Scriptio Continua

Before the widespread adoption of lowercase letters, writing systems typically consisted of majuscule scripts, meaning they were primarily or entirely composed of uppercase letters.

OR….

BEFORETHEWIDESPREADADOPTIONOFLOWERCASELETTERSWRITINGSYSTEMSTYPICALLYCONSISTEDOFMAJUSCULESCRIPTSMEANINGTHEYWEREPRIMARILYCOMPOSEDOFENTIRELYUPPERCASELETTERS

Early Greek and Roman writing often omitted spaces between words and punctuation marks, making the text appear as a continuous stream. Modern scholars refer to this style as "scriptio continua".

The evolution of lowercase letters, also known as minuscule scripts, was a gradual process primarily driven by the need for faster and more efficient handwriting.

• Minuscule letters feature

  • ascenders

    • parts of letters extending above the baseline, like 'h'

  • descenders

    • parts extending below the baseline, like 'g'

      • allowing for a more compact and flowing writing style.

There is a wealth of information on why we write the way we write today, but the idea of making life easier for the reader, by creating lowercase letters and punctuation, is exactly what we want to do when we speak.

Last year, I worked with two different coaches who were both wonderful. I didn’t recognize it at the time, but when working with Coach A, I had an impulse to write things down. Great things were being said, but I never remembered them later. It felt like words were rushing by, and I wanted to hang onto them and marinate before we moved on.

Working with Coach B was a completely different experience. I remembered everything later. I could journal about things or process them over the next few days. The growth felt incremental and clear, which felt good.

What was the difference? Both were brilliant and said similar things, but Coach B gave me time to process when she spoke to me. She would say something and then stop. When she wasn’t talking was when I could picture, process, think, absorb, ask questions, and so forth. She brought me along with her, sentence by sentence, zip by zip.

I challenge you today not to speak in Scriptio Continua, but to connect by having a Magna Conversatio.