Learning The Palmer Method Of Business Writing

[thang1thang2]

Can Palmer be done appropriately when writing in cramped environments like that? I'll post an example of my atrocious writing in a few minutes.

 

The short answer is yes. The long answer is that, yes, while you can do your business writing cramped up curled over in a lecture hall, it's never going to look as flowing free or relaxed as if you sit up and do it on a large desk. That being said, if I'm in a cramped up position I just plant my palm on the paper (egad!) and I finger write it about a word or a half a word at a time, and then I inch my hand up and re-plant and continue to write. Not as "fast" but it preserves the letter forms for me and makes my handwriting still neat, which is what I like.

 

I can even write on a bus passably with that method though I don't recommend it except in 'dire circumstances.'

[slacker.lax]

Hi.

I have been practicing Palmer method since around 5 months now. Here is where I am!! :-)

[slacker.lax]

And this too. :-)

[Rumpy]

Hi everyone,

 

After over a week on the Palmer method, I am giving an update. Still no pictures, but they will come. I stayed on drill one for a week, and now am attempting drill two. I am quite patient, and hope for great results. There are a few issues however, that I would like people's feedback on.

I am naturally slow at everything I do, will I ever be able to write well at 200 downstrokes a minute, if it doesn't fit my history of slowness?

Is anyone else using a metronome?

Should I refrain from handwriting until I can do it Palmer style? If I spend an hour taking notes with finger writing, won't that trump my 30 minutes of Palmer practice?

I practice at a table, but can Palmer be used for notetaking when I have only a chair and notepad?

 

Thanks for any help.

[thang1thang2]

I've found that when I was practicing palmer without finger-writing that if I used normal handwriting later my hand would rebel and try to use the stuff I was just teaching and the stuff I already knew. So I would say keep doing the exercises and feel free to handwrite, but you'll learn faster if you only use the arm and not the finger. And if you do handwrite, try it out with just the arm and see how you like it (I found that if I needed it legible, I just used my fingers again).

 

Metronomes are very useful, it's to help with the even pace. An even pace even at 200 downstrokes doesn't feel hurried because it's evenly measured, I think you'll find that the case as well. Speed increases with practice, so you'll eventually be able to do it, no worries!

 

I would suggest doing drill 1 and drill 2 (drill 1 once just as a warmup and then drill 2 for the length of normal practice). Once you go onto drill 3 do drill 1 and 2 once each. Etc, etc. Eventually you can start out your day with drills 1 through end rather quickly as a warm up and then write.

 

Another interesting tidbit for me, I can write a relatively nice palmer, but I can never do it if I write fast, it regresses into a slurred version of it. I think this would change if I used the arm. The arm seems not to be for greater accuracy, but for maintaining accuracy over speed.

[fiberdrunk]

Hi.

I have been practicing Palmer method since around 5 months now. Here is where I am!! :-)

 

Wow, this looks really nice! Well done!

[mboschm]

I'm in as well, and this time for serious! However, I won't use the palmer method, but the mills method (It's basically the same, but more drills).

As most of my letterforms are already spencerian/Business writing based, My focus will be.

1)Arm movement.

2)Hand position. Being used to rest the fleshy part on the paper, the "correct" position makes me feel really useless.

3)My hand can be even lighter than it is now.

By the way, use good paper for the drills!

 

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o565/mboschm/DSC_0237-1.jpg

 

 

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o565/mboschm/DSC_0238.jpg

Trying some "real writing".

 

 

http://i1148.photobucket.com/albums/o565/mboschm/DSC_0239-1.jpg

[thang1thang2]

After doing my Spencerian and Copperplate and realizing how badly I suck at them, it was nice to do something I don't suck quite so badly in... Handwriting!

 

http://i.imgur.com/Pl6n8.jpg

 

http://imgur.com/a/SaH0U (note: I did this palmer practice before the first link)

 

• 
  1. Slant diminishes if you don't have a guideline for your paper to write on (oh no really?)
  2. My letterforms are less consistent in palmer since i write at speed. My 'r' and 'e' need a lot of work. When I write, I have a habit of writing the 'e's too narrow because if I write them and I try to always put a loop in there, they end up looking like a weird 'o' sometimes so i tend to err on the narrow side. Consistency in letter forms is something I really need to work on, and I'm getting there. My 'r' bugs me though. And the fact that my i, c and e look too similar and that my d looks like an e l sometimes and how my pp, ss, any double letter combination other than oo tends to get messed up. I'm annoyed to no end by how my t's are always inconsistent from the beginning of a word to the middle of a word "the t in "the" is usually shorter than the t in little, for example". My a is sometimes open so it looks more like a u than an a. Whoops.
  3. I have brain glitches, a lot. I sometimes write a different word other than what I wanted to. I write the same word twice, I add a t in there randomly, I cross my l's, I dot my t's, I add length to my i's for no reason and then feel compelled to cross them or turn them into l's. And heaven forbid if I mess up on my y, I'll make it into a g and then yell at myself for being stupid. Slowing down helps with this a little, but paying more attention helps too.
  4. I still can't really get the hang of arm writing, is it really that necessary?
  5. I think my spacing is much too narrow. Should I try doubling the spacing? It doesn't quite look too airy, which is the ideal of Palmer after all, so I'm probably dropping the ball somewhere.
  6. Any other comments?
  

I love my fountain pens. I wish I had a flexible one though... Something to save up towards.

Edited November 17, 2012 by thang1thang2

[vivere]

I hope I am not too late to join this thread!

 

I, too, am trying to learn Palmer's method. The appeal of using a proper pen - "BIC" pens are a travesty - sparked the desire to improve my penmanship. I started as an overwriter lefty, turning my page about 30-45 degrees counterclockwise. However, with these wet inks, I found that I was more apt to smudge than when using cheap "BIC" pens. Thus, I was conflicted whether to improve my current method of writing, or invest in a completely new technique of writing! I decided in the end to switch to a more "proper" form for a left-handed writer and began practicing underhanded. I needed a model of script to practice and stumbled upon Palmer's. I love how it is beautiful, yet utilitarian and straight-forward at the same time!

 

So, I invested in a Lamy Al-star and a bottle of Waterman Intense Black and started to practice (Noodlers Air Corp Blue-Black arrives today in the mail )! It's been a journey over the past few weeks; I find myself carrying a cheap Mead graph-ruled notebook and countless pages of Achim's practice guidelined sheets. Now, I write countless circle after circle, all-the-while receiving looks of ponder from those unfamiliar with a concept of improving penmanship and the self. Haha.

 

I hope to humbly submit some pictures of my writing soon, but I need to figure out how to do so. Keep on practicing ladies and gentlemen. It keeps me accountable and on the track!

 

Ok....back to scribbling lines and slanted ovals. Haha

[vivere]

how is everyone doing with good ol' palmer?

 

Best,

 

Forrest

[vivere]

 

Here is an iphone image of my writing. Please give me any advice you can offer. I appreciate all your help at FPN!

 

Best,

 

Forrest

[vivere]

Here is my contribution for the morning.

 

Best,

 

Forrest

 

[vivere]

I may be the only one utilizing this thread, but oh well. Haha.

 

This is a copy of my writing trying to show how size greatly affects my writing. I think I need to develop the angle that keeps the forward momentum of the letters. I understand that Palmer usually is written around a 52-55 degree angle, but there is another angle hidden, 30 degrees I believe, that contributes to the movement of the letters. This is what I need to practice, so that there is more spacing in my letters.

 

Would anyone else agree? Haha, is anyone else in here?

 

Best,

 

Forrest

 

[thang1thang2]

I may be the only one utilizing this thread, but oh well. Haha.

 

This is a copy of my writing trying to show how size greatly affects my writing. I think I need to develop the angle that keeps the forward momentum of the letters. I understand that Palmer usually is written around a 52-55 degree angle, but there is another angle hidden, 30 degrees I believe, that contributes to the movement of the letters. This is what I need to practice, so that there is more spacing in my letters.

 

Would anyone else agree? Haha, is anyone else in here?

 

 

The 30º angle that you're seeing that contributes to the movement of the letters is also found (I believe) in Spencerian. Spencerian has four main 'strokes' and though the letter ascenders and descenders are at the 52º line there are certain strokes that are made at around the 30º line. For best readability you'll find that using those strokes at the set angles will actually have you making certain different strokes at a 30º (of course, I'm going off the assumption that 30º is the right one, unless my memory has failed me again)

 

Your palmer is looking wonderful! May I suggest using a thinner nib? The thinner nib will make your handwriting look more readable by giving your letters more room to breathe (I have a pen that writes like yours and I experience the same problem. I have to write "big" just to make it rather legible. It does write beautifully though, I just save it for titles or bold emphasis in writing)

 

You will get more "room" in your letters by making the distance between them greater. I'll upload an image showing this as best as I can soon! Basically the connecting strokes between the different letters (that 30º angle you're experiencing) in your particular writing is very short. Lengthening it will give your letters room to breathe.

 

Whooo, got the picture uploaded. Here it is!

 

http://i.imgur.com/2LJPH.jpg

 

Can't believe I had to edit this three times to realize I was missing a forward slash in my http... So much for being a computer geek.

Edited December 14, 2012 by thang1thang2

[vivere]

Thanks, for the advice. My one and only pen (at the moment) is a Lamy Al-Star Medium nib. I just received a sheaffer 100 as well, but in medium unfortunately. I think I'll make my next purchase a finer nib.

 

Best,

 

Forrest

[smk]

Forrest - no you're not the only one in here :-)

 

thang1thang2's observations on the 30-degree connectors are spot on. I believe someone made a grid with 30-degree slant guides for Spencerian practice (in the Spencerian thread). Keeping the connectors at this shallow angle helps with spacing too.

 

Salman

[vivere]

I've been using Achim's guidesheets to practice my slant and angle. They are the ones that are heavily gridded. I've been thinking, would it be better to practice my lettering and excercises using those, or plain ruled paper. I also purchased a cheap graph notebook, and doodled in there as well.

 

What makes for the best practice?

 

Best,

 

Forrest

[thang1thang2]

I've been using Achim's guidesheets to practice my slant and angle. They are the ones that are heavily gridded. I've been thinking, would it be better to practice my lettering and excercises using those, or plain ruled paper. I also purchased a cheap graph notebook, and doodled in there as well.

 

What makes for the best practice?

 

Best,

 

Forrest

 

The practice of the lettering is to get the forms into your head. In my opinion, until you get them there the more guidelines the better! The only reason you don't want guidelines is if you have to show the stuff to someone else... Then you just put the guidelines on a sheet that's under the paper.

[wallylynn]

What makes for the best practice?

 

The practice of the lettering is to get the forms into your head. In my opinion, until you get them there the more guidelines the better!

I'm sure you already have the forms in your head. It's easy to recognize when it's correct and when it's not. I'm practicing Spencerian and I avoid guidelines in that I don't want to become dependent on them. Just one row of guidelines to get started. The rest is just regular lines. The point being it's critically important to make the conscious effort.

 

Use the guidelines to get your arm/hand motion limber. Then for each additional letter (or word) practice, you need to actively critique yourself before going on. "Wrong slope", "too narrow", "missed that dot", etc... Even the motions: hand too stiff, too much finger motion, lost my pen angle, too fast, too slow...

 

10 minute and just a few lines of this hard-core conscious effort will produce better results than a full page of mindless copy-practice.

[thang1thang2]

I'm practicing Spencerian and I avoid guidelines in that I don't want to become dependent on them. Just one row of guidelines to get started. The rest is just regular lines. The point being it's critically important to make the conscious effort.

 

Use the guidelines to get your arm/hand motion limber. Then for each additional letter (or word) practice, you need to actively critique yourself before going on. "Wrong slope", "too narrow", "missed that dot", etc... Even the motions: hand too stiff, too much finger motion, lost my pen angle, too fast, too slow...

 

I certainly agree that you should study your letters while you do them, in order to prevent mindless copying. However I feel that it's better to have more guidelines, and perhaps an exemplar in front of you that you copy with those same guidelines on the paper. When, for instance, you're learning to draw in art, you might take a face and put it on a very tight grid so you can meticulously copy every line perfectly onto your copy sheet. The same is true of handwriting. Taking that muscle memory and developing it for a while with those copious guidelines will imprint it onto your memory far better than trying to get the entire form right the first time. Simple break downs of the steps is key.

 

After one learns how to "draw" the face, he can then sketch it. His sketching won't look as good as the drawing, but careful practice of BOTH will allow him to eventually stop needing to draw and then being able to sketch, developing his sketching abilities to where he can artistically either match the drawing in completeness, or branch off from it in an artistic flair not possible with just drawing. That's the level of ability I aim to have with my writing someday. But before you can sketch with flair, you must draw.