OBSTACLES TO THE 
 
 ATTAINMENT OF SPEED 
 IN SHORTHAND 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERICK R. BEYGRAU 
 
 AND 
 
 H. H. ARNSTON 
 
 GREGG EDUCATIONAL MONOGRAPHS
 
 I 
 
 OBSTACLES TO THE 
 
 i ATTAINMENT OF SPEED 
 
 IN SHORTHAND 
 
 I WITH SOME PLANS FOR OVERCOMING THEM 
 
 MENTAL OBSTACLES 
 BY FREDERICK R. BEYGRAU 
 
 EVANDER CHILDS HIGH SCHOOL, NEW YORK CITY 
 
 (A paper read before the Business Section of the 
 National Education Association.) 
 
 MANUAL OBSTACLES 
 BY H. H. ARNSTON 
 
 EAST SIDE CONTINUATION SCHOOL, NEW YORK CITY 
 
 (A paper read before the Eastern Gregg 
 Shorthand Association.) 
 
 SOUTHERN 
 
 IIVER5 
 
 
 LOS ANGELfiS/C 
 
 ;23 
 
 THE GREGG PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 <EW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON 
 
 LONDON 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO
 
 COPYRIGHT, IQ2I, BY 
 THE GREGG PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 C S 8
 
 14- 
 
 WITH SOME PLANS FOR OVER- 
 COMING THEM
 
 ,r 
 
 THE MENTAL OBSTACLES TO 
 THE ATTAINMENT OF 
 SPEED IN SHORTHAND 
 
 WITH SOME PLANS FOR OVER- 
 COMING THEM 
 
 IN order to determine what are the 
 obstacles to the attainment of high 
 speed, it is first of all necessary to 
 consider carefully the factors entering 
 into the problem of writing shorthand 
 rapidly and accurately. There are 
 very many elements involved, some of 
 which I shall bring out in the discus- 
 sion of obstacles. 
 
 Some of the obstacles may be sum- 
 marized briefly as: 
 
 1. Indecision. 
 
 2. Lack of concentration.' 
 
 3. Nervousness and excitability. 
 
 4. Lack of poise.. 
 
 5. Mind wandering.
 
 4 Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 6. Sluggish mental habits.' 
 
 7. Slowness of perception. 
 
 8. Inability to grasp the meaning of 
 the English language. 
 
 9. Unfamiliar words. 
 
 10. Lack of confidence in ability to 
 read the notes. 
 
 11. Poor memory. 
 
 12. Consciousness of imperfect exe- 
 cution. 
 
 13. Unfamiliarity with the funda- 
 mental word-building principles of the 
 system. 
 
 14. Imperfect co-ordination between 
 mental and physical operations. 
 
 15. And, certainly, most serious of all, 
 the lack of logical construction of the 
 shorthand system written. 
 
 There are many obstacles which are, 
 properly speaking, physical rather than 
 mental, but which seriously interfere 
 with and hamper the mental opera- 
 tions, such, for example, as poor hear- 
 ing, poor sight, etc.
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 5 
 
 There are two distinct phases in 
 the learning of shorthand the learn- 
 ing stage and the expert stage. As 
 teachers, we are concerned more par- 
 ticularly with the learning stage, for 
 if the learning stage of the student's 
 shorthand experience is properly taken 
 care of, the obstacles thrown in the 
 way of the acquisition of high speed 
 will for the most part disappear. 
 
 In the time allotted me I can do no 
 more than discuss briefly the most com- 
 mon of these obstacles that interfere 
 with swift and accurate shorthand 
 writing, and offer some suggestions 
 which I hope will assist in overcoming 
 them. 
 
 MENTAL OBSTACLES 
 
 Indecision is a most common ob- 
 stacle and it arises from two sources: 
 First, from the difficulties of phono- 
 graphic construction. Difficulties which 
 are inherent in the system of short-
 
 6 Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 hand writing are serious, but much 
 can be done to overcome them by the 
 teacher in simplifying his instruction 
 and by proper drill. Second, by certain 
 mental habits of the writer due par- 
 ticularly to an incomplete mastery of 
 the word-building principles and in- 
 sufficient practice in applying them. 
 The remedy for this is obvious a 
 thorough and deliberate review of the 
 principles combined with plenty of 
 drill in using the word-building prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 Many students of shorthand, and 
 particularly the younger ones, are in- 
 capable of concentration for more than 
 a brief period of time. The faculty of 
 concentration is susceptible of high 
 cultivation. Exercises in concentra- 
 tion should form a part of the in- 
 struction in shorthand writing from 
 the beginning. Without concentration, 
 progress in learning is retarded and 
 the development of high speed will be
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 7 
 
 impossible. Concentration may be en- 
 forced by the nature of the instruction 
 by making it emphasize attention and by 
 forcing the attention of those who are 
 inattentive. An excellent plan to ac- 
 complish this is to give definite drills 
 which will cultivate the power of hold- 
 ing a large number of words in the 
 mind while the writing is suspended. 
 Dictate a sentence or a part of a sen- 
 tence and ask the students not to begin 
 writing until the entire sentence or the 
 part decided upon has been dictated. 
 At first only short sentences or parts 
 of sentences should be given, but as 
 the power to hold the words in mind 
 increases, the length of the exercises 
 may be increased. It is possible to in- 
 crease the ability in this direction to 
 an amazing degree. Another exercise 
 that is effective in developing concen- 
 tration is the reading of new shorthand 
 plates the subject matter of which is 
 unfamiliar to the reader. He will thus
 
 8 Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 be forced to keep his mind concentrated 
 on the task and the power to hold 
 himself to the work will be vastly in- 
 creased. Another difficulty in connec- 
 tion with concentration I have observed 
 is in the disturbance even slow dicta- 
 tion occasions in the minds of many 
 students. Dictation is something new 
 to them and they do not react to it 
 readily. Those who have studied teleg- 
 raphy, I have noticed, take to dictation 
 much more readily because they are 
 used to taking matter from dictation. 
 Nervousness, which is a serious ob- 
 stacle to speed and accuracy, is often 
 the result of mental habits and also of 
 going over the shorthand principles too 
 hurriedly. The nervous person nearly 
 always lacks poise. Improvements can 
 be effected in such cases by a deliberate 
 review of the principles, giving the 
 dictation very slowly in order that the 
 student will have ample opportunity to 
 do his work correctly. As soon as his
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 9 
 
 confidence is restored the nervousness 
 will disappear. 
 
 Until the writer reaches the stage 
 when a majority of words are written 
 subconsciously, the mental obstacle of 
 mind-wandering does not often be- 
 come manifest. Its presence is a serious 
 difficulty in the way of speed develop- 
 ment. Mind-wandering is an obstacle 
 which can be overcome only by the 
 application of concentration on the 
 part of the writer himself. The teacher 
 can assist by the selection of the matter 
 he is using for dictation, making it 
 more difficult and requiring the con- 
 stant attention on the part of the writer. 
 
 Except in rare instances, the students 
 we get in the schools have done little 
 that quickens perception, that prevents 
 sluggish mental habits. Shorthand re- i 
 quires quick thinking, quick decision 1 
 and action. In most of our studies 
 there is time for deliberate thinking 
 and in most of them we have little co-
 
 io Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 ordination of mental alertness and 
 < manual readiness. Shorthand is a su- 
 * perior study in this respect. The study 
 of it and the acquirement of practical 
 skill in it are worth the effort required 
 for the mental discipline they give in 
 this direction. Any exercise that re- 
 quires quick co-ordination of mental 
 and manual effort is effective. That is 
 why athletic games, like tennis, foot- 
 ball, and basketball, are valuable in 
 developing these qualities. 
 
 We are all familiar with the obstacle 
 of unfamiliarity with the English lan- 
 guage. A great deal of the student's 
 effort in shorthand writing is absorbed 
 in trying to understand the meaning 
 of what is being dictated. When he 
 encounters an unfamiliar word he is 
 confronted with two difficulties first 
 of understanding the sounds in it; 
 and second, of selecting the correct 
 phonographic form. Of course, the 
 obvious remedy for this condition is
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand II 
 
 the constant study of English until 
 the student's vocabulary has been 
 widened. Every strange word should 
 become the subject of special study. 
 The variety of matter used in dictation 
 in the advanced stages also becomes an 
 important aid in developing knowledge 
 of the language as well as to increase 
 the writer's vocabulary and thus lessen 
 the number of words which cause 
 hesitation by their unfamiliarity. 
 
 The foregoing obstacles deal with 
 things that are commonly not within 
 the scope of the shorthand teacher's 
 work, yet much can be done by short- 
 hand teachers to improve the situa- 
 tion. 
 
 TECHNICAL OBSTACLES 
 
 We now come to certain technical 
 obstacles that demand the earnest ap- 
 plication of the teacher. First of these 
 is the consciousness of imperfect exe- 
 cution. The moment a writer writes a
 
 12 Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 form that is so imperfectly executed 
 as to arrest his attention, his mental 
 equilibrium is disturbed and his con- 
 centration momentarily destroyed. The 
 result is a decided reduction in the speed 
 of writing, and we encounter what re- 
 porters, as well as telegraphers, call a 
 "break." In this state of mind the 
 writer may lose several words. And, 
 contrary to the customary impression, 
 these disturbances are not confined 
 strictly to those who have advanced to 
 the expert stage. They occur with the 
 beginner even more frequently. To 
 remedy these difficulties, we must get 
 at the cause for the imperfect execu- 
 tion. It may be due either to poor 
 elementary training in penmanship or 
 it may be due entirely to the executional 
 difficulties of the system itself. If the 
 shorthand characters can be executed 
 with the freedom and ease of longhand 
 writing, it is obvious that the obstacle 
 of poor execution is reduced to the
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 13 
 
 minimum. It is the same in shorthand. 
 We all know that the Gregg student 
 can acquire a high speed in a shorter 
 time than can the writer of a non- 
 script system. The angular, geomet- 
 ric systems do not lend themselves 
 readily to rapid and accurate execution. 
 When written rapidly the forms be- 
 come distorted because they are not 
 constructed to take into account natural 
 tendencies of the hand. 
 
 Springing out of the difficulty that 
 arises from a consciousness of im- 
 perfect execution of the characters, 
 there comes a lack of confidence in the 
 ability to read what has been written. 
 The writer who lacks confidence in his \ 
 ability to read his notes can never 
 make a rapid or accurate writer until 
 this obstacle is overcome. The obvi- 
 ous corrective for this condition is 
 plenty of reading practice, both of en- 
 graved shorthand to emphasize the 
 correct form, and of the writer's own
 
 14 Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 notes to familiarize him with the devia- 
 tions from correct form. A special 
 study should be made of words likely 
 to clash, the difficulties of execution 
 analyzed, executional facility developed 
 by practice. This should be supple- 
 mented by drills in penmanship to 
 improve the style of writing. 
 
 The next obstacle in point of serious- 
 ness, perhaps, is that of unfamiliarity 
 with the word-building principles. Of 
 course, this is present with students of 
 all systems of shorthand, and the only 
 corrective is a study of the principles 
 until the fundamental word-building 
 principles are like A, B, C. The simpler 
 the system, of course, the more quickly 
 this may be accomplished with cer- 
 tainty. A system which has but few 
 rules and no exceptions naturally is at 
 a tremendous advantage over one which 
 is complex and full of exceptions. The 
 student of Gregg Shorthand will be at 
 once struck with the fact that a great
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 15 
 
 majority of words are written from the 
 alphabet. This being so, the student 
 begins to use his shorthand from the 
 beginning, and familiarity breeds skill. 
 Unfamiliarity with the word-build- 
 ing principles often arises from varia- 
 bility of form. A system of shorthand 
 writing which makes it possible for a 
 word to be written in several different 
 ways presents obstacles in learning 
 that are insuperable to many students. 
 Automatism is something earnestly to 
 be desired in shorthand writing, and 
 the more quickly it can be acquired, 
 the more rapid will be the advance 
 toward high speed. Automatism is 
 practically impossible where a writer 
 must constantly struggle with the selec- 
 tion from a number of possible forms 
 of the particular form that best suits 
 the purpose. However desirable va- 
 riety in words may be in writing 
 English to avoid monotony of expres- 
 sion, simplicity and uniformity of word-
 
 16 Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 forms are the things most desired in 
 shorthand writing. Hence it is im- 
 portant that the writer standardize his 
 forms as early as possible. Words 
 should always be written in the same 
 way, for wherever a change is made 
 hesitation occurs. 
 
 The lack of ability to co-ordinate 
 mental and physical operations is a 
 common problem in the teaching of 
 shorthand. The ability to co-ordinate 
 mental and physical effort is a rare 
 gift. Some students seem to possess 
 it naturally, and no matter how com- 
 plex the word forms, they display an 
 astonishing facility almost from the 
 start. But with the great majority of 
 students the growth of skill in this 
 direction is acquired in almost exact 
 proportion to the degree of complexity 
 of the shorthand. A system which is 
 simple in structure, in which there are 
 few if any exceptions to rules, in which 
 there is practically but one way of
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 17 
 
 writing a word, is a vital aid in de- 
 veloping co-ordination of mental and 
 manual effort. 
 
 WRITING OF SHORTHAND COMPLEX 
 OPERATION 
 
 The most common and the most 
 serious obstacle in the way of gaining 
 facility in writing is the complexity of 
 the shorthand system itself. In order 
 that this may be appreciated, let us 
 analyze some of the mental processes 
 of the shorthand writer in writing 
 shorthand. Mr. Rupert P. SoRelle, in 
 his monograph, 'The Educational and 
 Practical Value of the Study of Short- 
 hand," gives them very tersely as 
 follows : 
 
 "First, there is the hearing and the 
 comprehension of the words and the 
 grasping of the thought of the speaker; 
 second, the translation of these words 
 into the elementary sounds (I believe 
 we commonly think of words in their
 
 1 8 Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 printed or written form); third, the 
 selection of the shorthand material 
 from which they are to be constructed 
 into tangible form; fourth, the trans- 
 ferring of these impressions to the 
 fingers; fifth, the manual execution of 
 the forms. Here are five distinct 
 processes through which each word 
 must be put in the smallest fraction 
 of a second." 
 
 Thus it will be seen that at best the 
 writing of shorthand rapidly is a rather 
 complex operation. And, it may be re- 
 marked, the processes referred to are 
 inseparable from all systems of short- 
 hand. Some of them, it is true, are 
 much more highly complex with certain 
 methods of writing than with others. 
 To illustrate this point, I should like 
 to direct your attention for a moment 
 to the phase of writing mentioned, 
 "the selection of the shorthand ma- 
 terial from which the words are to be 
 constructed." It is the effort to make
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 19 
 
 this selection that presents one of the 
 most difficult problems in the teaching 
 of shorthand. It may be stated as 
 axiomatic that the mental facility of 
 writing shorthand is in exact propor- 
 tion to the simplicity of the phono- 
 graphic material. 
 
 For example: In one form of short- 
 hand which is, perhaps, known to most 
 of those present, the vowels are written, 
 if at all, after the complete consonant 
 outline has been determined upon and 
 placed upon paper. This means that 
 the learner must first analyze his work 
 for consonants, then re-analyze for 
 vowels and particularly the impor- 
 tant or accented vowel, in order that 
 the outline may be placed in its 
 proper position with regard to the 
 line of writing. 
 
 Let me trace the mental processes 
 necessary in constructing a word by 
 this method. The word is first heard; 
 the sounds are analyzed phonographi-
 
 2O 
 
 cally; next the consonants are deter- 
 mined; then a selection is made from 
 perhaps two or three ways of writing 
 each of the consonants in the word ; then 
 a re-analysis is made to determine the 
 vowel sounds and to select the accented 
 vowel; when all this has been done the 
 position of the word is then decided. 
 Before the position of the word can be 
 fully determined, however, it is neces- 
 sary for the writer to recall whether 
 the first consonant stroke in the word 
 is a horizontal, an oblique, or a vertical 
 character. All these processes must be 
 completed before the actual writing of 
 the word begins. If it is then con- 
 cluded that certain vowels must be 
 inserted to add to the legibility of the 
 word form, the writer must decide 
 what these vowels are, and by means of 
 dots and dashes place them in their 
 proper position on the consonants. 
 As each consonant stroke has three 
 positions upon it, and as each word
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 21 
 
 must be placed in its proper position, 
 the mental processes necessary in the 
 construction of any word are increased 
 to a very high degree. The difficulty 
 is still further increased by the fact 
 that the sounds are thus written out of 
 their accustomed order. Of course, as 
 familiarity with words increases and 
 the writer builds up a shorthand vo- 
 cabulary, recalling the forms of the 
 frequently recurring words becomes less 
 and less difficult. Memory comes to 
 his aid and he can recall the form of 
 the word without conscious analysis. 
 But whenever it is necessary to write 
 a word by analysis and this is the 
 way in which all words are written by 
 the beginner the mental processes 
 mentioned must be put into operation. 
 The shorthand writer never reaches 
 the point in his speed where the phono- 
 graphic outlines of all words are fa- 
 miliar to him. The new word always 
 crops up at the unexpected moment to
 
 22 Mental Obstacles to the 
 
 throw the writer out of equilibrium - 
 the degree of loss of equilibrium de- 
 pending entirely upon his facility in 
 handling the word-building principles of 
 the system he writes. 
 
 HOW TO ELIMINATE HESITATION 
 
 Hence it is obvious that to eliminate 
 the most frequent source of hesitation 
 in writing the great obstacle to speed 
 as well as accuracy the number of 
 /.mental processes must be reduced to 
 I a minimum, and these processes must 
 be made automatic as soon as possible. 
 The essentials of the system must be 
 carefully segregated from the nones- 
 sentials, and the fine points for the 
 amusement of the theorist, and those 
 who are specially gifted mentally and 
 manually. This is a function of the 
 teacher. 
 
 In the foregoing I have mentioned 
 only some of the obstacles in the way 
 of rapid writing. It is clear, however,
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 23 
 
 that many of these obstacles will be 
 presented in reading shorthand, but 
 there is not enough time at my dis- 
 posal to discuss these features. 
 
 In closing let me emphasize the point 
 that in order to remove many of the 
 obstacles mentioned, the teacher must 
 simplify his methods of teaching. He 
 must analyze the difficulties in in- 
 dividual cases, and work out a plan of 
 prevention as well as of elimination of 
 difficulties already discovered. In this, 
 experience and constant study of his 
 profession will come to his aid.
 
 THE MANUAL OBSTACLES TO 
 THE ATTAINMENT OF 
 SPEED IN SHORTHAND
 
 THE MANUAL OBSTACLES TO 
 
 THE ATTAINMENT OF 
 
 SPEED IN SHORTHAND 
 
 SINCE the two great factors of speed 
 in shorthand are mental alertness 
 and manual dexterity, each of these 
 elements must be cultivated to a high 
 degree before one can become a rapid 
 writer. But in the effort to attain 
 speed, all aspirants are not beset by 
 the same natural difficulties. Some 
 writers think rapidly enough, but lack 
 the necessary co-ordination of mind 
 and muscle, and therefore are clumsy 
 and slowhanded. Others, again, possess 
 manual agility, but are slow thinkers, 
 and speed is missed while "the eager 
 hand waits upon the lagging mind." 
 With another group, thought leaps 
 from active brain to nimble hand and
 
 28 Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 is transferred to paper with lightning 
 swiftness. These are the kings of the 
 craft. There are still others and 
 may their tribe decrease! sluggish in 
 both mind and hand. Slowness, how- 
 ever, either manual or mental, may 
 often be due rather to lack of proper 
 training than to inherent inability. 
 
 In dealing with this phase of the 
 subject, we are confronted, not by a 
 few glaring faults, but by a considerable 
 number of apparently small ones. To 
 a person who has given no thought to 
 the subject, some of these may seem so 
 trivial as to be unworthy of notice. 
 But when we consider that the reporter 
 makes something like two hundred 
 strokes of the pen in every minute of 
 note-taking, and that one or several 
 of these little faults may lurk in every 
 line to hinder speed, no obstacle is too 
 insignificant to demand attention. 
 
 A writer generally does not realize, 
 does not even suspect, that he has
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 29 
 
 these faults, and may wonder why he 
 cannot attain greater speed. His errors 
 have to be pointed out to him by a 
 teacher or a practiced writer who ob- 
 serves him at work. 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT 
 POSITION 
 
 It might seem almost too obvious 
 for discussion that an incorrect posi- 
 tion of the body at the desk or table 
 is a hindrance to rapid writing. Yet 
 students have often to be reminded 
 not to loll back in the seat while taking 
 dictation; not to sit hunched up; not 
 to throw the left arm over the back 
 of the chair, or not to rest the head 
 in the left hand. The shorthand writer 
 should sit erect, though easily and 
 naturally, not stiffly, with both feet 
 firmly on the floor. He should sit 
 squarely in front of the table; the arms 
 should rest on the table, but not with 
 equal weight.
 
 30 Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 One of the most common faults 
 common because generally unsuspected 
 is the habit of resting the weight 
 of the body largely on the right fore- 
 arm. Pinned down by this weight, a 
 free movement of the arm, and con- 
 sequently of the hand, is impossible, 
 and without freedom of movement 
 there can be no speed. Struggling 
 against this impediment, the hand soon 
 becomes tired. 
 
 In order to write rapidly, all weight 
 must be taken off the right arm. The 
 body should be supported entirely by 
 the left arm, the right arm and hand 
 resting on the table as lightly as pos- 
 sible, with nothing to obstruct the free- 
 dom of movement. 
 
 A number of evils result from a 
 faulty position of the hand. Often the 
 wrist is allowed to rest on the edge of 
 the table; sometimes the hand seems 
 in imminent danger of falling off. 
 The entire hand and arm are tense and
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 31 
 
 rigid. The hand, seemingly tied in a 
 knot, is turned so that it rests heavily 
 on the side or outer edge of the palm, 
 with the wrist almost vertical, instead 
 of flat or horizontal. 
 
 Resting the wrist on the edge of 
 the table tends to benumb the hand and 
 arm. With the hand in this position, 
 and with the fingers cramped, a free, 
 gliding movement is impossible. More- 
 over, such a position quickly tires the 
 muscles, and thus prevents the best 
 work. 
 
 Such a cramped, unnatural position 
 of the hand is both cause and effect 
 of writing solely with a finger move- 
 ment. Using a finger movement alone 
 is almost certain to result in an in- 
 correct position of the hand, and, con- 
 versely, with such a position of the 
 hand, no other movement is possible. 
 With an exclusive finger movement, 
 the writing is inevitably laborious, 
 cramped, jerky, and consequently slow.
 
 32 Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 When speed is attempted, the result 
 is sprawling, misshapen, illegible notes. 
 The hand's journey across the page is 
 painful to see. The hand remains 
 stationary while a few characters are 
 written, and when the ringers have 
 stretched as far as they can, the hand 
 is lifted entirely off the paper and 
 jerked forward, or is dragged along to 
 a new resting place, where the same 
 operation is repeated. With such a 
 succession of jerks, jarring the hand and 
 interrupting the continuity of move- 
 ment, speedy writing is absolutely out 
 of the question. 
 
 EASY ARM MOVEMENT 
 
 I Anything like speed in shorthand 
 can never be attained without the ac- 
 quirement of a free, smooth, continu- 
 ous, gliding motion. And a long step 
 in this direction is the cultivation of 
 the muscular or free-arm movement. 
 This movement is universally recog-
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 33 
 
 nized as the only proper one in long- 
 hand writing, and both reason and 
 experience prove it to be equally effi- 
 cacious in the writing of a shorthand 
 that is based upon longhand principles. 
 But in cultivating the muscular move- 
 ment it is a mistake to suppose that 
 we are to discard entirely the use of 
 the fingers as writing agents. The 
 danger lies in making them the sole 
 agents. David Wolfe Brown says: "It 
 should not be forgotten that those 
 nimble little instruments, the fingers, 
 so highly valued in every other manual 
 art because of their adaptation to 
 quick and delicate movements, can 
 serve as important adjuncts (I do not 
 claim that they should be the sole 
 machinery) in symmetrical and rapid 
 shorthand writing." Undoubtedly bet- 
 ter results may be obtained by a 
 judicious combination of the muscular 
 and finger movements with the mus- 
 cular movement the predominating one,
 
 34 Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 however than is possible with either 
 method alone. In conjunction with 
 these a lateral movement of the wrist 
 may be used to advantage. Co-ordi- 
 nating these three movements gives 
 the hand marvelous flexibility. 
 
 A faulty habit of many writers is 
 the practice of gripping the pen too 
 tightly. This produces a tenseness and 
 stiffness of the entire hand and arm. 
 The movement of the hand is jerky, 
 spasmodic. The fingers are rigid, and 
 their help in the formation of char- 
 acters is lost. The excessive strain 
 wearies the muscles. The pen should 
 be held lightly with just enough 
 pressure to control it and the muscles 
 should be relaxed. Only in this way is 
 it possible to gain the free, flowing 
 movement so necessary to speed in 
 Gregg Shorthand. 
 
 A common impediment to speed is 
 the resting of the hand too heavily on 
 the paper. This is an inevitable ac-
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 35 
 
 companiment of the sole use of the 
 finger movement, in which the hand 
 rests on the ball or the outer edge of 
 the palm. It is often, also, the result 
 of a too tight gripping of the pen. 
 Sometimes this fault is due to, or is 
 accentuated by, the use of a stiff pen 
 or a hard pencil, which requires undue 
 pressure in order to register. Some 
 writers habitually bear down on the 
 writing instrument and make heavier 
 outlines than necessary, with a re- 
 sultant loss of speed. Either a soft, 
 flexible pen, with a fine point, or a 
 moderately soft pencil, should be used, 
 and the pressure of the hand on the 
 paper should be as light as possible. 
 
 Many stenographers make the mis- 
 take of writing their notes too large. 
 This not only consumes unnecessary 
 time in the writing of the individual 
 outlines, but entails a further loss of 
 time in compelling a more frequent 
 passing from line to line and from page
 
 36 Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 to page. A similar loss of time is oc- 
 casioned by writing the outlines too 
 far apart. A distinct gain in speed is 
 often found to follow the cultivation of 
 a reasonably small and compact style 
 of writing. 
 
 PENMANSHIP THE FOUNDATION OF 
 EXECUTIONAL SKILL 
 
 A habit common to a large number 
 of experienced writers is that of paus- 
 ing unnecessarily at the points of angles, 
 or when the direction of the stroke is 
 changed. This is generally due to 
 making the angle too sharp and pre- 
 cise. On this subject I quote Mr. 
 John R. Gregg, in the Gregg Writer: 
 
 "Some time ago in this magazine, 
 when speaking of the notes of a sten- 
 ographer who complained that he found 
 it impossible to get up speed, we said: 
 'The notes showed wonderful exact- 
 ness of form, but the angles were so
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 37 
 
 positive that it was evident that an 
 absolute pause had taken place after 
 each of them. Precision is a good 
 thing, especially when learning the 
 principles, but it can be carried too 
 far in the case of rapid note-taking 
 and thus prove a detriment to the ac- 
 quirement of high speed. When the 
 writer of shorthand has attained suf- 
 ficient command over his hand to make 
 the outlines rapidly and yet retain 
 proportion of form, he should aim to 
 acquire skill in turning the corners, 
 so to speak in other words, round 
 off the angles. This is a point worthy 
 of thought, experiment, and practice 
 on the part of the writer who aims at 
 becoming an expert reporter.'* 
 
 It seems incredible that more than 
 fifty per cent of the time spent by the 
 average writer in note-taking is lost 
 between outlines during penlifts. Yet 
 that is what some shorthand experts 
 claim. David Wolfe Brown says: "It 
 
 44923
 
 38 Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 is doubtless true that the ordinary 
 writer loses, while his pen does not 
 touch the paper while he is passing 
 from word to word, from phrase to 
 phrase, from line to line, from page 
 to page while, strictly speaking, no 
 writing is being done more time 
 than he occupies in the shaping of 
 the shorthand characters/' 
 
 While much of the loss of time be- 
 tween outlines is due, especially in the 
 case of young writers, to mental hesi- 
 tation, there are several time-consum- 
 ing manual faults to which even prac- 
 ticed writers are prone, and constant 
 effort must be exercised to overcome 
 them. 
 
 One of these is a habit of lifting the 
 entire hand from the paper between 
 outlines. With every lift of the hand, 
 time equal to the writing of one or 
 more strokes is lost. If the writer 
 uses a finger movement solely, the 
 hand, after a few characters have
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 39 
 
 been written, must be either lifted 
 from the paper, jerked forward and re- 
 stationed, or dragged along the paper 
 to a new resting place. And during 
 these ever-recurring lifts or shifts, of 
 course the pen is idle. The hand should 
 never be lifted from the paper during 
 the course of a line, and need not be 
 lifted during the writing of a page. 
 The hand should rest on the nails of 
 the third and fourth fingers, gliding 
 along on them smoothly and con- 
 tinuously, with as little pressure as 
 possible. The wrist or ball of the 
 hand should not touch the paper. 
 Only the thumb and first two fingers, 
 which hold the pen, should be lifted. 
 
 Even when only the writing fingers 
 are lifted, and not the entire hand, 
 some writers lift the pen too high. 
 Hand in hand with this habit goes the 
 error of writing the outlines too far 
 apart, entailing unnecessary traveling 
 of the hand along the line and from one
 
 4o Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 line to another. The closer the pen is 
 kept to the paper, and the shorter the 
 distance it has to travel, the more speed 
 is possible. 
 
 PHRASING NECESSARY TO SPEED 
 
 Many writers rob themselves of pos- 
 sible speed by failure to phrase word- 
 forms that are easily phrasable. The 
 benefits of phrasing are threefold: it 
 eliminates the loss of time incident to 
 lifting the pen between outlines; it 
 permits the abbreviation of words com- 
 monly joined, as "at the present time," 
 "we are in receipt"; it allows the 
 omission of minor words occurring in 
 the group phrased, as "in regard (to 
 the) matter," "out (of the) question." 
 Phrase-writing, however, must be done 
 judiciously. While all easily-joined, fre- 
 quently-occurring word groups should 
 be phrased, there must be no straining 
 after unusual, unfamiliar combinations, 
 or awkward, unnatural joinings.
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 41 
 
 An operation that occasions an an- 
 noying loss of time to the great ma- 
 jority of writers is the turning the leaves 
 of the notebook. Generally the hand 
 is allowed to work its way down, line 
 after line, until, by the time the pen 
 reaches the bottom of the page, the 
 hand has slid entirely off the tablet. 
 When the last line is reached, there is 
 a wild scramble, in which both hands 
 are engaged, to separate the leaf from 
 the others and turn it over. During 
 this process the speaking goes right on, 
 and when the hand finally reaches the 
 top of the new page, the writer finds 
 himself many words behind. 
 
 Perhaps the most satisfactory method 
 of turning the leaves is the following: 
 When the hand has traveled about a 
 third of the way down the page, push 
 the leaf up a little, either with the ball 
 of the little finger of the right hand or 
 with the left hand, and insert the second 
 finger of the left hand under the leaf,
 
 42 Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 keeping the leaf pressed flat with the 
 first finger and thumb. Then, instead 
 of letting the right hand work down 
 the page, keep it on the tablet at about 
 the same level and shift the leaf up 
 with the first finger and thumb of the 
 left hand. The shifting of the leaf can 
 easily be accomplished while the pen 
 is passing from one line to another. 
 When the bottom of the page is reached, 
 lift the thumb and first finger, and the 
 second finger will turn the leaf over 
 without perceptible effort. With this 
 method, the hand always has a smooth 
 surface, as the supporting fingers are 
 always on the tablet, and no time what- 
 ever is lost in passing from page to 
 page. 
 
 If the obstacles mentioned can be 
 eliminated, the result should be a 
 light, free, smooth, continuous, gliding 
 movement. High speed is impossible 
 without this movement, but if once 
 this movement is acquired, there is
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 43 
 
 practically no limit, on the manual 
 side, to the speed that may be attained. 
 
 MOTIVE POWER 
 
 But let it be remembered that the 
 elimination of all the obstacles in the 
 world will not produce speed. Remov- 
 ing obstacles is only a negative process. 
 Letting off the brakes does not push 
 the engine; there must be motive 
 power back of it. And the motive 
 power back of rapid shorthand writing 
 is practice, practice, practice. It is 
 surely betraying no secret to say that 
 the greatest obstacle to the attain- 
 ment of speed in shorthand is simply 
 lack of practice intelligent, system- 
 atic practice. But the mistake is 
 commonly made of limiting practice to 
 just one thing dictation. Mr. John 
 R. Gregg says on this point: 
 
 "The highest degree of skill in the 
 study of everything may be attained 
 most easily and quickly by following a
 
 44 Manual Obstacles to the 
 
 well-planned course of training. In 
 the study of shorthand such a course 
 of training should provide for variety 
 in the methods of practice. It is a 
 singular thing how many students of 
 shorthand believe that all they need 
 in order to attain speed is plenty of 
 'dictation practice.' In athletics or 
 sports of any kind, it is generally 
 known that an athlete or a player will 
 go * stale' if he is kept practicing one 
 thing or in one way all the time. A 
 change in the form of training or 
 practice enables him to maintain his 
 vigor, elasticity and reserve power. 
 Everybody recognizes the truth of this 
 idea as applied to anything save 
 shorthand or typewriting." 
 
 The plan of training should embrace 
 such features as the copying of short- 
 hand plates, to preserve a correct 
 style of writing; drill on the frequent 
 combinations, the wordsigns, and the 
 common phrases, until the execution be-
 
 Attainment of Speed in Shorthand 45 
 
 comes automatic; writing thoroughly 
 practiced matter from dictation, to 
 train the hand to swift transitions; 
 writing new matter from dictation, to 
 cultivate the word-building faculty; re- 
 porting lectures, sermons, etc., when- 
 ever opportunity offers; reading back 
 all of one's own notes; reading the 
 correctly-written shorthand in the wide 
 range of literature now available in 
 the system; drills in penmanship 
 both shorthand penmanship and long- 
 hand penmanship, cultivating the free- 
 arm movement. If a program of this 
 kind is followed, there will be no such 
 things as obstacles to speed.
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 PEC 5- 1945 
 
 6. mT 
 
 FEB 15 
 JUN 5 1933 
 
 81977 
 
 FormL-9-15m-ll,'27 
 
 Other Titles in Preparation 
 Prices subject to change without notice 
 
 THE GREGG PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON SAN FRANCISCO LONDON
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 589 438 
 
 J