writers.