Throughout life I've found myself drawn to those ways of doing that are "lost" or "dying." They have a certain elegance not often found today. I find myself almost embarrassed by my signature if I may dignify it with such a title. I was one who never payed attention in grammar school where the fundamentals of writing are forged and now I suffer for it. I have noticed several links to templates and letters to practice but I don't know where to start. I would like to improve my signature above all but would appreciate my writing in general improving. I am most interested in writing that may be used day to day or writing letters, not so much some of the more painstaking forms of calligraphy. Can good penmanship be done with a ball point or other common pen? Where should someone with no experience and understanding of what makes writing beautiful start? Thank you in advance for any assistance. Hopefully this will involve less blood than learning to use a straight razor.

Welcome to FPN Anachronist. A good pen on some nice paper can improve your handwriting simply because of how it moves across the page. Do you have any fountain pens yet? My ballpoint pen handwriting is dreadful, my fountain pen handwriting is nice and my dip pen handwriting is my best. The pen can really make a differnce.

Anachronist,

Welcome to the fold! I agree with jbb that a good pen can, on its own, improve your writing. It made a great difference for me, though in my case that didn't feel like "enough". I recently purchased a book called "Write Now" -- it teaches a very pretty and extremely functional italic writing (italic and italic cursive). I highly recommend it.

--HedgeMage

Hello and welcome to FPN! My hand writing was horrible with a ball pen but has improved vastly since I started using Fountain pens! I will second the recommendation on the book "Write Now". Very good place to start to improve handwriting.

A good place to start is with italic script. And Write Now is great. Until you get a copy of the book, why not look at Kate Gladstone's tutorial at the top of the Penmanship section? There are other writings on writing as well. Believe me, italic is not hard nor overly time-consuming. Mostly it is practice and building good habits about writing. No blood involved (normally).

Still have a scar on my chin from my first attempt at shaving with a straight razor. That was over forty years ago. Broke out the razor the other day to see if I still had my touch. Only a drop or two shed. But think I will use four-blade cartridges. That's a technological improvement I can get behind.

Thank you everyone for the advice, I'll see about getting a copy of Write Now. I don't have a fountain pen of any kind. Any suggestions on a not too terribly expensive one for a beginner? What should I look for?

Is this the book you have mentioned?

the absolute best I have found... improved my handwriting no end... and it is all FREE is Briem's site... with the direct link into the lessons

he also has a free copy of a facsimile of the original master of italic Ludovico Vincentino degli Arrighi's Operina and the link to the online version

Italic Handwriting by Tom Gourdie is also excellent... found a very cheap copy on eBay but is available elsewhere online

Welcome to FPN!!!

For an inexpensive first pen, try the Waterman Phileas. There is a current conversation about this pen in the Writing Instruments forum. A great place to start in my humble opinion.

Todd

I agree with davisgt -- you can't go wrong with a Waterman Phileas. It's a reliable smooth writer in the $40 range. You can find one for less on Ebay. If you want to try a fountain pen for the least amount of money there is also the amazingly smooth Pilot Varsity. This one is disposable but lasts a long time on the ink it comes with and is only about $3.50. I use them in our messy workshop and keep a couple in my purse.

I agree with the Phileas idea. It's a good pen and a smooth writer. Not to expensive, but I like the reform 1745 even better. I have purchased 6 total so far for my own use and for gifts for others. Great pens. The fountain pen definitely improves the penmanship.


You can find the reform here---> http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=71415

Edited to make link work