Ok, I keep saying I'm going to do this, and after helping Bryan with his exemplar, I looked back at my "Noodler's Anteitam" review and saw things I still don't like about it. Still critical of my own hand.

So I decided to see how far I have come. This is the first time I've done a "head to head" before and after look, and I thought I'd put it up to give people some hope.

I went back to notes from my MBA courses in 98, and pulled out this exemplar.



This was my "fast" cursive, combined with problems done with my "neat printing" (I'm an engineer so always preserved some sort of printing in my repotoire just for math work). The "fast" cusive was really a mixture of print and cursive forms, and incredibly small and compact. But what gets me is the illegibility.

In 2000-2001 (after I started collecting pens) I decided to fix it. Bought the Sasoon book and spent 4 months "retooling" my hand. This is the result. I rewrote problem #3 today, as absolutely fast as I could write,and I mean it was fast.



Is it perfect, NO. But it's very legible, and very functional, and it is still personalized. I probably wrote this passage faster than the original. I have to say, I was pretty surprised to see the difference, even though I knew there was one.

So, take heart, all of you who want to improve. It is possible!!!

(shucks, I have to say I'm a little proud... )

I can see the difference. My handwriting seems to flatten out (the letters become thinnet) as I write faster. Yours still seems to retain the letter proportions much better then mine does. But then again, my problems may have never been yours. It is good, however to see the reward from hard work. Be proud.

Kj

Kendall,

I think that must be the same book I re-learned from; similar shaped descenders.

You've changed your fs as well to match the book's hand, but you've personalised the t I think.

Stompy, you're very observant. yes, i used the same Sasoon book that you did. other than huge rythym and pattern problems, I changed the following letter forms:

1. f - my loopy cursive f's were causing illegibility, so I adopted an italic f. I also personalized this one from my work on calligraphy to look more like a chancery italic f. It's oversized now, as you can see in "of itself"

2. s - I went back to an italic s, because my cusrive s's looked like circles. This was a huge change

3. r - went back to italic r, because my cursive r's were really rounded as in "curtail"

I flourish my f's, and the tails of my y's, and g's now, but other than that its pretty straightforward hand.

The rest was all rythm, getting the italic downstrokes in line and regular. That helped keep consistency in shape, slant, and proportion.

Thanks for your comments guys!

What is this Sasoon book you mention and where can I get me a copy !!

http://www.teachyourself.co.uk/rhandwri.htm

Kendall - you've done a *terrific* job with your handwriting!

Do please note that, for the past 15 years, I've used the phrase "Handwriting Repair" (in capitals) as my trademark, and I therefore consider this to refer to the efforts of those whom I teach directly or otherwise provide with advice (as far as I recollect, I never taught or advised Kendall).

Kendall - just to avoid confusion - in future, would you please perhaps consider describing your efforts/success by a generic, un-trademarked phrase ("repairing handwriting" or something similar) rather than specifically using my trademark to refer to your own independent (and VERY praiseworthy) efforts along this line?
Of course, if at some point I advised you and then forgot about this (this can happen, and *has* happened, given the many who ask me for help), then feel entirely free to call what you've done "Handwriting Repair" as it fits my recommendations - but, if so, please put the phrase in capitals rather than in lower-case.