Fast & Neat?

[River]

Is it possible to write very neatly and yet very fast?

 

My full speed writing is legible (to me), but I want it to be nicer.

 

If I slow down, I can make it very nice, but I want to keep up with my thoughts.

 

Are any of you fast, neat writers? Or even after all of the practice do you simply have to learn to slow down and enjoy the process of forming beautiful letters?

[caliken]

Being neat and fast doesn't work for me....it's either one or the other.

The best I can aim for, is halfway between!

 

caliken

Edited June 20, 2011 by caliken

[River]

Thanks, caliken.

 

I would kind of think so, but on the other hand, with training, one can learn to type very fast without mistakes. Why can't one learn to write fast without mistakes?

 

Maybe a keyboard is just a much more binary machine--either you press a key or you don't. There are no "sloppy" key presses.

 

The people that I know who write very neat, certainly write slower. I'm just not sure that I'm ready to slow down.

[ticoun]

Thanks, caliken.

 

I would kind of think so, but on the other hand, with training, one can learn to type very fast without mistakes. Why can't one learn to write fast without mistakes?

 

Maybe a keyboard is just a much more binary machine--either you press a key or you don't. There are no "sloppy" key presses.

 

The people that I know who write very neat, certainly write slower. I'm just not sure that I'm ready to slow down.

 

pressing two keys at a time is what i would call "sloppy"

[MrMGWard]

With disciplined "Palmer Method" style training. I feel you would achieve a faster/neater hand to an extent. Slower will always be cleaner, but that doesn't mean you cant have a neat hand at speed.

 

My $0.02

 

Swavey

[JefferyS]

No fast and neat for me. Forming the letters correctly still require me to say pay attention to what I'm doing. I hope that it will at some time be more like a reflex, but I'm trying to undo 56 years of uncareful writing.

[GClef]

With disciplined "Palmer Method" style training. I feel you would achieve a faster/neater hand to an extent. Slower will always be cleaner, but that doesn't mean you cant have a neat hand at speed.

 

My $0.02

Ditto.

Writing fast produces more undesired strokes, but I've learned to write faster to get a different look to my usual strokes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Swavey

[Randal6393]

Well, thanks to Kate Gladstone's little panagram, I made a few tries at estimating my writing skills.

 

Routinely write an italic hand that is legible and disciplined, not always calligraphy grade, at about 200 letters per minute (lpm). As I recall, average words per minutes is lpm / 5. So, my writing speed normally is around 40 wpm. A slow typing speed but not all that slow. If I focus on letter formation, the same panagram works out to about 30 wpm. And full calligraphy mode is about 20 wpm.

 

Also looked at my cursive skills -- a mix of copperplate and palmer. Works out to about 40 wpm at full speed (no real beauty but readable), 30 wpm with care, and 20 wpm for a slow writing focused upon beauty.

 

Bearing in mind that I have worked on my calligraphy skills for almost 40 years but achieved full speed in just over a year, would say it is possible to write fairly fast and with full legibility, if not any particular beauty. Whether using a pointed pen or a broad-edged pen.

 

Enjoy,

[River]

Routinely write an italic hand that is legible and disciplined, not always calligraphy grade, at about 200 letters per minute (lpm). As I recall, average words per minutes is lpm / 5. So, my writing speed normally is around 40 wpm. A slow typing speed but not all that slow. If I focus on letter formation, the same panagram works out to about 30 wpm. And full calligraphy mode is about 20 wpm.

 

Also looked at my cursive skills -- a mix of copperplate and palmer. Works out to about 40 wpm at full speed (no real beauty but readable), 30 wpm with care, and 20 wpm for a slow writing focused upon beauty.

Enjoy,

 

Wow. That's pretty fast, if its still fairly nice. I'd be interested to see scans for comparison.

 

These are scans of my writing at full speed vs. trying to write neat.

 

Here is my regular writing at full speed. I think it is still legible, has some character, but not particularly neat.

 

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h403/Riversplitter/RegularWriting.jpg

 

For comparison, here is what happens when I slow down just a bit:

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h403/Riversplitter/ItalicWriting.jpg

 

And slow with flex:

 

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h403/Riversplitter/FalconBetter.jpg

[GClef]

Take care when attempting to write fast with that flex. You would increase the chances of catching the nib on an upstroke and damage it.

[Randal6393]

I'm away from home right now -- a short holiday in D. C. Will be back home in another week, will do some pages and scan them in. (And the check is in the mail.)

 

Enjoy,

[KateGladstone]

I would say I'm a neat writer (but you'll have to ask FPN folk who've seen my handwriting: my scanner isn't working right now) and at 130-150 LLPM (Legible Letters Per Minute) I think I am fast enough.

[caliken]

I would say I'm a neat writer (but you'll have to ask FPN folk who've seen my handwriting: my scanner isn't working right now) and at 130-150 LLPM (Legible Letters Per Minute) I think I am fast enough.

 

This my usual (careful) italic handwriting. It's not as slow as calligraphy, but as it's closer to 13 than 130 LLPM it's pretty useless for note-taking!

 

Actually, my fastest message-taking scribble is quite awful, and I'll certainly not be posting it here!

 

If I have to write something quickly, I prefer to use the computer, and leave handwriting for pleasure.

 

The quotation is from one of my favourite books "The Mystic Art of Written Forms" by Friedrich Neugebauer.

 

caliken

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/TOJUDGE2600.jpg

Edited June 23, 2011 by caliken

[GClef]

I would say I'm a neat writer (but you'll have to ask FPN folk who've seen my handwriting: my scanner isn't working right now) and at 130-150 LLPM (Legible Letters Per Minute) I think I am fast enough.

 

This my usual (careful) italic handwriting. It's not as slow as calligraphy, but as it's closer to 13 than 130 LLPM it's pretty useless for note-taking!

 

Actually, my fastest message-taking scribble is quite awful, and I'll certainly not be posting it here!

 

If I have to write something quickly, I prefer to use the computer, and leave handwriting for pleasure.

 

The quotation is from one of my favourite books "The Mystic Art of Written Forms" by Friedrich Neugebauer.

 

caliken

 

http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/caliken_2007/TOJUDGE2600.jpg

 

 

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m496/gclef1114/DSC00392.jpg

[New_Falcon]

My slow writing is definitely getting better, my fast writing though is where all my bad habits resurface. I can write quite fast but it's awful.

 

When I'm at my desk I can take my time and write more neatly. When in meetings and I need to note things quickly it just disintegrates to a mess.

 

To me fast neat cursive writing is my goal.

 

@GClef, I love those line width transistions in your posted example, what pen and ink are you using there and any hints on technique?

 

Thanks all, a very interesting thread.

[GClef]

 

 

@GClef, I love those line width transistions in your posted example, what pen and ink are you using there and any hints on technique?

 

Thank you. It's a Swan 4262 w/PR Naples Blue on Bloc Rhodia N° 18.

Hints? Lots & lots of slow practice.

I read somewhere 30-60 minutes a day...I did 25 hours a day! And I'm still workin' on it!

Edited June 23, 2011 by GClef

[pmhudepo]

I'm with New_Falcon.

 

Getting tired is also a factor that quickly returns my writing to its usual untrained messy appearance.

 

Daily practice does help, because slowly (agonisingly so) my handwriting improves.

[caliken]

Posted in error

Edited June 24, 2011 by caliken

[MBxeno]

Being neat and fast doesn't work for me....it's either one or the other.

The best I can aim for, is halfway between!

 

caliken

 

I second this. Can't get it neat and fast at the same time!

When I try to write fast, it mostly comes out as chicken scratch.. :embarrassed_smile:

[The Good Captain]

Being neat and fast doesn't work for me....it's either one or the other.

The best I can aim for, is halfway between!

 

caliken

 

I second this. Can't get it neat and fast at the same time!

When I try to write fast, it mostly comes out as chicken scratch.. :embarrassed_smile:

 

So, somewhere in between would be a feat then.