How do You Hold Your Pen?

[wspohn]

I have seen many people holding a pen right down near the nib like some sort of cramped claw wrapped around a stick.

 

In fact that seems to be how some pens are designed - a Parker 75 has the grips quite far down. I don't hold my pen there, I hold it above the grip surfaces on a 75, right near where the section screws into the barrel.

 

I guess this is personal, like how one holds chopsticks, but I wondered if people had been taught the 'claw' grip and how many people use a more relaxed higher grip.

[Maja]

Like you, I prefer a higher grip on my fountain pens, Bill. Coincidentally, I was using my Parker 75 today and do find the grip to be rather low...but I still love the pen. It is so comfortable to hold because of its contoured section. When I used a wooden pencil in grade school, I gripped the pencil closer to the pointy end because I had to press harder, but I am assuming your question is just about fountain pens

 

I was thinking of getting a Taccia Imperial Portugese fountain pen because the section threads are so close the nib (and, therefore, nowhere near my fingers).....

[Dawn]

I tend to hold the pen low down fairly near the nib, this is how I find it comfortable to write. I have tried to hold the pen higher up but its just not comfortable for me.

 

Dawn

[playpen]

I tend to hold the pen very close to the nib because it gives me better control. I found that if I hold a sewing needle very close to the point, it not only controls the stitch much more satisfactorily but it also prevents accidents (stabbing oneself or others with a fingertip is much less painful!).

I am a lefty but curiously enough I do not hold the pen in the typically contorted manner. I suspect that this is a result of the world attempting to convert me into a righty when I was small. My aunt used to sit me down for hours and force me to write the alphabet over and over again with my right hand....talk about child abuse, she would be arrested and carted away to Murphy Towers if she tried that now!

[tonyv]

It varies how I hold an fp. Sometimes I hold the pen higher up where the section and barrel meet and sometimes even higher. Once in a while I'll hold the pen by gripping the section, but rarely do I hold it close to the nib. I'll start to pay more attention to this when I write. I seem to think it has to do with what I'm writing and how much I'm writing.

[StanSoph]

I hold the pen at the union of section and the barrel. I tend to write a tad smaller than most people and the higher grip allows me to move the pen less to form my letters. I call it "economy of motion" I am also an arm and rigid hand writer as opposed to moving my hand at the wristto write. The higher grip just feels right.

[The Legend]

I hold it like this....

 

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s77/hruud/FPN/Peninhand.jpg

 

But I do see some pretty weird poses of persons holding a pen, especially ballpens.

They tend to hold fountainpens a bit better, by the way, but sometimes very nib-unfriendly I would say.

 

The Legend

[Jazzbaby]

I hold the pen fairly low, near the nib. Too many years of using nasty ballpoints and pencils, no doubt. As I have a tendency to also grip a pen in a vice-lock, I am attempting to hold the pen a bit higher as that relaxes my hand a little. Some of my pens have such a big nib, the Duke Shark for eg., that if I hold it my normal distance from the paper, I am practically gripping the nib itself. Very uncomfortable. So, like all things, it's a work in progress.

 

[Pengrump]

I have several pens that deposit more ink on my fingers than on the page if I hold them too close to the nib. So I am learning to change my grip to a higher, looser one--when I remember!

[jd50ae]

Like this.....

[HDoug]

Like this...

 

http://homepage.mac.com/hdougmatsuoka/images/pen/grip2.jpg

 

Doug

 

[Ged]

Depends on what I'm writing. Normal writing my fingers are 3-4cm from the end of the section. In some pens, this ends up being at the cap screw or even higher. If I'm using my smallest dip nib and doing uncial's my grip is lower, almost at the nib itself. Better control I guess! I tend to write cursive usually, so the higher grip lets my chicken scratch itch the page faster

[pilgrim]

never closer to the nib, i hate to much control.

http://www.mobisux.com/album/data/500/35561dr_a_peresa.jpg

[antoniosz]

I hold it according to what the early teachers were suggesting. See below

from the The Theory and Practice of Handwriting, by John Jackson, 1896

 

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b325/azavalia/penholding.jpg

 

[sheafferkid]

I'm right handed so I hold the pen close to the nib with my thumb on the left side of the grip, my index and middle finger on the right, with the "ring" finger on the very bottom. It gives me more control than using only my index, thumb, and ring finger.

 

Evan

[Shangas]

I generally hold my pen with my hand apart from the rare times where my hands are occupied and I stick it into my ear to write down some hasty notes...

 

Now being serious:

 

I hold my fountain pen just above the nib, with my thumb on the left side of the grip, my index finger on the grip in line with the nib, my middle finger on the right side of the grip (opposite to the thumb), and my ring and pinkie fingers underneath the pen.

[bossy]

My technique is identical to Doug, except for his IMO perfect handwriting

[CrAckErKorEaN]

I hold my pen like many of you. I started doing this mostly because thats where the cushy part of ball points were and only made sense to hold there. And also on FPs there a nice area for one to hold.

 

But I also have a very strange way of holding a pen. I am lefthanded BTW.

I hold the pen inbetween my index and middle finger and the pen points towards me. It rests on my middle finger and held by my thumb and index finger.

Edited April 27, 2007 by CrAckErKorEaN

[gcfeller]

I hold my pen in the grip area just above the nib, with my thumb and first two fingers. I'm left handed and I tend to do the same thing CrAckErKorEaN. I've heard it referred to as being an "Upside down" Lefty.

Edited April 27, 2007 by Mister G

[Splicer]

I'm having difficulty determining the proper way to hold my pen. I'm trying to reform my writing and shoulder-write rather than finger-write.

 

Holding my pen between the tips of my thumb and index finger and resting the barrel of the pen on my knuckle where the index finger joins the hand, I'm afraid that it will slide right out of my hand, and I tend to grip too tightly to compensate.

 

 

This is something I tried when I misunderstood someone's instructions: The tip of the index finger below the section.

 

 

...and how i always used to hold a pen: three points of contact: thumb, index finger, middle finger.

 

 

There's a lot I'm not sure of. One point is: how do I rest the pen on the knuckle of my index finger? There's nothing holding it there and if I let go it'll fall into the crook of my thumb. That, as I'm coming to understand is the wrong way.

 

Also, what are the actual advantages of the position? Why is one better than any others?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Steve