Jun 09 2008
Speedwriting for the Rest of Us
This is the digital age and most of us do most of our writing with our fingertips on one keyboard or another. Writing by hand with pen and paper is anything but dead, however. In fact, it appears to be experiencing a renaissance. Hoards of people, mired in a world of word processing, e-mail and text messaging, are rediscovering the joys of non-digital, non-battery-powered, non-menu-driven writing.
There is something wonderfully human and restoring – even healing – about the simple act of picking up a nice pen, opening a notebook and taking the time to draw letters that form words on a piece of paper. For many of us, it is a sensual experience.
Having said that, it can’t be denied that even those who love to write by hand sometimes wish they could transfer their words from their minds to the paper a bit faster. While the slower speed of handwriting is one of the reasons it is so attractive to those who are tired of life’s frantic pace, it would be nice to be able to speed it up just a little.
There’s shorthand, of course, as well as any number of speedwriting methods. These can make handwriting as fast or even faster than entering text on a keyboard. But relatively few people use them. Why? First, the learning curve is brutal – no matter what they tell you. Second, the weird marks just don’t seem like “real” writing and that detracts from the organic nature of the handwriting experience.
Good news: there is a happy medium. It is a hybrid of normal writing and shorthand that will speed things up while allowing you to “keep it real.” Plus – and this is a big plus – it is very easy to learn.
It’s based on the idea that we can write faster by replacing the words we use most often with marks or abbreviated forms of the words that represent them. These frequently used words include “and,” “is,” “have” and so on. There are also shortened forms of common word endings, such as “…ing,” “…able,” and “…tion” (or “…cion,” or “…sion”).
Here’s a chart I keep in my journal showing the faster forms of the words and word endings I use most:
(Note: It’s difficult to show on the chart, but to add an “ing” ending to a word, simply underscore the last letter of that word. To add an “ings” ending, give it a double underscore.)
I’ll admit, I haven’t yet converted to using all the quicker forms of the words and word endings shown on the chart. But I use most of them. It speeds things up quite a bit and is fun in a weird way that I haven’t yet taken the time to analyze. Importantly, it has not degraded the organic experience of writing for me one bit.
The following are a few samples of this type of shorthand/speedwriting in action:
Please keep in mind that for the purpose of illustration I constructed these sample sentences using a lot of words with shortened forms. Most of what you write will look much more normal simply because there usually won’t be such a high percentage of shortened words and word endings in your sentences.
Don’t be intimidated by the prospect of learning these and incorporating them into your handwriting. They are easy to master. It just takes a little time and repetition. The best way to start is to select a few of the more common words and get used to using their short versions. I would suggest starting with the following:
You’ll be surprised how using the short versions of just these 12 words and word endings will speed up your handwriting! When you get used to using them, tackle a few more, then a few more. Don’t be afraid to adapt the shortened versions to your liking or add your own entries to the list. You can go as far as you wish with this – making the process of handwriting faster and easier with each shortened word or word ending you implement. And when you don’t want to go further, just stop. The nice thing is, every time you incorporate another speedwriting symbol into your handwriting, you crank up the speed/ease dial another notch.
Happy writing!
[...] Check out this really useful speedwriting tutorial. [...]
Very cool codes– I will try it. Thanks to Copyblogger for finding your site.
Tim
You write very neatly, Steve. I, however, have spent too many years scribbling madly in notebooks as a reporter so neatness is long gone. I’ve used a variation of speedwriting for almost 40 years and learned one lesson: Fill in the missing letters quickly while context is still fresh. Otherwise, it will be by guess and by golly.
Of course, if I only need to write down the important things a politician says, I can use stone and chisel. ;^)
[...] Writers’ Bag offers a cool tutorial on speed writing. As someone who keeps a moleskine handy at all times, I think I’m going to try this, since my [...]
Cool list - I wish there would be such a list for German language…
If you’re interested in making speedy notes, I highly recommend taking an ‘old-school’ shorthand course if you have the opportunity. I did a short Teeline shorthand course because it was offered free at my workplace - I achieved speeds of 60 w.p.m (as fast as good touch-typing) and although I don’t practise shorthand every day (like a journalist or court reporter might), I still use many of the ‘outlines’ when taking notes in meetings, phone messages, jottings, or even shopping lists.
In fact, I have integrated it so much into my writing that I have to remember not to use outlines when writing postcards etc.
Shorthand is also handy for when you want to write ’secret’ jottings that you don’t want someone looking over your shoulder to be able to read!
Learning Teeline (or Pitman) is also a fantastic mental workout - it’s magical to watch the transition from having to concentrate very hard, to a few months later when the outlines just seem to flow out of your pen.
Soozi Q, thanks for the suggestion. I looked into learning real shorthand, but it seemed daunting. Sounds like you picked it up quite easily. How long did it take you? I would love to be able to handwrite at 60 words per minute.