Wondering About Writing.

This book promotion specialist has wondered and worried about the future of writing -- handwriting, that is.

Since I learned to touch-type, when I was eight years old, I have been slowly forgetting how to use a pen. My muscle memory is getting less and less reliable when it comes to cursive writing. I don't even feel comfortable signing a check in public for fear that I won't be able to write my name legibly (or even accurately) under pressure.

I used to think that it was just me, but an article from MSNBC.com makes me wonder if cursive writing is becoming difficult for all of us -- and, maybe, besides the point for the young 'uns. According to the MSBNC.com article, children with poor handwriting skills frequently have poor composition skills. Their sentences may be shorter than they would be if whatever cognitive skills were involved with handwriting were more highly developed, according to some academics, and the scary thing is that I tend to believe them.

The demise of cursive doesn't only mean that today's great writers won't leave behind handwritten manuscripts for future generations. It also means that the whole process of writing has changed, and I'm wondering whether we're progressing -- or not.

Sure, handwriting is only tangentally relate to book promotion. Still, the consequences of the demise of handwriting are interesting for this book publicist to ponder.