Abstract: A handwriting recognition device including a handwriting recognizing component such as a software application running on a microprocessor. A user interface includes a display having a stroke entry field for digitizing and displaying the strokes comprising one or more written characters, and also incorporates a character spacing indicator to indicate a new character entry field with an adjacent new word indicator to indicate a new word entry field. A recognized character display area is on the display substantially adjacent to the stroke entry and display field. The handwriting recognition component includes an output recognition buffer (ORB) for holding and correcting characters while the characters are being displayed in the recognized character display area.