Graph Paper for WRITING?

[Donald594]

I have noticed that many people write on GRAPH paper. Can someone help me understand this? I just can't picture myself writing on a graph? Also... how do people write straight on paper with no lines? I just can't do that either.

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Engineers like to write on QUAD (a rectangular graph paper). Thus facilitates sketches, graphs etc. in the middle of one's writing. I would imagine architects, scientists etc. may do this as well.

 

Thus, I have pads of QUAD on and around my desk -- when I come to write non-technical stuff, I grab what is handy.

 

My journals are normal lined paper, except for my garden journal which has blank paper.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Peter from Sherwood Park

[Dave S]

Graph, I would think, is about the precision or maybe just an aesthetic preference. It does look kinda cool.

 

I like the unhindered feel of blank paper myself. My lines are never perfectly straight but it doesn't really bother me.

Edited October 26, 2008 by Dave S

[Discordianist]

I almost always write on blank pages and when I want to write straight (like on journals and notebooks) I use template sheet under the one I write on. Also I've used graph paper previously and I have no idea why would anyone like to that on purpose (well it's easily available everywhere) Lined paper looks strange to me, well so does graph paper I have used only one lined paged journal ever and it was quite a strange experiment since I cant decide line height my self and secondly I cant vary line heights easily (like larger headers or mind-maps or drawings middle of the page).

[thibaulthalpern]

If I'm not mistaken, many continental Europeans use graph paper for writing. Why that is so, I don't know.

 

As for writing straight on unlined paper, I don't know how I do it but I just do! And I do it with great ease. My line spacing also is very even on unlined paper. The odd thing is that I cannot hang a picture without it being crooked. I have depth perception problems due to a "birth defect", I guess you can say, in which one eye is WAY WAY WAY dominant over the other (aka lazy eye). However, that doesn't seem to affect me writing on unlined paper.

[HDoug]

It's possible to train yourself to write straight without lines, that's what I've done. Before you start writing, trace the first line and make any adjustments to the tilt or position of the paper and make sure your hand is comfortable at the beginning and end of the line. Then ready, aim, fire!

 

That being said I often use a guide sheet for letters on big sheets of paper like A4 and 8.5 X 11, and more often for letters to women than my male buddies. But I think that's just a personal courtesy, like making sure your hair is combed and you have a clean shirt on, and stuff like that.

 

A lot of Japanese stationery has lines that run up and down. Someone sent me a letter using one of those but written in English with the text going the long way. That looked pretty cool. Other stationery has big blocks on it so you can put the individual characters in each block, but I haven't found an "English" use for that yet...

 

Doug

[Possum Hill]

I have noticed that many people write on GRAPH paper. Can someone help me understand this? I just can't picture myself writing on a graph? Also... how do people write straight on paper with no lines? I just can't do that either.

1. It's fairly easy to ignore the vertical lines when you write, and they're useful for lining text features.

 

2. Put a sheet of graph paper under under the plain paper, so you can see the lines.

[Titivillus]

I have noticed that many people write on GRAPH paper. Can someone help me understand this? I just can't picture myself writing on a graph? Also... how do people write straight on paper with no lines? I just can't do that either.

 

 

OK it's really quite simple: some people prefer graph paper :roflmho: nothing more complicated than that.

 

 

I usually go with the larger size grid not the tiny stuff. All through school it was a requirement to present homework in a particular format on engineering paper which is quad rule with a large border. Have been doing it for years and all of the Moleskines I have bought have been graph lined. Blank is my next preference since most lined journals or paper is of the wide line rule which I don't like as my writing is rather small and gets lost on the sheet.

 

As for straight lines on blank paper, it sort of happens for me, I think I pay attention to getting the first line of a page pretty much perpendicular then just continue on keeping spacing from there.

 

 

Kurt

[agpatel]

Like said before a lot of engineers write on engineering paper, or graph paper. I am a engineering student and i have to turn in all my homework on "graph" or engineering paper so that our diagrams and what not looks neat and organized. I have become so use to it i even write my notes for other non-engineering classes on the quad paper.

[Daosus]

When I went to school in Russia, I got used to writing on 5mm graph paper. Now, I the closest I can find in the States is 5per inch.

 

It's really all about preference, though.

[playpen]

I never saw this until I received some letters from some of the FPN people. I use graph paper also but I love to write on tracing paper because it's smooth. I have a fortune in stationery but always seem to grab my tracing paper when I have letters to write! :

[HerosNSuch]

I think it looks kind of neat.

[tnmike1]

My father-in-law was an engineer here in Knoxville and when he died I "inherited" stacks of graph paper. Don't know why, but I love the stuff. And we're talking about graph paper that's from the 1950s when engineers used slide rules and graph paper to design things So this paper is super smooth, no feathering with a pen and is a dream to write with. Got me addicted to using the stuff.

[hexadecimal]

I use Moleskine XL Cahiers in a 'squared' format for taking lecture notes (in Demography). Easy to add sketch graphs and diagrams and looks rather good (IMHO).

[QM2]

Graph paper allows for denser writing than lined paper, while still maintaining legibility, structure and neatness. This is useful when writing manuscripts, article drafts, patient notes, and so on -- when a lot of information needs to be crammed in as little space as possible, while still looking nice.

 

As others have pointed out, it also allows you to insert charts and technical drawings, allowing an easy way to show scale/proportions.

 

Finally, once you start using graph paper, it is addictive. You get really used to the aesthetics of it and find the little grids familiar and comforting. Give it a try : )

Edited October 27, 2008 by QM2

[Lloyd]

Graph paper offers horizontal lines whether you use the page "in portrait mode" or "in landscape mode".

[nkk]

I do not know if you consider note taking as writing, but I use graph paper for that. I do so becuase in the middle of a sentence, I may have to draw a diagram or graph to demonstrate, or to label the parts. It is especially useful to calculus and physics, or any science or math.

 

-Nkk

[CraigR]

I like to use graph paper to practice my handwriting. It just seems to help me with letter spacing and vertical line placement. My dad was an engineer, so pads of the stuff were always available when I was growing up. Many times I was in trouble for turning in homework on graph paper instead of notebook paper. Guess I just grew used to using it for everyday writing. /Craig

Edited October 27, 2008 by CraigR

[wednesday_mac]

A friend likes notebooks with graph paper because he can write horizontally and vertically on the lines as he wishes.

 

He sketches as well as writes a lot out of doors, and says it's much easier to accommodate graph paper on the lakeshores and rocks and whatnot he perches on to take notes/sketches preliminaries. He swears by graph paper for preliminary drawings.

 

 

 

[DrPJM1]

As a schoolboy in Spain, I remember always using graph paper.