Converting To Forward Slant..harder Than It Looks

[Bingy]

I have been practicing my Palmer drills, using special lined paper to help me get consistency in letter size and angle slope and generaly try very very hard not to write sloping backwards! When I wrote this sample I felt it was the neatest forward slant writing I had ever done and was very pleased. But, I have just scaned this in and on reflection it looks iffy - im gutted! I can see where my lean angle changes and that I have diIficulty with "r" when it folows a 'b' or 'w'. Do I simply need to practice more and it will just "come" or do I need to face facts that after 30 years of writing backwards that its here to stay? Constructive fedback and advice is welcomed. Thank you.

 

P.S. i know the written text is an odd thing to write, but I could not think what to write so started copying the backs of DVD's!

[riverguide]

I'd say keep practicing. From what I've read, it just takes practice! My script is all over the place, going from grid paper to lined paper, back to grid paper. I'm sure someone with way more experience than myself will chime in but I would say to just keep practicing each letter over and over again. Then a combination of letters over and over again. You will definitely get it!

[guilhermejf]

Try rotating the paper so that it feels easy to do the forward slant with almost the same motion you use to write back slant. You change the paper angle to make it suit your natural movement.

If you can do downstrokes with a natural movement, ovals are the next step, and it will be much easier to keep the right angle.

Edited February 22, 2012 by guilhermejf

[caliken]

Do I simply need to practice more and it will just "come" or do I need to face facts that after 30 years of writing backwards that its here to stay?

I think that there are two things you could try.

 

At the moment, your grid has the letters sloping at about 30 degrees from the vertical. Attempting to make the change to this angle is possibly too much at one go. Try writing at a right slope of about 10 degrees from the vertical. This more modest slope is about the normal for Italic lettering.

 

Secondly, when you have prepared your grid with the slope lines, slightly rotate the paper counter-clockwise on your desk until the slope lines are at right angles to your body and the desk edge. In other words, you'll be writing straight down towards you. Of course, when you then look at the paper normally, your writing will slant forwards.

 

Many right-handed writers instinctively rotate the paper slightly to the left.

 

IMO it's worth a try!

 

good luck!

 

Ken

Edited February 22, 2012 by caliken

[Mags]

I have been practicing my Palmer drills, using special lined paper to help me get consistency in letter size and angle slope and generaly try very very hard not to write sloping backwards! When I wrote this sample I felt it was the neatest forward slant writing I had ever done and was very pleased. But, I have just scaned this in and on reflection it looks iffy - im gutted! I can see where my lean angle changes and that I have diIficulty with "r" when it folows a 'b' or 'w'. Do I simply need to practice more and it will just "come" or do I need to face facts that after 30 years of writing backwards that its here to stay? Constructive fedback and advice is welcomed. Thank you.

 

P.S. i know the written text is an odd thing to write, but I could not think what to write so started copying the backs of DVD's!

 

 

This looks like a very large improvement and improvement toward your goal.

 

I am a leftie and had the back slant when I first wrote in school with cursive.

 

My grade 5 teacher always pointed out how backward I was and the slant was all wrong.....my Mom eventually got wind of my woes and tore a strip off the teacher pointing out the back slant was so normal for left handed writers. She also sat down and with some difficulty showed me how she remembered my British grandfather had hooked his left hand and written.

 

The hook style or over writing as I see it is called here took time but my slant evolved and now I have a mainstream looking cursive penmanship.

 

The key for me was to practise with a B and 2B pencil which left the side of my hand all dirty but for whatver reason the soft lead and that handwriting book over a few weeks had me on the right track.

 

In university I spun my paper to use a push style of writing and that kept the slant and avoided the hooked approach hand strain I was getting. My paper was as a result at a 45 degree angle. I was a FP user in university and all through grad studies almost only used a sheaffer med nib fountain pen...

 

So all that to say if you practise a week or two more and spin that paper a little you will get the slant just the way you want to see it. Dont forget to trace a few lines if you have some cursive fonts you are wanting to replicate.

 

Mags

[timmillr]

Everyone should keep in mind that it takes roughly 40 days to replace an old habit with a new one. But it's important that the new habit is the correct one...you don't want to have to replace that one too!

 

Of course, you need to always be practicing the new habit whenever you write, no matter what you write. It's good that you practice, but you don't want to get into the mindset that, during practice time I write forward, and not consider how you write during other times. (I'm not impyling you do this, just making it a consideration). Over time, this should become easy as your brain and body learn a new way of behaving when writing. I am curious though, at about 6 months later, how have things been going for you?

Edited August 9, 2012 by timmillr

[dickydotcom]

At first glance it looks fine.

You have been able to find faults and that's the first step to improving.

Keep practicing, keeping what you do right and improving those aspects you have identified as in need of change.

Dick D

[Bingy]

Everyone should keep in mind that it takes roughly 40 days to replace an old habit with a new one. But it's important that the new habit is the correct one...you don't want to have to replace that one too!

 

Of course, you need to always be practicing the new habit whenever you write, no matter what you write. It's good that you practice, but you don't want to get into the mindset that, during practice time I write forward, and not consider how you write during other times. (I'm not impyling you do this, just making it a consideration). Over time, this should become easy as your brain and body learn a new way of behaving when writing. I am curious though, at about 6 months later, how have things been going for you?

 

Sorry for the delay in replying, I have been away. As you say I have been at this now for 6 months and I am happy with how things are going, and have even adopted forward slant as my every day writing when taking notes, writing lists, writing my planner etc. I have even started to use it on friends birthday cards and its really funny to hear them say "I got this card and I didnt recognise the writing, it cant have been your writing!" that was from a friend of 25 years, so I take that as a positive that my writing is improving and totally different.

 

I would love to show you a sample of my progress but unfortunatly the scanner has died at the moment, but as soon as I can scan I will let you have a look.

[Achim]

Though I usually prefer cursive like in your first picture, I must say that your "normal" writing with the backward slant has much more personality and I prefer it in this case. Your attempt to "proper" writing looks more ... childish if I may say so. Just my 2c, Achim.

[timmillr]

Everyone should keep in mind that it takes roughly 40 days to replace an old habit with a new one. But it's important that the new habit is the correct one...you don't want to have to replace that one too!

 

Of course, you need to always be practicing the new habit whenever you write, no matter what you write. It's good that you practice, but you don't want to get into the mindset that, during practice time I write forward, and not consider how you write during other times. (I'm not impyling you do this, just making it a consideration). Over time, this should become easy as your brain and body learn a new way of behaving when writing. I am curious though, at about 6 months later, how have things been going for you?

 

Sorry for the delay in replying, I have been away. As you say I have been at this now for 6 months and I am happy with how things are going, and have even adopted forward slant as my every day writing when taking notes, writing lists, writing my planner etc. I have even started to use it on friends birthday cards and its really funny to hear them say "I got this card and I didnt recognise the writing, it cant have been your writing!" that was from a friend of 25 years, so I take that as a positive that my writing is improving and totally different.

 

I would love to show you a sample of my progress but unfortunatly the scanner has died at the moment, but as soon as I can scan I will let you have a look.

 

Wonderful! So glad to hear about the excellent progress!

[Bingy]

Though I usually prefer cursive like in your first picture, I must say that your "normal" writing with the backward slant has much more personality and I prefer it in this case. Your attempt to "proper" writing looks more ... childish if I may say so. Just my 2c, Achim.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with what you say, that is why I have always given up before, because it does look "childish". This time I have decided that if I quit I will never get better, I have been trying to learn forward slant cursive on/off for the best part of 25 years. If i keep practicing i am hoping that it will be come more natural and less "childish".

[Bingy]

Well here is my progress - not fully there yet but i think it is getting better. What do you think?

[oshizemi]

I think there's been a MAJOR improvement, bravo! This is inspiring me to be a little more persistent in working on mine. Thank you for sharing your progress

[Bingy]

I think there's been a MAJOR improvement, bravo! This is inspiring me to be a little more persistent in working on mine. Thank you for sharing your progress

 

Thanks for your feedback Oskizemi. Since my last post I think my flow of cursive has improved and I have now started to change letter formations. Decided to strech out the words rather than heep them compact, finally my writing is starting to look like the Palmer method !

[guilhermejf]

[N2theBreach]

That is tremendous improvement! There are people who would love to have handwriting that looks as good as yours does. Imagine what it will look like if you keep on with the same dedication.

 

I really can't offer advice to you other than to say that I'm trying work on freeing up my forearm to move across the page as a I write, and it is helping to open up my handwriting into more of an easy flow. Some people call it "writing from the shoulder," "writing with the whole arm", and so on.

 

Caliken can chime in, though. I think he's forgotten more about handwriting than I'll ever know.