What Should I Do To Improve My Handwriting?

[zwack]

Greetings,

 

I will start by saying that I have dyspraxia so my writing will never be perfect... I have trouble with my co-ordination, to the point that I have been known to bounce off of a wall while walking down a perfectly straight and level corridor.

 

Anyway, I have attached two files showing both a before and after sample of my handwriting... I know I still need to work on consistency, and perhaps spacing, but I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions or tips

 

Original hand and new sample one (Platinum preppy in Fine with Platinum black cartridge in a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook)

 

New sample two (Levenger L-Tech 3.0 in Fine with Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher in the same notebook)

 

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

[akustyk]

I think your "old" handwriting is quite good. It just needs some polish, some consistency. Learning cursive from scratch is going to be a really long and difficult process. I also have a neurological issue that affects my motor neurons. I gave up on cursive because it's just not feasible for me. Italic is simpler because it's more like drawing than writing, but it's slow.

[knarflj]

The only thing that jumps out at me, Zwack, is that the ascender of your 'f' doesn't ascend. It's not a problem in this sample, because the intended words are obvious from the context. There are also small differences in the angle and x-height, but that's probably included in what you meant by "consistency".

I'd like to add that I very much admire your determination to work on your writing despite the dyspraxia!

 

Jenny

[ac12]

You may try to experiment with writing size and nib size. I found that by forcing myself to write larger, the full vertical height of a WIDE ruled paper, that I learned to write better. I discovered that I could hide a lot of writing mistakes using a M nib and writing small. With a F or XF nib and writing large, my mistakes were easier to see, and thus identify and correct.

 

But if range of motion is an issue, maybe writing smaller might be easier.

 

And as was mentioned, experiment with script/cursive vs. printing/italic. See which one works better for YOU.

 

You might try writing wider, spread your writing out so that it isn't jammed close together. For me, that gives me more space to form the letters.

 

And your handwriting is actually much better than mine was, before I relearned to write. My old hand was UGLY and difficult to read. Legibility is the key, and your hand is legible.

Edited February 9, 2016 by ac12

[zwack]

Thank you all.

 

I think I will continue trying to improve the cursive rather than switching to something else entirely. I like the flow of cursive a lot. There are certain letters I have some issues with, but looking at alternate letter forms (like variations on x) has helped find ones that I feel flow better for me.

 

The comment about the ascender on the f was very helpful. I have tried to improve that and it does make a difference.

 

As for size... both of the pens I used are "fine" in fact all four of the pens I commonly use are the Levenger's seems to have a medium or broad nib that is marked as a fine.

 

I am currently using a Leuchtturm 1917 with a 5mm dot grid and try to spread my writing over three rows. One for ascenders, one for descenders and the middle for the main body of the letters. Certainly writing larger seems to help the appearance.

 

Thanks again.

[dip_n_flow]

You may try to experiment with writing size and nib size.

Hi,

I noticed that, since I'm journalizing with calligraphy pens and dip pens, my writing-angle changed and I improved my nib-tip-consciousness. So I completely agree with this advice.

 

Greetings

Edited February 11, 2016 by dip_n_flow