Cursive - Slant Vs Vertical

[nitaantsingh]

Heres an article i found.

 

https://expattutor.wordpress.com/tag/is-slanted-or-vertical-writing-better/

 

whats everyones opinion on cursive writing in terms of slanting right vs vertical?

 

My handwriting is actually pretty good, and is perfectly vertical. But ive been trying to learn slant writing because I thought it was better.

 

But im wondering if it really is so...

[Wrecky]

I prefer slanted. However if you're used to vertical, I wouldn't change.

Can you provide us with a writing example?

[nitaantsingh]

heres a sample. not as nice as i usually write but my hand was hurting from a long session yesterday

[NinthSphere]

I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. I was taught to write cursive with a slant, so that's what I do. My writing looks awkward to me vertical unless I'm printing. If I had been taught to write cursive vertical, I'm sure I'd feel just the opposite.

[inkstainedruth]

My handwriting is a work in progress after roughly 40 years of mostly printing except for signatures. Whether it's upright or slanted depend on a lot of factors -- not the least of which being how tired I am -- and the signatures are definitely fall in the "upright" category.

But it's an interesting blog post nonetheless. Thanks for posting the link.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[knarflj]

I write both ways, depending on what I'm writing and/or who I'm writing to. I don't think one is necessarily better in general than the other. Slant tends, I think (when the slant is consistent), to make a prettier page. Vertical is often more legible, at least in the sense that it is easier to skim a page quickly. I always take lecture notes with an upright hand (more a semi-connected print than a completely cursive hand) because I find it so much easier to review or to find a particular point this way than with any kind of slanted hand. But when writing drafts, or scribbling performance notes, slant wins for its speed.

 

Jenny

[dcwaites]

I am of the understanding that each person has a natural, unconscious degree of slant, which can be backwards, upright or forward.

You can force yourself to change your degree of slant, as, for example, a calligrapher would do depending on the writing style being used.

However, for normal stuff that you are writing for yourself or others, just do what feels natural.

[ac12]

Everyone has an opinion.

True, vertical cursive is closer to print, and thus it is somewhat easier to read.

But if I want to be ABSOLUTELY sure that my handwriting can be read, like in an exam, I switch to simple block printing.

 

I think it really comes down to what you were taught.

If you REALLY wanted to change, you could.

 

I was taught to write script/cursive with a slant. So that is what I naturally do. However, with a flex nib fountain pen, I can't flex the nib properly (even flex of both tines) when writing with a slant, so that I write vertically. Which is why for flex writing I would rather use my oblique dip pen holder, so that I can write normally (with a slant), and flex the nib properly (even flex of both tines).

 

I print vertical.

 

My italic is vertical, though I am reading more about using a slight slant.

Edited January 8, 2017 by ac12