I have relatively poor writing compared to most of my peers, even though I received the same amount of teaching as they did on writing. We've been taught both, I guess just basic, print and cursive, although practically 95% of everyone I've met, writes in print. I actually prefer print too, over cursive, mainly because when I write in cursive things tend to just get out of hand and become more unreadable.

The picture below was written at a relatively slower pace than usual. Often times, my writing becomes slightly cursive when I write faster. Especially with letters after "e", I will tend to not pick up the pen and just move on.

It's important that I write fast, I like to get my work done as fast as possible. I am also constantly writing down miscellaneous thoughts, and will often times form them into philosophy papers. It's important that I can quickly right down what is coming to mind, without interrupting my train of thought. So, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions, such as (styles/scripts?) I should look into, some exercises to practice with, or just general tips.

(BTW: I am currently writing with plain and simple, twelve ballpoint pens for a dollar, despite the fact that this paper was written with a rolling ball. I am however interested in getting a fountain pen.)

If speed is that important and assuming your current handwriting is legible to you, I would suggest sticking to it. You won't be writing faster by adopting a new hand.

There are some handwriting experts on the forum, but I am definitely not one of them.

Hopefully more knowledgable forum members will correct me on any points I make below that reveal my lack of understanding of the subject:

I notice a number of people here seem to use or recommend a variant of cursive italic - a form of cursive without the loops, a little like joined up printing. Although derived from an italic calligraphy style, variants of the cursive italic style seem well-suited to normal round nibs.
I believe this can be quite fast because you don't have to lift your pen as often, unlike printing, nor do you have to take as much time to form legible loops, like looped cursive, yet the results can be very legible. However, you have to balance that against the time taken to learn and practice a new way of writing, and realise that for a period your handwriting will be slower.

From what I've read, some people also recommend fountain pens for lots of fast writing because unlike ballpoints you are "painting" ink on to the page, not "dragging" it across the page, so you only need a very light touch and a "wet" fountain pen (try a medium nib) could potentially write faster or at least at the same speed with less effort. I have noticed that I personally can write at a similar speed with less effort when using a fountain pen, but I cannot guarantee it will be the same for you.

Some sites worth checking out for improving your handwriting:

Kate Gladstone's handwriting repair site (one of the aforementioned experts) - http://www.global2000.net/handwritingrepair/
It is also worth checking out her resources page for books, etc. : http://www.global2000.net/handwritingrepair/KateBooks.html

Gunnlaugur SE Briem's site on italic: http://briem.ismennt.is/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.1.quick.htm

Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting: http://bfhhandwriting.com/index.php
See also Nan Jay Barchowsky's book Fix it...Write : http://www.amazon.com/Fix-Write-Nan-Jay-Ba.../dp/0965674584/

Books on italic writing: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=22931

An often recommended book on this forum for fixing your handwriting:
Write Now, by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay: http://www.amazon.com/Write-Now-Complete-P...g/dp/0876781180

Regards, Myles.

I agree with all of Myles' assessment and he makes some valid points and suggestions.

I don't have a very fast hand, but I understand that italic, or a derivative, is probably best for your purposes as it is the least likely to break down at speed, and retains very good legibilty.