The Gregg Group was founded 22 May 2004, prompted by the lack of online shorthand resources. As the primary use for shorthand — business and legal recording — has waned in recent decades, we generally acclaim the skill as a hobby or personal tool. The purpose of the group is to promote the use of Gregg systems of shorthand by providing advice to beginners, support for students, and an association of users of this efficient, attractive, and enjoyable method of writing.
A short story I told at Open Mic this fall. It’s based on a story I read years ago, that I can’t find anymore, so I don’t know how much is plagiarized vs my own work.
Elven Prince — In Gregg Simplified Shorthand
The goal is readable for Simplified, but some DJS and Anni might have crept in. Anni is a problem, except for a very few brief forms that I think should have been kept. DJS is not a problem.
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I liked this story! Some little things:
1. "love" in Simplified is written in full (with the oo-hook).
2. Watch the th curve in "with."
3. Watch the size of the circles in general. In particular, in the words "village", "fell", "bread."
4. "spring" and "bring" are written in full (with the ng stroke), not with the -ing dot (they are not gerunds).
5. The f-rd in "offered" is not blended. Also, it is written with the o-hook.
6. "She watched her nephew bounce" (?). If so, there is an extra r, and the a-o hook is not written by the omission of ow rule.
7. "flowers" is written in full.
8. "he" doesn't have an h dot.
9. Watch the proportions of t and d in "daughter" — also it seems like you used an oo-hook, instead of the o-hook for the au sound.
10. "diamonds" – d-double circle-men blend-left s (no d).
11. "found": f-nd (omission of ow rule)
12. "And every (?) spring he brings her flowers": check the outline of "every."
Half of that I could have found if I'd proof-read it. That's the test, though. Do I have to proof-read my notes, or can I trust them? It sounds like more attention to some penmanship bits will make a bigger difference than reviewing theory, so I'll split study time 70:30.
You didn't have difficulty with the horizontal strokes? That surprised me. They usually give me trouble because there's nothing to compare them to.
I've already chosen my next story. It's longer and I own the copyright, but it's a busy season. These sat on my desk 4 weeks between writing and posting.
When you start to write in shorthand, you should read back what you write to make sure you don't have mistakes and that you can read what you wrote (for example, I still can read notes that I wrote long time ago, even if the penmanship wasn't that good). Once you are confident in your writing, you can skip this step.
Most of the writing is clear, but if I had doubt, I deduced it by context.
A touching story.
Nicely done, Cricket. I was able to read most of it without a problem.