Thoughts & Miscellany

Improving Penmanship: Self-torture or worth the effort?

/ Pete Denison / 6 Comments

A few thoughts on penmanship.

The above title originally included the term personality traits, however given I lack a background in psychology, would likely have been a little misleading. Demonstrating certain obsessive traits in relation to pen and paper is a pattern of behaviour many in the pen world are all too familiar with. What follows is perhaps a commentary on human frailty as much as it is on well-formed handwriting. Personally, it is also part of an evolving process, which I may return to in future posts, these being my initial thoughts on the subject. This post is not ten steps to improve your penmanship.

Which brings us to the (dark?) art of penmanship. An interest in pen and paper, along with the large number of sites reviewing such items, exposes one to many styles, types and qualities of the handwritten word – clearly desirable if we are seeking an accurate portrayal of those products being reviewed. A double-edged sword no doubt, which can lead to awe, excitement and envy all at once.

So, what exactly is penmanship, and why does it matter to me?

Defining Penmanship

Here we can simply turn to any dictionary, or in this case Wikipedia, and find something along the lines of:

Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. The various generic and formal historical styles of writing are called “hands” whilst an individual’s style of penmanship is referred to as “handwriting”.

Although no more accurate than any dictionary you may consult, the Wikipedia link above contains a photographic sample of “classic American business cursive handwriting known as Spencerian script from 1884”. Therein lies the problem – or magic depending on your view. Have a look at this sample Spencerian script – it looks fantastic, albeit is not something you will find much in business communication these days.

Irrespective of whether you like this particular style of classic cursive handwriting or not, the point is not the specific style itself, rather, what I believe to be the two characteristics making it attractive to the eye. Uniformity and consistency. Generally, even if a page of handwriting is less than perfect upon closer analysis, to my eye at least, if the letters and words are consistently formed and line after line demonstrates uniformity, what you see is an attractive page of writing. Whether it is legible or not may be another matter.

Motor Control

Interestingly enough, that same Wikipedia page talks about motor control (co-ordination), which is something I do have a background in, having studied this extensively in both my University degrees. Firstly, handwriting is an acquired skill. There are various internal components (posture, grip, speed etc) and external components (pen and paper type, surface etc) that need to be controlled or at least addressed to produce a certain output on the page.

Further, as learning proceeds and a specific style becomes embedded from continued repetition, certain components of the skill require less conscious thought. These become automated, allowing concentration to be diverted to aspects that make a significant difference to the resulting skill output (a key difference for example between how professionals and amateurs in most sports process tasks related to skill performance). Finally, as handwriting is a skill, it can be broken down into various components and re-learned. That is, handwriting is not an innate behaviour, and if we address some key components, the art of producing a stylish handwritten page is achievable – with a certain amount of effort.

Why does penmanship matter to me?

Let’s be clear in what I am saying here, my penmanship matters to me. I do not judge yours, nor I am I saying I believe you owe it to yourself to write better by hand. I will commend lovely script on a page to myself or others, however will not hold anyone to task over a page of chicken scrawl, as I am more than capable of producing exactly that myself.

Why does it matter to me then? As any reader of this site knows – quite simply I love pens. Does this love of pens necessarily require me to have great handwriting? Not really (thankfully), but I sure like it when that is what I see. As my collection of fountain pens (and inks) slowly grows, I feel not making at least some attempt to write well does not do such fine instruments justice. Perhaps a flaw in my thinking or an unnecessary standard, however one I believe in.

I also take pride in what I do, which is where things can become a little obsessive. I will never set the blogging world on fire, nor do Master Penmen or calligraphers have anything to fear, however I put a great deal of effort into what I write – both digitally and by hand. It therefore pleases me when I produce something I believe to be of reasonable quality, commensurate with my ability, that is attractive to read and look at. Even more so if what I have produced closely resembles my initial intention.

It therefore disappoints me when my handwriting misses the mark, whether through a need for speed (often ill-perceived), or simply carelessness, which sometimes I accept, however is mostly cause for a little rumination. The worst kind? When all the stars align, I have the perfect pen, an enticing blank page, all the time in the world, that quote from The Cramped in my head:

The page is blank. Own it.

…and it just. Goes. Wrong.

Finishes writing. Sits back and…wait. What happened there? This is where we enter the world of self-doubt, second guessing and well, a little self-torture. I may tear out the page and try again. A different pen, different paper. Take a break and re-write it later. Often enough, the first version was the best one anyway.

A final word – for now

Far from being a tale of woe, my point here is simply this – for something that does matter to me, with concerted effort I still believe I have the capacity to make significant improvements should I choose to. “Choosing to” is by no means a guarantee of success, as only through a mindful approach to handwriting, sustained focus, a clear aim and much repetition, am I likely to see positive results on a consistent basis.

So, in the end, is making an attempt to improve my penmanship really worth it? Philosophically, my answer is a resounding yes. The reality may be less resounding, however is yes nonetheless.

Experts, Authority and Authenticity

/ Pete Denison / 1 Comment

What defines an expert? Qualifications, industry training and experience, passion, or merely a keen interest in learning, to increase both knowledge and understanding of a given topic? Probably all of the above and a lot more, however as my writing on this site continues, it is an area of constant consideration.

It is extremely important to me when writing here, I do not inadvertently, nor purposely, pass myself off as some sort of expert. The content posted on dept4 is pitched at those similar to myself, the passionate amateur enthusiast, looking to increase their knowledge and understanding on the few topics I am also interested in, and therefore write about.

Although not dealing with the above question specifically, recent posts on authenticity and the authority of experience by a couple of authors whose opinions I believe matter, are well worth reading, and sit well with my own thoughts on these particular topics.

Author and traveller extraordinaire Colin Wright on the Authority of Experience:

There are a whole lot of blogs and articles and even books written by folks who don’t know what they’re talking about. Or rather, they know some aspect of what they’re talking about, but lack the authority of experience.

James Hoffmann talking “hipsters” in Hipsters, Coffee and Authenticity:

It isn’t really a cultural label the way “goth” or “mod” were and are. I think the word has ended up being many things to many people, but I think when you use it there is, at its root, one key idea: you are saying “I don’t believe you.”

While you are there, subscribing to hear more from these two would be a worthwhile consideration.

 

Dept4 – Yesterday and Tomorrow

/ Pete Denison / 1 Comment

Over the past few weeks I have been looking back on posts I’ve written on since commencing dept4 in May 2013, and more specifically, thinking about what I plan to spend my time writing about moving forward.

Reflection

For the most part, I have written about coffee, my favourite technology, and miscellaneous pieces about various things on my mind at any given time. A couple of posts hint at a slight obsession with pens, and this is an area certainly in need of more attention. I had initially planned to write more on productivity, workflows and self-improvement – however the productivity and workflow topics remind me a little too much of my office job. Perhaps that makes me well qualified to write on such matters, however to be honest, they are topics I feel least like writing about in my spare time. Self improvement? Perhaps that lies somewhere in between.

Granted, many of my posts touching on technology do indeed have some crossover into the productivity and workflows realm, however most of these have a personal productivity bent, rather than a specific office based one.

Future Plans

IMG_1922As I mentioned above, an area that has only seen a couple of posts to date, though is an area of intense interest for me relates to pens and paper (well actually, think anything in a stationery cupboard). This has been further compounded by embarking recently onInCoWriMo, or International Correspondence Writing Month, to the tune of sending a letter a day for the entire month of February. I have written more about my InCoWriMo experience here.

In this age of Twitter and Instagram, what would possess me to hand-write a letter a day until number 28 is posted? Pen and paper, plain and simple. My decision to participate in InCoWriMo is a point reached along a journey that has come a little way, though has many more miles left to run. A journey to be punctuated (quite literally) by many combinations of fountain pens, inks, rollerballs and even ballpoints, on a varied terrain of notebooks, pads and whatever paper I can reasonably lay my hands on – this I am sure of.

I have always been interested in pens. I distinctly remember the few basic Parker Jotter and Sheaffer pens from high school. My foray into Artline 200 fineliners, and the decision as to whether the 0.4 or 0.2mm version better suited my writing style (neither by the way, we are talking teenage boy penmanship here!). Then, onto the decision of whether I preferred blue or black ink. Throughout my university days the experimentation continued, though at a slower pace, until I received my first fountain pen in 1997 as a wedding gift from my wife. Seemingly that was pretty much it, the be all and end all of pens for me – until about 18 months ago. Don’t get me wrong, there was still much experimentation going on in the sub $10 office supply store pen category, simply not much beyond that.

I’m not exactly sure what piqued my interest again, however I began doing a few internet searches one day and stumbled across some sites recommending Rhodia and Moleskine notebooks (I think through researching the GTD method of productivity, and discovering a few Moleskine pocket notebook “hacks” for analogue versions of this system). One thing led to another and I soon found Brad Dowdy’s The Pen Addict, both blog and podcast, and from there it was all over. A similar fate has befallen many who stumble across Brad and his now infamous “penabler” influence to many followers around the world.

Through listening to the podcast and a little self experimentation, I have since purchased a few pens and notebooks, and am currently researching my next mid priced fountain pen to add to my collection. My Montblanc Meisterstuck will always remain my most valuable pen, both sentimentally, and likely monetary, however I am planning on starting again from the bottom and building a more varied collection. My own “beyond the office supply store” stationery cupboard if you will.

So, what does this mean for this blog moving forward? I would say a continuation of what you have already seen on the coffee and technology fronts, and an increasing amount of pen and paper related articles as my journey continues down this road. Where will these all fit in my current post categories of Thoughts, Improvement, Coffee and Tools? That I am not sure, though some of the categories could become a little more specific, and I will be giving this some more thought as things progress.

Let’s get to it then

Although I have broken and continue to break the cardinal rule of blogging, by writing about a variety of topics rather than focusing on one, I plan to continue, simply because I do not see dept4 as solely a Coffee, Pen or Tech blog, nor do I have any immediate plans to make it such. I have a keen interest in, however am not an expert in any of these topics.

Although there will be common themes running through those areas of interest, I do enjoy the freedom of writing on pretty much anything if the mood strikes me. Who knows, perhaps these topics may become more defined and specialised, spinning off into their own blogs in the future. Whilst I am loathe to rule out anything completely, I have no plans to undertake this in the near future.

As I write this, post number 84, I am pretty happy with most of what I have published over the past 10 months or so, and believe things have come a long way from my initial plans for the site. If being a “jack of all trades and master of none” limits my readership, (which has grown beyond what I could have ever imagined anyway, for which I am eternally grateful), then you may as well start calling me Jack.

Pens Down – InCoWriMo Reflections

/ Pete Denison / 5 Comments

photo

No doubt many are saying “well that’s InCoWriMo done for another year”. Not I, given it is the first year I have participated. For those unfamiliar with this February activity, from the organisers:

InCoWriMo challenges you to hand-write and mail/deliver one letter, card, note or postcard every day during the month of February.

Although my decision to commit to the InCoWriMo (International Correspondence Writing Month) challenge was decidedly last-minute, I’m very pleased I did. There is a lot to be said for the written word, even more so for the hand written word. The extra thought, planning and overall contemplation relating to words committed to the page by hand, seem to make them somehow different than those tapped out in an email, tweet or blog post. There is no select all and delete if the first couple of sentences are wrong (yes, I did restart more than one letter), nor is there backspace for the misspelt or improperly formed letters or words. Having set myself the challenge of no strike-out out corrections, I managed to keep this to only two for the entire month, far better than I expected.

Beyond the enjoyment of writing to those who were on my list, of course the main attraction was putting pen to paper numerous times (well 56 to be precise – see an explanation of this below) over the course of the month. Who knows, perhaps with more notice I may have stocked up on a few new pens, rather than merely new inks.[1]

I can’t help but think in my ideal world, a letter held in the hand of the recipient would somehow mean more than a hastily sent email (likely with typo’s), sitting in a cluttered inbox along with spam, bills and random newsletters, likely to be missed or accidentally deleted. The act of turning the envelope over to check the identity of the sender, tearing it open (perhaps with an exquisite silver letter opener), unfolding the Rhodia[2] paper and smiling at the ink colour and contents on the page. Hopefully an appreciation of the time taken by the sender to think about, and physically craft what is now in the hands of the reader.

The recipients themselves? Hopefully each enjoyed the surprise in their mailbox, and also the words inside those envelopes. Words of thanks, appreciation, love, encouragement, support and idle chatter. Letters went out to friends, family, pen company CEO’s (courtesy of the contact details on the InCoWriMo homepage), a couple of my favourite pen podcasters, fellow bloggers, and Eric Schneider of InCoWriMo, who will receive letter number 28. My initial joke to family members advising they may receive more than one letter because I would run out of friends did indeed eventuate, however lets just say I wanted to write them another one (yes, let’s go with that).

Apart from that spoken of above, by far the most rewarding aspect was my commitment to also write a letter a day to my lovely wife, bringing my tally for the month to 56 letters in all (pleased it wasn’t a leap year). A feat I am very proud to have completed. Obviously I will not go into any details here, though writing to someone you are very close to on a daily basis is quite an enriching experience, and one I highly recommend if you have ever considered anything similar. Daily for a month a little much? My suggestion would be to sit down and write just one letter, and be amazed at what comes to mind – just try it.

So, in summary, the whole InCoWriMo experience was an extremely positive and rewarding experience for me. Will I be doing it again? Absolutely. Will I be embarking on it’s “sister event” NaNoWriMo come November? That, I am not sure of. Do I have a fifty thousand word novel in me? Don’t we all think we do? The question is whether anything worthwhile will come out over the course of the month. Perhaps I should simply put together thirty 1700 word letters with a somewhat cohesive plot!

Contemplating InCoWriMo next year? Do it. You certainly won’t be sorry you did.

  1. For those interested, J. Herbin Indien Orange, Montblanc Irish Green, and Montblanc Burgundy Red.  ↩
  2. Rhodia No 16 Dot Pad  ↩

The Great Discontent – Merlin Mann

/ Pete Denison / Leave a comment

The Great Discontent described by its creators:

The Great Discontent is an online magazine featuring interviews on beginnings, creativity, and risk.

This particular interview from October 2013 with Merlin Mann of 43 Folders fame, and many a podcast worth listening to, provides a somewhat philosophical, though exquisitely realistic view about why we end up doing what we do. Why we think we should know both what we are doing and where we are headed; generally why we don’t know; why those who do often aren’t happy; and why we end up where we do, even though it is not where we think we should be.

And ultimately, why it probably doesn’t really matter in the first place. We are all who we are, where we are from, and more alike than we generally realise.

I wish I could be more helpful and say, “You should find your dream path and paint a rainbow to your love cloud!” But, most of us are so stuck in this notion of how stuff should go that we want to find one of seven stories that matches our narrative. The fact is that most of us are wandering around, scared shitless, wondering what the —-’s going to happen next. That’s as true when you’re 11 as it is when you’re in your 40s. It’s one reason that people feel very discouraged or disinclined to try new things—they feel like it’s not for them.

As my wife and I have always said, things generally don’t get any easier, they just get different:

How many people out there say, “Gosh, I wish I could own a house”? Everybody I know who owns houses are losing their minds trying to make their mortgage payment or they’re scared to death about having to replace the roof. Anybody who wants more money, a better job, or a bigger house is ultimately just wishing for a new set of anxieties. It can be a great set of anxieties, because that means growth, but there are trade-offs to everything.

And a few other gems that ring decidedly true:

If you want to really help people, then go out and help people. It’s like when people say, “Buy this pink yogurt, and a portion of the proceeds will go to charity!” Well, you know what’s really great? Donating directly to a good cause and having the entire portion go to charity—and you don’t have to act like you’re Gandhi because you bought a snack. Just go spend some money on something you care about, then shut up about it: that’s a dignified way to be an adult who helps people.

I would highly recommend reading the entire article, which is a long one, and typically not done justice by the few quotes above – if you do, grab a coffee and settle in for a decent read. This is not one of those scratch the surface internet snippets we are so used to these days, and what makes The Great Discontent a quality site.

In a world going increasingly digital, TGD thinks contrary, and currently has a Kickstarter project running to produce a high quality print version of the publication. Certainly worth considering if a you are at all interested in more in-depth intervies and profiles such as those found on the site.

More can be found on the Kickstarter project page here.