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Habits
Tides
Short Letters 2
Conversations
Habits (8 February 2015)
Many years ago I would avidly read the cartoons in the newspapers. I had
no interest in the political ones that wanted to make a point, but I did
enjoy the gentler ones that were light-hearted observations on the
quirks of everyday life, with an innocuous and inoffensive humour. One
of the fluffier publications not only had cartoons scattered throughout
but also had an entire page of them. I had my favourite* artists who
managed to encapsulate whole personalities and reactions with a few deft
strokes of the ink pen, and I greatly admired their skill in using the
minimum of lines and detail. Even though the figures were wildly
unrealistic in shape and proportion, this did not matter, as it was the
situation that was being presented, and the distortion had to make up
for the lack of real time movement. I would cut out and keep those that
I really liked, in order to* revisit them another day. I particularly
enjoyed those with no caption, where the situation, postures and
expressions told it all without the need for words.
* "favourite" Compare "favoured" which has the Vr the normal way round
* Omission phrase "in ord(er to)"
One of my favourites was a short strip where the husband comes home from
work, hangs up his coat, and, in the last frame, is seen in the act of
sitting down onto thin air, with the appropriate whizz lines drawn in,
expecting there to be an armchair behind him. His words were, "Darling,
you've rearranged the furniture again!" The wife is standing by with a
surprised and apologetic look on her face, as she sees the unexpected
consequences of her day of fun playing around with the furniture. I
looked back at the first two frames and noticed the husband's cheery
face, glad to be home from work, and, like a film with a teaser, I now
knew this was not to last more than the next half a minute. Then I
filled in the rest of the story, how she would move things around, he
would finally get used to it, and then it would all happen again. Maybe
another day the kettle and teacups would be in a different place, or the
socks moved to another drawer and be impossible to find in the
early-morning rush. I have done all this myself, having been both
perpetrator and victim of the urge to rearrange, and had the annoyance
of expecting things to be found where I used to store them.
I am sure beginners in shorthand will recognise this scenario. New
habits* are being learned, but if you drop your guard and allow the hand
to fall into its former habit, it will revert to longhand. If you
interrupt it, it will then do neither longhand nor shorthand, and just
wait in mid-air while you provide the alternative shape that you want
written. The problem with this is that the outline does not always come
to mind as quickly as needed, if at all, and the poor old hand is caught
between two masters, old habit and new instruction. Clearly the new
instruction must become a habit, equal to or stronger than the old one,
and this can only* happen if the action is done repeatedly. Thinking,
considering, pondering over and agreeing with the page of rules in the
book, and even reciting them, are not actually doing. The same thing
applies to wrong outlines that are left uncorrected, they become ever
more difficult to root out, the more they are written.
* "habits" "hobbies" Always insert
the vowel, as these are similar in outline and meaning
* "this can only" On its own, "only" is written
with full N and L strokes
The desire to romp through the chapters at lightning speed has to be
curbed, and plenty of practice and review undertaken, not only to
consolidate what has already been learned but also to form the new
habits of reaction and movement, so that they come easily and quickly. I
know from experience the temptation to rush ahead which would leave the
previous sections half learned and the passages and dictations getting
ever harder, as the memory burden increases. Fortunately I was in a
college class so the pace was set by the teacher, and when I went to
speed-building evening classes, it was entirely up to me* to work
between classes to ensure I got the best out of them, which meant
reading my notes and working on problems that had surfaced. Practice on
the current chapter needs to be thorough not cursory, with regular
review of previous chapters, to ensure it all becomes familiar, well
known, and, dare I say it, boring, meaning that difficulty and novelty
have been drained from them. Only constant actual writing will do this,
creating habits of mind and fingers, that is, instant responses, that
can completely replace the ineffective juggling act of memorising.
* "to me" Needs the vowel inserted, otherwise it would read
"to him"
Let no error escape capture,
correction and cure
The way to form shorthand habits is to write shorthand regularly, so
that the strength of the new habit equals that of the longhand. Reading
is also important as it increases knowledge of outlines. Fortunately
longhand is too well entrenched to be threatened by this additional
system, but I did find that I was increasingly frustrated with the
excessive time and effort* it takes to write it, it fell out of favour
with me and rapidly lost its former prime position. I found that the
fight between longhand and shorthand only occurred at the very beginning
of learning, and quickly faded, but some might find it surfacing during
a fast dictation, it all depends on how strict and firm you have
decided to be with yourself. In a real life situation it might be your
last resort to write a difficult word in longhand, as gaps and errors
are not acceptable when you are entrusted with the task of producing a
report, but in studies the pull to fill in with longhand must be firmly
resisted, as it can only*
undermine and contaminate the gaining of the
new habit.
* Omission phrase "time (and) effort"
* "it can only" On its own, "only"
is written with full N and L strokes
I have assembled a selection of definitions of the word habit and, like
the related word inhabit, this is where the shorthand learner and writer
should make their habitation, where they live and stay all the time. A
habit is a tendency or disposition to act in a particular way. It is an
acquired behaviour pattern regularly followed until it has become almost
involuntary. It is a recurrent, often unconscious, pattern of behaviour
that is acquired through frequent repetition. It is a learned
behavioural response* that has become associated with a particular
situation, especially one frequently repeated. Here are some more words
that describe this most useful part of our make-up, an established
custom, a usual practice, a manner, mode, routine, tendency,
inclination, predisposition, proneness, propensity, frame of mind*, fixed*
attitude and second nature.
* "response" Always insert the vowel after the P,
as this is also the short form
for "responsibility". Conversely, "responsibility" would have to be
written in full if it became necessary to ensure it was not read as
"response"
* Omission phrase "frame (of) mind"
* "fixed, focused" Always insert
the first vowel, as they are similar in outline and meaning
A propensity to check
paper quality before
every meeting or exam
My favourite definition is rut, which led to the invention of railway
tracks, and it is difficult to imagine a cartwheel* or train wheel
departing from the groove that has been made for it. Having a one-track
mind is necessary when writing shorthand and for periods of study, as
long as it does not descend into a fixation, impulsion or obsession. All
this allows us to send actions down to our endlessly* willing,
well-trained, faithful and obedient servants in the Habit Department,
leaving our higher mind free to consider* other things and take our
place as ruler of all we survey, which I hope at the moment* is a desk,
shorthand pad, pen or pencil and a book open at the exercise page, ready
to be studied, copied, recorded and taken down in smoothly flowing
shorthand. If you can manage all this at a fairly slow speed, it is only*
a matter of time before force of habit leads to being* able to write at
ever higher speeds, with no loss of accuracy, neatness or legibility.
(1274 words)
* "wheel" is written thus to obtain a good join
* "endlessly" Note that "needlessly" is written with N + D + lessly" to
differentiate
* Omission phrases "to (con)sider" "at (the) moment"
* "it is only" On its own, "only"
is written with full N and L strokes
* "to being" Based on the phrase "to be"
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Pitman's Shorthand is made up
of curves and straight lines
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Tides (12 February 2015)
I was watching a television programme the other day about the tides
around the British coastline. The beach scenes and shots of sea and
waves were interspersed with chats with those living and working there.
As the presenter was talking to a fisherman on his boat out in the bay,
the man said that phrase that everyone is familiar with, "Time and tide
wait for no man." Instantly my mind turned, of course, to shorthand, and
I think the same would occur to anyone with a different interest or
hobby* that needs instant action or reaction. In my case, the speakers
who would never wait were my shorthand teachers, as they always went
faster than was comfortable, so that we did not get lax or lazy. With
some skill in hand, these difficulties were not so apparent at work,
unless someone was reading from their scribbled notes, which was not
often. Like the sea, there is no holding back the torrent of words, and
you have to either be prepared or get out if you don't want to drown!
* "hobby" "habit" Always insert the
vowel, as these are similar in outline and meaning
Sea tractor Burgh Island 1981
This reminded me of a holiday we had in Cornwall many years ago. We took
a day trip to Newquay which has several beaches separated by small cliff
promontories. When the tide is out, it is one long strip of sand, and we
wandered round the little headland to the next beach. When we saw that
the tide was coming in, a little way off, we turned back to retrace our
steps, not wanting to take the longer and less interesting route of
continuing up the second beach and making our way back along the cliff
top road. It was only a few yards to get round that corner, and although
we started off walking on damp sand, within a minute we were splashing
through the incoming ripples. Behind those tiny advancing wavelets was a
huge expanse of grey sea that had no intention of letting us keep our
sandals dry. The view in front of us of yellow sand, deckchairs and
distant shops and car park was much more attractive than the view behind
us of rows of waves of ever-increasing height as one looked farther*
out. I did not enjoy having crossed the line from being by the sea to
being in it, an ever moving boundary, one that has to be predicted and
avoided.
* "farther" Refers only to distance. Compare "further" which is FR
doubled, and refers distance, subsequent/another, additional/more
Newquay - Shortly after the
above escapade
Later on in the seaside television programme they were looking at an old
mechanical tide prediction machine that could be fed information and
produce tide tables for any place in the world*. The presenter talked to
a lady who had worked there for many years before it was discontinued in
the 1960's. He commented on the neatness of the index cards that
contained the data*. She said that neat handwriting was essential, as
accuracy was paramount, and that mistakes were not tolerated. This last
phrase fairly jumped out at me, as one of my shorthand tenets, learned
at college, although with much less serious consequences than issuing an
inaccurate tide table. The necessity for accuracy was not an added extra
because the lady and her colleagues were especially keen at their jobs,
but an indispensable and immovable part of their work, never to be
disregarded or neglected. I am sure that if they had the slightest
doubt about anything, it would be checked and verified until it was
perfect. In shorthand this attitude is the only one that will bring
constant improvement as well as the approval by an employer of your
error-free work. Wrong outlines have to be tolerated for the sake of*
getting something down and it is easier to allow them during note-taking
if you know you will be sorting them out later, so that they do not trip
you up again.
* Omission phrases "in (the) world" "for (the) sake (of)"
* "data" Insert both vowels, so it is not misread as "date"
Trevellas Cove, Cornwall
On another seaside holiday on the south coast of Britain, we visited
Burgh Island near Plymouth, which can be reached on dry sand at low
tide. When the tide was in, a sea tractor conveyed visitors across to
the island. We walked back in good time, but stood a while looking at
the waters creeping very slowly round both sides of the island, waiting
for the moment when they would meet. With holiday-makers and eager
children watching intently, the two leading edges approached each other
and were a minute away from meeting. At that moment two children decided
to intervene and rushed in, and with their hands started quickly
scraping two small channels between them*. The waters were desperate to
join up and knew exactly what to do, rushing along the shallow groove
and meeting with a bit more force and splash than they would otherwise
have done. I am sure they spent that night making plans to come back the
next day and repeat the performance, probably with a few more minutes in
hand, in order to* dig a bigger trench. I took a photo and called it
"Helping the tide come in". The sea had not been stopped but it had been
controlled in a small way, the vast ocean altered in its course using
nothing but hands. (851 words)
* Omission phrases "betwee(n) them" "in
ord(er to)"
http://www.ntslf.org/about-tides/doodson-machine Tide prediction machine
Helping the tide come in,
Burgh Island, Devon, 1981
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Short Letters 2 (19 February 2015)
Each paragraph is 150 words, so writing one in 90 seconds will be
100wpm:
Dear Sir, Thank you for your enquiry regarding taking out a maintenance
contract with us for your office and warehouse premises. I have enclosed
our estimate sheet which gives an approximate idea of the annual costs
for various levels of maintenance and size of buildings and area
covered. Our estimator would be happy to visit you to survey the
premises in order to* submit a tender for the contract. We can offer a
discount if you decide to commit to a longer-term contract and we hope
that you will be able to take advantage of this. We have operated this
business very successfully for the past 25 years and are confident that
we can supply you with a first rate* service at a reasonable cost, as
confirmed by the excellent feedback we have received* which you can read
on our website. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours faithfully
(150 words)
* Omission phrases "in ord(er to)" "firs(t) rate" "we have (re)ceived"
Dear Mrs Murray, I am writing to thank you for your recent letter and
the enclosed donation towards our work with disadvantaged* children and
young people in our city centre. We are very grateful to all our
supporters who help us carry on this valuable work. I attach our latest
newsletter which describes the progress of our projects, and we are
delighted to report that the new club building is now complete, where we
will be able to help train young people and improve their prospects of
gaining employment. There will also be an area where younger children
and their parents can come, so we can help them apply for government
grants for their* education and housing needs. We are also excited about
our new project to provide short holiday breaks for the families, which
they could not otherwise afford. Thank you once again* for your kind
generosity. Yours sincerely* (150 words)
* "disadvantaged" Full outline for the past tense,
the outline for "disadvantage" uses the short form
* "for their" is written with full outlines, "if there" is doubled
* Omission phrase "wu(n)s again" "Yours (sin)cerely
Dear Mrs Clark, Thank you for writing to me about the delays you have
experienced with the building work to your side house extension carried
out* by our operatives last week*. I have spoken to them and to our site
manager, who has informed me that this problem with the foundations was
entirely unforeseen at the time that our survey and estimate were
prepared. It is not always possible to know what will be found when
excavations start, but we always endeavour to inform our customers of
variations required in the work and provide immediate information on the
extra costs or delays that may result. We estimate that the work of
moving these pipes will take an extra half day's labour, and I attach a
revised quotation that includes these costs. If you have any further
concerns or require any amendments, please do not hesitate to contact
me. Yours sincerely* (150 words)
* "carried out" Halving for the T of "out"
* Omission phrase "las(t w)eek" "Yours (sin)cerely"
Dear John and Joan, I am writing to invite you both to the opening of
our new restaurant in Green Road. We are looking forward to meeting up
with all our long-standing customers and friends who have supported us
at our previous premises in White Lane. The event will take place in our
spacious new dining and conference room, with drinks and nibbles buffet
provided. There will be a speech by the manager and some of the staff,
followed by a celebration meal which we hope all our friends will enjoy.
The invitation is to yourselves and two children if you wish to bring
them, so please let us know*
how many of you wish to come. In parting, we
are giving out a book of discount vouchers for future meals with us,
with sweets and a balloon for each child. Looking forward*
to hearing
from you soon. Best wishes* (150 words)
* "please let us know" Downward L
in order to join the phrase
* Omission phrase "looking
fo(r)ward"
* "Best wishes" Upward Ish in order to
join the phrase
Dear Sir, I am writing to congratulate you on the excellent service I
received at your store last week. I had bought a set of clothes to wear
to a wedding, but when I got home and inspected them, I found some
faults with the sewing and had to return them straight away. As the
wedding is coming up very soon, I was concerned* I would not be able to
find replacements in time, but your staff member Jackie was extremely
helpful and offered to find an identical* set as soon as possible. She
contacted the other store straight away and made arrangements for the
dress and jacket to be sent over immediately. I spent an hour shopping
elsewhere and when I returned, the items had arrived. Nothing was too
much trouble, and Jackie really saved the day for me. Please pass on my
grateful thanks to her. Yours faithfully (150 words)
* Omission phrases "last (w)eek" "I was (con)cerned"
"as soon as poss(ible)"
* "ide(n)tical" Contraction
Dear Mr Brown, Last week* our members had a meeting to discuss the new
financial arrangements that are now in operation for Grays Lane Sports
Club. We are delighted that this will mean we can now get on with the
new building work and the summer's events. Mr Black has volunteered to
oversee the changeover and we trust that under his direction this will*
all go very smoothly. I have attached a report of the meeting, which was
very well* attended, and fortunately everyone was in agreement over our
future plans. We were also able to draw up a schedule of events for the
coming year and we hope that these will* result in increasing our
membership and providing a better service for those who* wish to enjoy
sports in our area. Please let me know*
if you have any suggestions or
comments that will improve our service. Yours sincerely* (150 words)
(Total 900 words)
* Omission phrases "last (w)eek" "very (w)ell"
"Yours (sin)cerely"
* "this will" "these will" "please
let me know" Downward L in order to join the phrase
* "for those who" Always insert the
vowel in "those" and "these" when they are out of position in a phrase
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Conversations (23 February 2015)
Recently I was travelling across London on the train. My seat faced
backwards and after a while my eyes needed a rest from the rapidly
receding buildings and trees. Then three talkative lads* boarded the
train and sat a few seats behind me. The lively conversation was mainly
on the merits, failures and career prospects of various footballers. I
thought I would follow my own advice and visualise some of it in
shorthand. I am usually successful at this when it is a television or
internet broadcast. However, these lads were so intent on voicing their
opinions to each other that the sentences came out in short and very
fast bursts, no doubt to get their point over before one of the others
butted in with a counterclaim*. A slow talker would not have* stood any
chance of finishing his sentence! Their speech was terse, clipped and
abrupt, mostly phrases and exclamations more than complete sentences.
The rapid-fire delivery and the difficulty of making out every word
precisely made me give up on the shorthand exercise. The arrival of a
few expletives was my cue to "tune it out" but I did muse on what might
happen if a shorthand writer* did get it all down and decided to read it
back to them, swear words and all.
* "lads" "ladies" Insert the vowel to prevent misreading
* "counterclaim" Note that "counter" on its own in doubled, but
written as here when convenient in a compound word
* "would not have" Write the "have" separately, to prevent it looking
like "would never", or, if it has already been written, insert the vowel
in "not" to clarify
* Omission phrase "short(hand)
writer"
Sit down, relax and keep talking.
The person behind is studying shorthand.
Having changed trains, the next conversation that filled my end of the
carriage was between three children playing a game of "I Spy": I spy
with my little eye something beginning with T. Well, it had to be train
or tracks or tunnel. I followed the game, unable to not listen, as it
was all going on right behind me. After a while the rules changed
slightly as they started giving the first sound of the word rather than
the letter of the alphabet. They were young enough to probably not be
quite sure of every spelling, or at least* an older child would do this
so that a younger one could take part. The other problem was that the
train was moving, but this made it more of an interesting challenge that
spiced up the game. If one of them spied something while the train was
stationary*, then the others had to guess it quickly before the scene
slipped away. Sure enough, several of the responses were, "Too late"
followed by the answer. As long as all three had their opportunity to be
the quizmaster, they were all happy. Later on the game mutated into
spying things consisting of two words, such as tall building, factory
door etc. The game had run its course as these longer versions were all
but unguessable, especially as the objects themselves were whizzing past
out of sight.
* "at least" "at last" Always insert the vowel
*
"stationary" Mnemonic for these
spellings = station-ARY is a pARked cAR, stationERY is papER
I Spy a train full of dictators
My third attempt at amusing* myself with the
surrounding words was to write in mental shorthand the constantly
repeated announcement giving a list of destinations. This was not as
easy as it first seemed, being almost entirely place names which needed
more thinking about than normal sentences. I could either follow the
announcer's voice or look at the information board with the scrolling
list of stations. The board was not easy to follow as it was further
down the carriage and the words formed by lighted dots moving from right
to left* were hard to read rapidly. The voice was much easier but I
think I would have done better if I had actually been writing them on
paper, not being distracted by dotty words or surroundings, and I am
sure I would have written most of them in two or three pieces, one mark
for each syllable.
* "amazing" and "amusing" Always insert the vowel
* Omission phrase "right (to) left" The similar phrase "right
and left" would best be written in full
The easiest way to practise when the overheard conversations are too
fast is to pick on random words or phrases, either all the simple
well-known ones or perhaps just the ones that you think you would
hesitate over if writing for real. The train or bus is the ideal place
for practising shorthand in this way. If there are no conversations
going on, then shop and road signs can all be translated* into shorthand
as they come into view. This particular variation should improve each
day, as you pass the same shops and signs over and again. Many business
names make an effort at writing by sound, in order to* arrest your
attention with the strange spelling, but you now have the satisfaction
of writing the true version, and can thank them for helping you think
only of the sound and not the wayward English spelling. In your warm and
comfortable train or bus seat, you will be able to give yourself lots*
of brownie points for getting ahead with the shorthand, making good use
of the spare minutes and maybe even shortening the apparent length of
the journey, as well as shortening the time taken to achieve shorthand
fluency and skill. (802 words)
* "tra(n)slated" Omits the N
* Omission phrase "in ord(er to)"
* "lots" and "masses" Insert the vowel as these are similar in
outline and meaning
Countdown to success
(Uxbridge Station, SW London)
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