Making New Writing :: Personal Narrative

Making New Writing This assignment is for my ‘Writing, Style, and Technology’ class at University. The focus of the class is supposed to be on computers, Internet, etc. But for our first major project, the goal was to create a new type of writing technology. The catch was that we couldn't use common writing tools like paper or pencils. We had to use ‘natural’ items and things we could find around the house like food, paper clips, dirt, etc. And the finished work was to be a word or brief sentence using that new technology. The idea was to act as an ‘writing inventor’ and get an understanding of the thoughts and processes that went into making some of the common writing technologies used today. Many of those evolved from using items in ways that weren't originally intended. For example, the first computers were originally used for complex math calculations and not for word processing, until later adaptations against the desires of many early computer operators who thought making letters as too simple (Baron 46). That was the idea for this assignment: making words with tools not normally used to write with and to temporarily get beyond the normal practices we grew up with to understand how people in the past felt with the introduction of new writing practices. The first instruction that got stuck in my head when the assignment was first presented was the one about not using any ‘man-made’ things. Going outside in the cold/snow and digging up ‘natural’ tools wasn't a pleasant idea. But history has shown that making new writing technologies often turns into a ‘dirty’ process. In 18th century French, pencil-maker Nicholas-Jacques Conte had to deal with pencil graphite shortages by creating his own mixture of graphite and other material like clay and water (Baron 44). Replaying a task like that didn't sound very fun. But I probably wasn't paying enough attention in class when the assignment was first talked about to realize that it wasn't that limiting. After carefully reading the instructions, it appeared that man made items *could* be used, but not ones that are extensions of common writing tools (paint, nail polish). That was a relieving realization. Going in nature was then ruled out for weather reasons, and the search for a new writing technology began at home. My room was filled with papers, pens, and other school stuff, so searching there wouldn't have done any good.