200. Necessity For Writing Exercises

The explanations and reading exercises in the preceding portion of this book will, if carefully studied, enable the learner correctly and rapidly to read printed phonography. The power to do this, however, does not of necessity imply the power to write phonography either correctly or rapidly. The way to learn to write phonography is to write it, and no learner can hope to become a skillful reporter, who is not willing to cover reams of paper with phonographic notes written with painstaking care. The following exercises have been prepared with great care in order to furnish the exact kind of writing practise needed by the student as he progresses from point to point in learning the system, and until he has fully mastered these exercises, he should confine his writing practise strictly to them, after which he may with advantage practise upon a great variety of matter of his own selection.

201. Writing Materials

Before setting out to write the exercises, the student must, of course, provide himself with the necessary writing materials, consisting of paper, pen and ink, and pencil, and the very best quality of each should be selected. All are so cheap that no economy can be exercised in chosing an inferior grade.

202. Paper

Phonography should be written on ruled paper only. Expressly for the use of learners copy-books are prepared with double lines between which the phonographic characters are to be written. Double-ruled paper, though not a necessity to the beginner, is a great help to him, as it assists him to secure uniformity of size in writing. The student is advised to get at least four phonographic copy-books, or their equivalent in "student's paper" to be used as hereafter directed.

203. Pen And Ink - Pencil

Pen and ink are, under all ordinary circumstances, to be preferred to the pencil, and the learner should begin to use them at once. A rather fine-pointed, soft, steel pen should be selected, such as the Phonographic Institute Steel Pen No. I, the Spencerian Nos. I and 2, or the Gillott No. 332. Many excellent inks are in the market, and it is unnecessary to specify any particular make. Use the pen generally and occasionally the pencil, but do not confine yourself exclusively to either. The pencil, when used, should be of medium hardness and small diameter, such as the Phonographic Institute Lead Pencil.

204. Manner of Holding the Pen or Pencil - The opinion of phonographers will probably remain divided as to the best method of holding the pen or pencil. The learner is advised to hold his pen or pencil in the manner usual in writing long-hand - between the thumb and the first and second fingers - unless he finds that in so doing, he is unable easily and accurately to write the stroke t in an exactly vertical direction. If after a few day's practise any difficulty which may be found in doing this does not disappear, he may find it of advantage to hold the pen between the first and second fingers, keeping it in place with the thumb. Whichever method is adopted, the hand should be supported lightly on the nails of the third and fourth finger, and the student should sit squarely in front of the desk or table, steadying his body with the left arm, so that the right arm may be perfectly free and unimpeded as the hand glides smoothly and easily from the beginning to the end of each line of writing.

205. Preparation For The Writing Exercise

The learner should take up writing Exercise I, and each exercise thereafter, only after having made careful preparation for each, in turn, by studying the text corresponding to it and copying many times the reading exercise on the page opposite the text. He is advised to do this in the following manner: Take one of the four copy-books referred to in paragraph 202 and mark it " Practise Book." Write in this practise book each outline of the engraved reading exercises on page 17, placing each outline on a separate line and at the extreme left end thereof. When the exercise is thus finished, it will be in column at the left side of several succeeding pages of the book. These outlines should now be carefully criticised and corrected by the teacher, or by the student himself, if self-instructed. Now begin with the first line, and fill it with as many repetitions of the outline that begins it as can be made to go on the line without undue crowding. Each form should be made slowly, neatly and carefully, and each should be compared with those preceding it, so that any inaccuracy in its formation may be improved upon in the next. When all the lines are filled in this manner, the work should again be criticised, but this time at the right side of the page. All slovenly, misshapen, or otherwise defective outlines should be marked and rewritten in the second copy-book (which should be marked "Correction Book"), at least one line being written of each corrected outline.

206. How To Practise The Writing Exercise

When this thorough preparation has been completed, the learner should take up the writing exercise. Write the words "in column," in the third copy-book, which should be marked " Exercise Book." This first, or left-hand, column should then receive careful criticism from the teacher, or from the student himself, after which each line should be carefully filled. Finally, the right-hand column should be criticised, and all defective outlines again practised in the correction book.

207. Dictation Exercises

So much practise of the lesson, slowly and carefully written, will have fitted the learner to benefit greatly by the dictation exercise which follows the writing exercise. This should now be read aloud by the teacher or other reader, and the words should be written and rewritten in the fourth copy-book (marked " Dictation Book") until the learner can write every word in it without an instant's hesitation. It is not recommended that the learner should try to write the outline itself with any great speed, though, of course, he should be prompt and waste no time in writing it. No speed will be gained by trying to " hurry up " but rather by acquiring perfect familiarity with each principle in turn through such frequent repetition of the dictation exercise as will insure that every outline can be written with perfect promptitude and with no trace of the hesitation which comes of having to "stop to think," even momentarily, how any outline shall be written.

208. Hints To Self-Instructed Learners

Write slowly and carefully at the outset. The foundation of a good style of writing can be laid only by precision in the formation of the phonographic characters in the early exercises. Form your first outlines just as if you were drawing rather than writing them. Rapidity can be secured by repetition and practise, and by diligent practise both rapidity and accuracy may be attained. If, however, your desire to write fast is permitted to outweigh your resolution to write well, you will not only delay your attainment of real swiftness, but you will, most likely, confirm in yourself a slovenly and illegible habit of writing. During the first month of your practise you should make it a rule (a) to name each character aloud as you write it; (b) to trace each character as you read it. By pronouncing each character aloud as you write it, the ear, eye and hand are trained at the same time - the ear to recognize the sound, the hand to shape the sign, and the eye to judge of the accuracy of the formation. No student can expect to become a good writer of phonography, whose ear, eye and hand have not been equally and harmoniously trained. When reading printed phonographic exercises, or your own writing, let your practise be to trace the outline of each word as you read it, by using a wooden stick sharpened to a point, or a pen without ink. It will greatly facilitate your acquirement of phonography carefully to read and review each day the exercises written on the preceding one. They should be read and re-read, aloud, until this can be done without hesitation. The neglect of this rule will waste your time, cause you to over-look much that you might profitably review, and in other ways hinder your progress. Do not read through the entire book before beginning to write, but master each writing exercise in turn before proceeding to the study of the next principle. Still less need you display your skill by attempting to "puzzle out" sentences at the end of the book, before you are familiar with the elements of which they are composed. This advice will be needed only by those who have not the good sense to perceive, or whose minds have not been so far disciplined by study as to know that no art or science can be truly mastered, the study of which is not begun and continued in a systematic manner.