Thursday, January 7, 2016

Disappearing Ink?

This is Day 4 of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Today's prompt is Pen and Paper. Please visit the other participants to see what they have put forth on this mighty prompt.

The pen is mightier than the sword but the paper upon which the words are written is easily destroyed.

Early writing began some 5000 years ago with pictures, e.g. the cuneiform script, which were impressions made in a clay tablets with a blunt reed used as a 'pen'. As time moved forward, real languages were created and eventually, paper-like material made from the papyrus plant replaced clay and stone, and recorded history began being written on scrolls. 

Romans wrote on wooden tablets with sheets of wax, while Europeans used parchment with bone or metal writing implements. This is just a tiny sampling of how writing evolved chosen to illustrate how far we have come since those first primitive markings.

In the centuries that followed came the quill and inkwell, the fountain pen, ball point pens and the use-and-toss disposable Bic Stics, not to mention the lead pencils we began school with. Yeah I know it's really graphite. There are pens in all shapes and colors, some light up and some even talk. Do you really want a talking pen when you're trying to write? 

Anyway, with the age of the computer and the internet, keyboards and displays are rapidly replacing the art of writing - of actually grasping a pen and forming letters into words and words into sentences. A recent post on Facebook posed the question - should we still teach cursive writing in school?

If you have to ask that, is it too late already? Is this to be the fate of the pen and paper? I hope not!


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8 comments:

  1. I hope that the art of writing is not lost. I have actually seen a resurgence of hand-lettering for signs and logos as an art form. I hope that it holds on in the face of the digital age.

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    1. I don't think it's lost, just harder to find sometimes.

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  2. I don't think the art of writing is lost. I think it's evolving.

    Just think about what biographers will rely on in the future. 200 years from now, a biographer, writing about Jim Parsons, will use as source material many of his tweets and Instagram posts. And I'm sure, unless, something else has been developed, the biographer will still be using pen and paper for notes.

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    1. I think people will always be taking notes and making lists. I have lists on my phone but they are for reference. Grocery and to-do lists - definitely paper so I can mark items off.

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  3. I don't think pen and paper is history. People still use pen and paper, amidst all the new technology :) Good write :)

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    1. My thoughts too. Not lost, just changing.

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  4. I always have a pen in my pocket. I know I'll always use pen and paper, but the newer generation -- with all the apps and technology, definitely get away from it.

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    1. I have a pen (or two) in my purse and hubby usually has one in his pocket.

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