I’m so glad you decided to share this. And from a journal, with a sketch too! It’s…sincere. :>

I wish I’d thought of doing something like that, actual handwriting adds something that is hard to describe.

And death is indeed permanent.

Oh, damn, I was hoping you wouldn't find this! But I am touched; thank you for giving me some of your time. It feels very good—and also very embarrassing—to see one's sophomoric efforts recognized.

One of the goals of the prompts was to make people write something and participate alongside others. I'm guilty of not going through all of the submissions every week to leave feedback for people but I do try, and especially since I encouraged you to put yourself out there I felt I should comment.

And there's something different about handwritten text. It's something I never thought about before reading Lynda Barry's work, but at some point you switched from trying to draw a letter A into writing the letter A...imagine as a child (a chick...we were both chicks, I guess) with a pencil looking at the letter, looking at the blank paper, and trying to copy what they see...they're drawing it. But somehow it changes to writing it after you've practiced enough...or does it? What's the boundary?

I think a different part of your brain is at work when you're writing by hand vs. when you're typing. I don't have proof of that but it feels likely.

Out of curiosity, I looked up one of Barry's lectures today. I'm intrigued by how she draws analogies between child development and writing, so I think I might get some of what that "different-ness" is. Also, oh, Hauke, I forgot! We were both chicks at some point!

A quick, hardly rigorous search lead me to this paper in which volunteers wrote and typed in Japanese. The conclusion: "These results demonstrate that the brain regions known as the “writing center” were also the neural center for typing. Second, a direct comparison between typing and writing revealed a typing-specific brain region: the left posteromedial IPS." I'm not sure what the left posteromedial IPS is associated with, though.

Very well written, it was certainly worth it!

Forgive my late reply. Thank you, dear stranger!

I'm the last person you need to apologise to about late replies, and y/w! ;)

Gotta agree with Hauke; I feel thay real handwriting in a journal adds a layer to sincerity and perhaps realism, like we can feel the character's passing emotions as they write.

Very good piece, and welcome to the prompt!

Curious! That was not my intention—I just do most of my writing in a journal—but I think I see what you mean. I thank you sincerely for your feedback! I'll see you around, hopefully in a more timely manner.