The Art of Handwriting

My own handwriting was abysmal until I took a few lessons in calligraphy. I never mastered calligraphy, but my handwriting improved and could even look pleasing, as well as legible. Almost all of my published work has been written by hand in its first drafts, and even though I'm able to compose on the screen, I keep getting pulled back to writing by hand. Philip Hensher, in this essay, tells us why handwriting even now, with keyboards and tablets and smartphones and texting, still matters and is worth cultivating.