NotATextHandwritten vs typed: does it matter?
Yes, and not for the reason people think. What a handwritten letter does that a typed one cannot, when typed is fine, and what to do if your handwriting is the problem.
For a letter to someone you love: handwritten. For everything else: typed is fine. The difference is not the words. It is that a handwritten page is an object that took effort to exist, and she can tell.
What a handwritten letter does that a typed one can’t
- It proves time was spent. A typed page could have taken forty seconds. A handwritten one could not. The reader knows that before reading a word.
- It is one of a kind. There is no copy. That is why people keep them.
- It is slow to read. Handwriting makes the reader slow down, which is what you want when you are saying something that matters.
- It has a body. Pressure, ink, the paper. A typed letter is information; a handwritten letter is a thing.
When typed is fine
Anything practical. A thank-you note to a company. A letter to a landlord. A long letter where legibility matters more than feeling. A love letter is not on that list.
What if my handwriting is bad?
Three honest options:
- Write it anyway. Bad handwriting from the right person is still handwriting. If she can read it, send it.
- Ask someone with good handwriting to copy it. People did this for centuries. Your words, their hand.
- Have a machine with a real pen write it. That is what NotAText is. You type it; a real ballpoint pen writes it in one of 57 real hands; we mail it. It is option two with a machine instead of a friend. We tell everyone it is a machine, and so should you. See the machine.
What about a handwriting font?
Printing a letter in a handwriting font is the one option that is worse than typing. It looks handwritten from across the room and looks like a printer from a foot away, and the moment she notices, the whole letter reads as a trick. If it is going to be ink, make it real ink.
Does a machine-written letter count as handwritten?
The pen is real, the ink is real, the strokes are real, and the words are yours. What is not real is the hand. We think it counts if you say so: "I typed it, a real pen wrote it, because my handwriting is a crime." Nobody has been upset by that sentence. People are upset by never getting the letter.
The actual rule
If the letter is for someone you love, get it onto paper in ink. By your hand, a friend's hand, or ours. Any of those beats the best email you will ever write.
Questions
Is a handwritten letter more romantic than a typed one?
Yes, because it is an object that took time and cannot be copied. The words can be identical; the paper is what makes it something she keeps.
Is it okay to type a love letter and print it?
It is better than nothing and worse than ink. If you must print, do not use a handwriting font; it reads as a trick once she notices.
Can I have someone else write my letter by hand?
Yes. Your words in someone else’s hand is a centuries-old practice. Tell her, and it is just help.