Sometime in the late ‘90s, I realized school had officially left me behind. Cursive writing was on the chopping block. My niece, a school principal, declared it outdated, like landlines and VHS tapes. Google tells me cursive actually started its decline in the ‘70s. Who knew? Still, I give my 28-year-old niece credit—she learned cursive. Not that she uses it.
Then it hit me: my grand-nieces and nephews probably couldn’t even read my Christmas and birthday cards. Nothing screams "irrelevant old lady" quite like realizing your heartfelt messages might as well be hieroglyphics. But it’s not just that they skipped cursive—they barely mastered printing. I’ve received thank-you notes from 10-year-olds that looked like kindergarten doodles. Remember those endless hours tracing a, b, and c? Apparently, they don’t.
Okay, fine—computers replaced handwriting. The same kids who can’t write (in any form) probably laugh at my pathetic attempts at texting. I can’t do that rapid-fire thumb technique, and even my index fingers fumble.
But now, it turns out cursive has a surprising advantage. The National Archives needs people who can read it to transcribe historic documents—because once our generation kicks the bucket, no one will be able to decipher them.(1) The irony? They’re digitizing everything anyway. However, it’s a volunteer project, so they don’t value it enough to pay people.
Some creative writing instructors insist handwriting beats typing. Apparently, famous authors still scrawl entire novels by hand. Stephen King does it. (2) Or maybe it’s Weird Al. I forget.
A creative writing teacher who tells his students he writes longhand says
“Either they gape in astonished pity at my idiocy and possible insanity
(most of them) or they consider the (farfetched) possibility that I might
have access to ancient mystical wisdom that involves rejecting convenience,
speed, and accuracy in favor of an arcane technique they associate with
horse-drawn carriages, outdoor toilets, and the absence of wifi.” (3)
As a touch typist, I get it. I can copy-type without engaging my brain at all. It’s like my fingers have a direct pipeline from the page to the keyboard. But journaling on the keyboard? That taps into the thinking part of my brain.
Leonardo da Vinci wrote in mirror image, allegedly because he was left-handed and wanted to avoid ink smudges. I’m also left-handed. I can write mirror image. That’s probably the only thing I have in common with da Vinci—well, that and a love of pasta. I can also write with my right hand, though it protests, "Why are you torturing me?"
Back when I journaled daily, I used cursive and a fountain pen. There’s something elegant about writing that way. My letters swirled and flourished. When I was mad, my letters turned dagger-sharp. When happy, they rolled like ocean waves. These days, I still write thank-you notes, sympathy cards, and birthday greetings in cursive—unless the recipient is under 30. Then I print. Or just send an e-card and call it a day.
I loved my fountain pen. It made me feel like I was doing something important. A few months ago, I reloaded the ink and handwrote some journal pages. The problem? I don’t use it enough, so the ink dries up. Now I mostly journal on my computer. Occasionally, I just record my thoughts and call it progress.
Printing isn’t the holy grail of legibility either. Decades ago, I volunteered to type the Ohio census. The documents were printed but looked like a cryptic mess. I quit in frustration. Give me the perfect, swirling cursive of the Declaration of Independence any day.
So why did printing win? Cursive is faster. The connected letters flow smoothly across the page, no constant pen-lifting required. My niece, the principal, claims cursive frustrates students and takes too long to teach. I don’t remember frustration. Sure, I mixed up my b’s and d’s when printing, but once I switched to cursive - problem solved.
And guess what? Artificial Intelligence still struggles to read cursive. So maybe our dinosaur brains have one last edge over computers after all.
References
Elizabeth Welse, Learning Cursive, Naplesnews.com, Jan 25, 2025
Hanna Fielding, Authors who handwrite manuscripts
George Michelsen Foy, The Creative Benefits of Writing Longhand, Psychology Today, May 30, 2022
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