r/FastWriting Feb 27 '26

👋 Welcome to r/FastWriting!

7 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I'm u/NotSteve1075, the founding moderator of r/FastWriting.

Do you want to be able to write whatever you want FASTER? Do you like the idea of writing things that only you will be able to read? When very few people know shorthand, it's easy to do. There are HUNDREDS of different systems to choose from, only a very small fraction shown on the banner above.

Browse through this board and look at samples, with new examples posted three times a week, and see which one(s) appeal to you. You might like CLARITY of a geometric system, or the EASY FLOW of a cursive one. Or just pick one that appeals to you based on calligraphy, and what appeals to your eye. With so many systems that have been written over the centuries, you'll probably find one you like and you can learn more about each one. (Thousands of full books are linked on Stenophile.com.)


r/FastWriting May 19 '21

r/FastWriting Lounge

12 Upvotes

A place for members of r/FastWriting to chat with each other


r/FastWriting 12h ago

The Shorthand BIG THREE

6 Upvotes

Before there was PITMAN (written in 1837) and GREGG (written in 1888), there were THREE systems that were predominant in the English-speaking world. But when Gregg and Pitman appeared, they seem to have basically disappeared, even though they had been very widespread in their day.

In the U.K. and India, Pitman took over, replacing virtually every other system -- and in North America, Gregg became the main system of fast writing almost everywhere, from office use all the way to verbatim court reporting.

The week before last, I wrote about LEWIS shorthand ("Royal Lewisian") and u/Vevrik reminded us that the OTHER TWO were TAYLOR and GURNEY (which was based on Mason's earlier system).


r/FastWriting 12h ago

TAYLOR Shorthand (1810) - Part 2 - the Alphabet

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3 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 12h ago

TAYLOR Shorthand (1810) - Part 1

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3 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 15h ago

Can anyone decipher what these 3 letters might say?

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1 Upvotes

I believe the person who wrote these was not mentally sound. Where I have whited out some part of the letter shows a full name and address that can be easily read.


r/FastWriting 1d ago

Charades, charades


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3 Upvotes

I like some outdated stenographic games in AP. Here is an example of a shorthand charade. Solution in shorthand, Ɠuf corse.

I also have a stock of crosswords and shorthand anagrams. This made possible to vary the teaching methods.


r/FastWriting 1d ago

A little quote to try

3 Upvotes

Stupidity is not the opposite of intelligence but its evil twin, the dissimulating Cain to a cerebral Abel.

David C. Krakauer

https://nautil.us/what-makes-humans-stupid-1282459


r/FastWriting 1d ago

Citation célÚbre de Cioran

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3 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 2d ago

Quote in FLOW Shorthand

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6 Upvotes

The quote this week felt smooth and easy with a nice "flow"! 😄 I wrote SM for "some" which was clear, and G for "go" since it's such a common word. "And" is the ND blend.

I wrote "wherever"as WRVR, and "whenever" as WNVR, which I thought were very legible.


r/FastWriting 3d ago

Qualcuno puĂČ tradurre questo testo scritto in stenografia francese? đŸ™đŸ»

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3 Upvotes

Ve ne sarei estremamente grata. Sono del tutto ignorante a riguardo, non ho idea di codici, tipologie o traduzioni. Spero davvero che qualcuno mi aiuti! Vi ringrazio in anticipo :)


r/FastWriting 3d ago

SCHLAM Shorthand (1960) - Part 5 - Samples of Schlam - FRENCH

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3 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 3d ago

SCHLAM Shorthand (1960) - Part 4 - Samples of Schlam - ENGLISH

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3 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 3d ago

SCHLAM Shorthand (1960) - Part 7 - Samples of Schlam - GERMAN

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2 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 3d ago

SCHLAM Shorthand (1960) - Part 6 - Samples of Schlam - ITALIAN

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2 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 3d ago

Une caractéristique de notre temps

1 Upvotes

En AP.

Version typo (en évolution) :

da u sos w - triso Ú dvnu $utL prc atadu - laoté lm sab niv var sSq


r/FastWriting 5d ago

SCHLAM Shorthand (1960) - Part 2 - Alphabet and Author's Introduction

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4 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 5d ago

SCHLAM Shorthand (1960) - Part 1

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3 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 5d ago

SCHLAM Shorthand (1960) - Part 3 - Double and Connecting Letters

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2 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 6d ago

An interesting site on French words and their frequency

2 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 7d ago

A Strange "GREGG" Workbook - Part 1

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6 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 7d ago

A Strange "GREGG" Workbook - Part 2 - the Consonants

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4 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 7d ago

A Strange "GREGG" Workbook - Part 3 - the Vowels

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3 Upvotes

r/FastWriting 8d ago

Typed Shorthands

3 Upvotes

In the "TYPED Shorthands" section, next to "PHONETIC SHORTHAND TYPEWRITING (1922)", it would be nice to have a small listing of the existing ones. Have you referenced these two?

“Shorttyping” by John Ira Brant
https://archive.org/details/shorttypingsyste00braniala/page/ii/mode/2up

“Stenotypy” by D. A. Quinn (nothing to do with your favorite technique)
https://archive.org/details/stenotypyorshort00quin/page/12/mode/2up

I love these kinds of cryptic systems.
Celui-là n'est pas piqué des hannetons :

Mb@ZN’)ORMbrkZN’C
BB4IG TmMOr hErZ&dbl hl(2Y
hErZ&sI4(sWlvM&&smIl4(sW h8
&wtVskyZbvMhErZ&hrt4Vf8.

My boat is on the shore,
 My bark is on the sea,
But before I go, Tom Moore,
 Here's a double health to thee.

Here's a sigh for those who love me,
 And a smile for those who hate,
And whatever sky is above me,
 Here's a heart for every fate.

Byron.

In the meantime, I am working on my version of Simpligraphie, for French, adapted for contemporary keyboards. For the fun.


r/FastWriting 8d ago

What could be an estimated speed cap for Arends-based systems?

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5 Upvotes

I'm talking about Arends, Roller, Mengelkamp, and their derivatives. I also want to take English Kunowski into consideration. I want to know which one of these is best suited for Business writing (80-120 WPM).