At first glance, Frank Howell’s handwriting may look like childish doodling—a mishmash of squiggles and curves, lines and dashes. But Howell’s script isn’t nonsense. Howell is a court reporter. He records courtroom proceedings using a strange-looking writing called shorthand.
Beyond simply writing fast, shorthand is a way of condensing language. Most shorthand systems substitute symbols for letters, words, phrases, and sounds. Like cursive longhand, shorthand is based on flowing lines and shapes strung together without sharp, slow-to-write angles. So the word bay is written with a b and an a combined in one looping stroke—no need for the y to slow the writer down.
People who write in shorthand are called stenographers, and the writing form is called stenography. The terms come from Greek words meaning “narrow” and “writing.”
Stenographers can write faster than a person can speak or type. The average person speaks between 110-150 words per minute and types 50-70 words per minute. Court reporters must be able to transcribe (turn speech into writing) 180-225 words per minute. Howell can transcribe a whopping 300 words per minute!
Ever heard someone say, “Take this down,” in a movie or TV show? Before computers and recording devices, most journalists and secretaries relied on shorthand in order to take quick notes on the go. Today, some doctors and nurses still use a form of shorthand on written prescriptions or medical charts.
Court reporters are the official keepers of courtroom records. Only very few of them, like Frank Howell, still use handwritten shorthand. Most type into a shorthand machine. Others speak into a stenomask, a soundproof mouthpiece fitted with a microphone.
Howell has been using written shorthand for more than 50 years. He takes down every single word spoken “on the record” in the courtroom. There are only three official shorthand recorders left in Texas.
Howell’s most famous courtroom anecdote involves transcribing during the infamous Jack Ruby court case. Ruby was tried for shooting and killing the man who was accused of assassinating President John F. Kennedy.
Lawyer fistfights, a popped-out attorney false eyeball, and fake teeth flying across the room—Howell’s courtroom notes are full of fascinating stories. And every one of them is recorded in a scrawl that looks like chicken scratch.
