Even in the era of computerized everything, penmanship is still important. It is unfortunate that the generations born in the latter half of the 20th century almost never write. They type and text with lightning speed. But, the art of penmanship is dying out. Why is penmanship is important? It has always been true that people are impressed by good handwriting. Even in the days when a handwritten letter was the only choice, something about a beautiful, flowing hand is just appealing. But especially as it becomes more and more rare. And, in this horrible economy that is almost certainly going to get much worse before it gets better, there is no better way to stand out than to write an actual letter.
It's getting easier and easier to ignore email. Even if a possible employer is not purposefully ignoring email, it is just so easy to get lost. Your email has a good chance of ending up in the spam file. The only real chance you have is those few words in the subject box. But, no one ignores a beautifully handwritten letter. And...that is what you need these days...an edge...any edge.
The bad news is that this is not an easy thing to accomplish. The good news is that anyone can do it. All it takes is the commitment. And, if you develop the right attitude, the process can actually become fun, even addictive. The more you practice, the better you become and if you stick with it, I can assure you that there will be a euphoric epiphany at some point when you suddenly realize that you are proud of your handwriting.
