Are you ashamed or embarrased of your handwriting?

[FooWriter]

It must have simply been what was expected.

I suppose it was that, as well as a matter of need. I seemed to recall that typewriters weren't commercially available until ca. 1880, and Wikipedia backs me. I imagine that most people didn't have access to one in the early 20^th century, unless they worked in the office at a large company or for the government.

 

I do a bit of genealogy research, and I haven't really seen many documents (death certificates, draft registration cards, etc.) filled in with a typewriter until the late '30s or so. Until then, I see a lot of printed forms with handwritten data, or ledger-style records with all of the information written out by hand.

 

All of which is my way of saying that I think there was a higher value placed on legible handwriting prior to the second World War.

[oceanaocean]

It must have simply been what was expected.

I suppose it was that, as well as a matter of need. I seemed to recall that typewriters weren't commercially available until ca. 1880, and Wikipedia backs me. I imagine that most people didn't have access to one in the early 20^th century, unless they worked in the office at a large company or for the government.

 

I do a bit of genealogy research, and I haven't really seen many documents (death certificates, draft registration cards, etc.) filled in with a typewriter until the late '30s or so. Until then, I see a lot of printed forms with handwritten data, or ledger-style records with all of the information written out by hand.

 

All of which is my way of saying that I think there was a higher value placed on legible handwriting prior to the second World War.

Definitely FooWriter, there were correspondence schools for "Businessman's Handwriting" After you took the course you were eligible for a job as a scribe in the office, the human typewriter. Spencerian Script.

[alteredstory]

My handwriting is legible, if only just, when I'm not writing fast, but it's also noticeably sloppy-looking. I'm working on improving it, but it's a painful process.

[cpsantillan]

I have a horrible handwriting and sometimes I don't even understand my own writing,but exactly this week I discovered that my handwriting can improve a lot because of using a stub nib/pilot 78g,this is the first fountain pen that I have with a stub nib,and now I'm in love with stub nibs,so I am thinking on sending some of my pens to have them reground to stubs/cursive italics,that is my opportunity to have a better handwriting, beyond what I could ever have expected on writing terms

[MegWesley]

My handwriting isn't bad. I just don't like how it looks. And by it, I mean mostly my uppercase letters and the letter z.

 

I like writing with a medium nib though I would like to try the finer nibs. I have a fine nib but I want to try something smaller and see what happens. Experimentation is fun.

[The penner]

My handwriting looks like a short, condensed and somewhat rushed version of Business Script. I actually love it.

[ladyambrosia]

I am fairly ashamed of my handwriting. But I have noticed since I started using only my Fountain Pen (or sometimes my dip cause I love it) It has improved some. I am going to look up some of the aids and helpful items in this forum and bind myself a practice journal and try to make my penmanship improve

[vjones]

Not ashamed, and not certain yet which nib size I prefer. I actually think my writing looks best with the 1.1 nib on my Rotring Art Pen, but I don't think I'd use a nib that size for day-to-day writing.

 

My handwriting is better now than it has ever been. In Kindergarten my teacher was appalled at my handwriting and said I'd never be successful in life with bad handwriting. I didn't listen to her, or I didn't know how to improve my writing. As the years went by, I switched schools several times and received an uneven education. I never did learn to write cursive in school.

 

Luckily, by the time I needed to do any serious communicating via the written word I had access to typewriters and, later, computers. I learned to touch-type in my twenties and that evolved into a career using computers, which evolved into a career as a computer consultant. I don't know what I might have become if computers hadn't been around when I entered the workforce.

 

Anyway, a few years ago, I decided I wanted to improve my handwriting and I worked through a book called "Write Now" which teaches italic. Now I can write legibly, unless I have to write very fast, and I do have to think about writing clearly while I'm writing. I do often take notes by hand in meetings, and I'm glad I'm able to write legibly. I find I write better with a fountain pen, for what it's worth. Otherwise, I don't have to write a whole lot by hand.

 

This year I want to work on my cursive writing so I can take notes faster.

 

I doubt anyone would call my handwriting beautiful, but it is at least legible.

Edited January 28, 2010 by vjones

[professionaldilettante]

Was, and can still be. It depends on what I am writing, if it's for my own eyes, I just use chicken scratch especially if I'm sleepy. If not sleepy, then it's sloppy cursive. If I'm writing letters, like last night at work, I use my neat cursive. It was so fancy, 7 people came by and commented me on it, that it was almost like typed. Not bad I'd say from hiding my work to getting compliments in only 5 months.

Edited February 3, 2010 by professionaldilettante

[cherrylux]

I love writing, but I'm kept from writing letters to friends and family because I cannot stand to look at my handwriting.

[KD5NRH]

Who started this whole higher education/bad penmanship craze? Doctors?

 

I'd at least partially blame the demise of shorthand: remember that many professors talk way too quickly to take good, clean notes, so it tends to ingrain poor penmanship when a student is writing fast-and-ugly for several hours a day, every day. I've talked to a few people who said their penmanship improved greatly after learning shorthand, since they no longer had any reason to write longhand faster than they could do it neatly.

 

I noticed an older lady taking notes in Gregg shorthand at the City Council meeting yesterday; her shorthand looked like it came from a laser printer, but the occasional written-out word was barely legible. When she transcribed bits at her own speed during the breaks, her Palmer cursive was as perfect as her shorthand.

[AtSwimTwoBricks]

My handwriting has never been perfect but it has definite character, so is there anything to gain by learning a hand? I don't know. I'd like to improve my writing, perhaps only to better the regularity of my shape and spacing.

[Feanor]

Are people still reading this far back, or is everyone just posting their experience now?

 

Anyway, my handwriting was pretty bad from primary school through college, to the point where teachers who had me 10 years ago and now have my little brother still remember how bad my handwriting was. It got to the point that when I looked back at my notes I could maybe read half of them (possibly since I never looked back at them anyway). So a year or two ago, I switched to all caps, and although it's not very neat, I'd have trouble believing even people new to English would have trouble reading it (maybe if they're new to Latin characters). Lately I've been trying to work my cursive back into a legible form, because I can write up to 20% faster, which is obviously better for taking notes. For reference, I'm going into medicine, and I think I'll use my all caps on anything medical to keep my doctor's handwriting from interfering with patient care.

[mhwombat]

I only print, but my writing is neat and relaxed. I rather like it.

 

As a kid I was so excited about learning cursive writing because it seemed grown up. But a few years later I decided I prefer printing after all, so I haven't used cursive in decades. I can still read it, of course, and I remember how to make the letters -- but it takes me a looooooong time.

[Bob Cratchet]

Ashamed is a poor word, however I do know that I need Practice and yet more practice, in the hopes that it will improve.

Bob

[jamesh]

My handwriting is nice when I put my mind to it and take my time, otherwise it levels off at about average to below average depending on what I am write, if I am in a hurry and for how long I have been writing. Nothing to be ashamed of considering others I have seen. Could be better though.

It's my spelling I am really embarrassed of. I am a horrible spelling. Usually i will have my computer on so I can use the word processor to write any words I am not sure of in and check the spelling that way, I also keep a pocket dictionary on hand most of the time. (My spelling is so bad that the word processor can not even make any suggestions on corrections half the time:unsure:) I think it is because I try spelling words the way they sound when I say them, but I have pretty bad speech.

[m13a8]

Mine's not too bad if I slow down, but I definitely need to practice and get better.

 

As one of approx. 5 students at my high school that still write in cursive, I often have new teachers towards the beginning of a semester say "Why do you still write in cursive?" or "Your handwriting is really hard to read."

 

In eighth grade, I even had a teacher make a big deal about one of my papers. She started yelling "I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO READ GARBAGE LIKE THIS! DRAW YOUR LETTERS LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!!"

I'm going to try to learn Chancery and then maybe Copperplate as soon as I get my calligraphy pen in!

[Mille]

My handwriting is nice when I put my mind to it and take my time, otherwise it levels off at about average to below average depending on what I am write, if I am in a hurry and for how long I have been writing. Nothing to be ashamed of considering others I have seen. Could be better though.

It's my spelling I am really embarrassed of. I am a horrible spelling. Usually i will have my computer on so I can use the word processor to write any words I am not sure of in and check the spelling that way, I also keep a pocket dictionary on hand most of the time. (My spelling is so bad that the word processor can not even make any suggestions on corrections half the time:unsure:) I think it is because I try spelling words the way they sound when I say them, but I have pretty bad speech.

 

Good on you! English is weird language when it comes to spelling, and I am grateful it is not my first language. It must be rather tough for a seven year old to be taught that cough is spelled cough.

 

For some people it is more difficult to learn to spell. That is simply they way it is. Keep up the good work!

 

And, I almost forgot. It is very unfortunate that you did not share classes with a French friend here in the forum. He had a teacher who literarily spanked correct spelling and grannar into the children. After a few slaps with the ruler you would not even dream of making a simple spelling error. Oh, well, everyone cannot be as lucky as him.

[generalist]

My handwriting isn't the best in the world, but it is a lot better than my wife's handwriting. But if I want to do something for public consumption, I use architectural block printing, ALL CAPS. (I've been doing that for long enough that I have to think hard about how to do lower case letters in block lettering.)

 

Oddly enough, I've been complimented on my handwriting when people get a look at what I do on my clipboard. One person thought it was quite pretty while another, older person, thought it was amazing that I could write so well while on a bus. I guess that fifteen plus years of clipboard writing while bus riding can do wonders.

 

I can at least read my handwriting most of the time, though I am quite aware of instances where letters are missing the right number of loops or the ascenders descend while the descenders ascend. You could call it cursive dyslexia.

 

My CALLIGRAPHY, on the other hand, is a lot better. I'm willing to release it into the wild, even though it is far from professional level work. The fact that you can do calligraphy tends to impress a lot of people as long as it looks good. If you can do it quickly with flourishes, with someone's name, they tend to really like the results.

[HildyZ]

I am one of the few people I know who writes in a Palmer-style joined cursive. It bugs me no end when people complain that my writing is "so hard to read" simply because its script. Welcome to the 19th century, people!

 

I also laugh at my mother because she complains all the time about how awful my handwriting is. It looks exactly like hers.