I Need Fast, Legible, Relaxed, Consistent Handwriting Asap

[Zipzap]

So here's my story:

 

As stated in the description, I'm a university student in sciences. Unfortunately, my whole life, handwriting was a giant pain for me. I have had, and still have problems to it. Before I move, allow me to make clear that by "handwriting", I mean the style that I use in my everyday life because this is what's most important to me. I have nothing against calligraphy and it's cool what you can do with it, but my primary focus right now is making a drastic change in my regular writing. I feel that changing my handwriting for the better will be very beneficial to me and help me conquer my problems with handwriting. Here are the problems I have with it:

 

-For me to write "neatly" requires me to go at a snail's pace

-Even when I try to write as fast as I can, I'm still too slow. This is most obvious to me during lectures where I have to handwrite notes (from the slides, from the words coming from the professor, or both at the same time dependent on the lecture style). There are classes that I'll occasionally use the laptop for, but it only has so much battery on it.

-When I do write as fast as I can, it looks just plain awful. I'll have a hard time reading for it, and it's not very "study-able" if you get my drift.

-I'm always "tense" when I'm writing, I never feel relaxed.

-I'm never "consistent" with my writing in the sense that one day it could be decent, and the next day it'll be terrible.

-If there's any other factor that could lead to poor handwriting in any other regard, likely I'm guilty of it as well. :roflmho:

 

 

I've taken it upon myself to write this post today for a few reasons:

-1) I've always wondered why my handwriting sucked in the ways described above and other people never had a problem with it. I probably thought something along the lines of "it's my genetics, I'm born with crappy handwriting, etc"

-2) I've been searching on Google and reading various websites and forums about how people have taken on the goal of improving their handwriting.

-3) I've stumbled upon this website among others, and I've more or less realized that there's a few "known" methods that people have undertaken for improving their writing in the same way that I do desire. I'll talk about those later in my post

-4) I've always noticed that there were those one or two girls in my class (speed demons, I'll call them) who always wrote their notes during classes even when virtually everyone else used a laptop. They wrote monstrously fast, AND neat. They were relaxed, and consistent. They even got more points down than some people with laptops!

-5) I had to write an essay-style midterm today, and I noticed that people were already leaving when I was halfway through my midterm. I saw what they had written, and had already taken up ALL THE AVAILABLE PAGES! I know that midterms are not supposed to be rushed and you need to take the time with your answers, but my problem was just flat-out that my writing sucked. I knew my answers, I was just terrible with my writing. I've noticed some sort of relationship between people who had good handwriting and the marks they would receive back on these sorts of things, or maybe it's just me....

 

In short, I'm looking for the method that will give me the fastest, most legible, most relaxed, and most consistent daily handwriting possible. I'm given to understand that "italic" writing is a good method, the main books being "Write Now", "BFH", the latest edition of "Teach Yourself Better Handwriting", and "The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting". I'm aware that there's cursive methods (and by all means suggest them) out there, but I'm primarily looking for a print-based method because sciences requires a lot of formulas, jot note points, and calculations. Plus, other things in my life do require me to print majority of the time.

 

So, lay on me whatever you have. Any thoughts, advice, experience, results (pictures would help), and so on would really help me on my journey towards better handwriting!

[rangersilme]

Hi!

 

I'm hardly an expert but I may have some useful advice.

 

A few questions:

How good are you at note taking? ie. do you write everything that is on the board/everything the professor says or do you try to condense things with your own thoughts?

What type of pen/pencil are you using?

How big is your writing?

Do you want to learn cursive or printing?

*Can you post a sample/video of your writing?*

 

As for improving your writing:

don't try to improve your speed writing by writing fast. Learn how to write slowly first and speed will develop with time. The girl you mentioned probably had that nice handwriting through out junior high and high school when note taking was at a snails pace so speed naturally developed over years of use. You don't have years so you need to do the next best thing:

loosen your arms and become comfortable with your writing. If you practice slowly you'll develop the muscle movements so you don't have to concentrate on writing. Don't concentrate on going fast, concentrate on doing it right, and after enough practice you won't even have to concentrate on that, you'll be able to listen to what the professor is saying and concentrate on what needs to be written. But for now, try out one of those voice recorders to fill in the holes after lecture while writing slower. It'll give you more practice during and after lecture to improve your writing, and besides you (or me at least) rarely retain most things said only once.

 

Loosening your arms will help you move more naturally across the page and avoid hand cramps by parking your hand in one spot and using only your wrist and fingers to write. After a while you'll find your cursive will go faster too because you're not leap-frogging across the page. Some exercises can be found here: http://www.iampeth.com/books/behrensmeyer/behrensmeyer_practical_penmanship_page10.html Doing this for a little while every day before your handwriting session is better than doing it for a long time once a week. As for other sources of books/exercises I liked "A Handwriting Manual" by Fairbank. I got my copy from ebay for like $5.

 

Having grid lines on the page could help with consistent letter forms and spacing when you're practicing slowly. When you build confidence with your writing you can move a little faster. Speed should come naturally; form won't. Practice every day! Use lectures as an excuse to practice and try not to feel rushed. Taking notes and handwriting essays is as much a confidence thing as the actual handwriting.

 

One final thing: try not to get discouraged if you don't see perfect results after a few months. Writing fast and legibly is a hard thing that comes with practice and persistence.

 

Good luck!

[P.A.R.]

I second everything suggested by Rangersilme. The arm movement method mentioned above is explored in much greater detail in this article: http://www.paperpenalia.com/handwriting.html

 

It has helped me a lot - I mostly use cursive but the arm movement method is usable for printing as well.

 

One other thing: you might consider taking up some form of shorthand for note taking. My AP Lit/Composition teacher taught us a technique which isn't really shorthand, but is fairly easy to learn. It consists of eliminating unnecessary vowels and using abbreviations for common components of words, such as replacing the suffix tion with 't, or ing with 'g. Still other common words (especially articles and linking words) are replaced by single letters: o for or/of, i for if, t for the, a for and, etc.

 

tak'g nots cn b mch fstr i u dnt writ all t lttrs. Its vry dffclt t writ evryth'g t techr sys. It taks sm tim t gt usd t trnsfr'g t ths mthd, bt it wrks vry wll - sav'g tim a spac. U also dnt hv t mmriz a sris o smbls lik u wld i mst frms o shrthnd.

 

Notice that some vowels are still included where they are more necessary. I've gotten used to this and am now able to handwrite (cursive) most words without pausing to think about it. Re-reading it isn't difficult once you're used to it, providing that you have decent handwriting and use vowels where you have to. Context helps, and you may want to write out new words (vocabulary, terms, etc) in their entirety before abbreviating them if they're repeated later in a lecture.

 

Hope that helps.

 

EDIT

 

Oh, and it won't happen ASAP as you requested - it will take fixing bad habits and practice for your handwriting to improve.

Edited March 10, 2012 by P.A.R.

[htom]

Pretty much what's been said. You can, with great practice, print/letter almost as fast as cursive, but you need a lot of practice, and it's harder (all of those starts, stops, and lifting of the point.) Any of the modern cursive styles will do; pick one and do it. There are various how-tos at IAMPETH that talk about posture, writing with the entire arm, practice methods with loops, amamamamamamamam ... etc. Practice, practice, practice until we get some kind of neural implants where you can be instantly programmed by others.

[guilhermejf]

Just keep it simple. Spend some time analysing what strokes you can make by, for example, contracting your index and middle fingers. It should produce a downstroke without any effort, and paper should be rotated at an angle you can get the desired slant (straight, forwards or backwards) on the stroke. After that, try to produce ovals and m shapes, which will give some base for your letter forming, and should have the same axis as the downstroke. It is important to practice slow, because "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". If it feels wrong when it's slow, in no way it will be right when fast.

 

But it would be really nice if you posted a picture of your handwriting and your way of holding the pen, for us to guide you better.

[Zipzap]

Wow, I'm glad to see the responses here. To make it simple, I'll reply to rangerslime first since his post has the most content in it.

 

To answer your few questions:

-I'd like to say I'm just slightly above average, with my good days and with my (bleep) days in terms of focus in the classroom and how much I manage to get down. When it comes to writing things down verbatim vs condensing things with my own thoughts, it's really dependent on the professor. Some classes involve you writing things verbatim on the board because that's how the subject is taught (think Math/Chemistry/Physics/etc.). On the other hand, more language-based and concept courses like Psychology and English (where the profs tend to speak pretty fast) have all their points in their speech, so I have to write down what they say while condensing it (something I still suck at). Biology classes are the hardest because they go really fast and they throw a lot of technical information at you.

 

-I can link you to the pencil I'm using right now. It's a 5-in-1 with a pencil and 4 different coloured pens. I use this because it allows me to add colour to my notes (making them easier to read and memorize from) without having to bring a bunch of pens. The first link is my priority pen, the second one is what I use as a backup:

http://www.jetpens.com/Zebra-Clip-On-4-Color-0.7-mm-Ballpoint-Multi-Pen-0.5-mm-Pencil-White-Body/pd/475

http://www.amazon.com/BIC-4-Color-Point-Twelve-MMXP11/dp/B000F2PFPS

 

-My writing is usually pretty "cramped" vertically (really skinny, in other words). But it can also be big depending whether I choose it to be or not. It usually fits the two lines on lined paper (maybe go a bit above the line for taller letters). If I'm cramming in an answer last-minute on an exam, and the space to answer is free (i.e. just a black space, no lines to write my answer on), my writing gets bigger

 

-As I previously mentioned, I'm primarily looking for a printing method. I'll copy what I said in my first post:

"I'm aware that there's cursive methods (and by all means suggest them) out there, but I'm primarily looking for a print-based method because sciences requires a lot of formulas, jot note points, and calculations. Plus, other things in my life do require me to print majority of the time."

 

-I would need to get on that, but I can get a picture of my writing up sometime soon. I'll just see what other people have done and then upload my own copy. :hmm1:

 

 

Not sure what else to mention, but I did buy the book "Teach Yourself Better Handwriting (new edition)" yesterday. I would have bought the other ones, but this one was available at a Chapters somewhat close to where I live. I'm going to give it a read-through today, and post my initial thoughts about it soon!

 

I'll work on getting a sample of my writing up ASAP! But in the meantime, thoughts on the books I mentioned in my initial post would really help!

 

P.S. I'll still think about that eBay book...

[P.A.R.]

that arm movement method is usable for printing as well... I have used it for noth.

[Mickey]

It looks like you've got two related problems, developing lettering and numbering skills for math and science, and learning a rapid, legible, and attractive handwriting. The two are not mutually exclusive. Remember, the letter forms from most cursive hands can be written un-joined. So, when you write formulas, you will write without joins. When taking notes and doing correspondence, you will write cursively.

 

If you are interested in rapidly developing (i.e., an hour of practice a day, over the course of several weeks) a more attractive handwriting, I strongly suggest you consider Michael Sull's "Learning to Write Spencerian." It is an excellent method book and when coupled with his "Spencerian Practice Pack" (both available from John Neal Bookseller), it is about as painless a way of transforming ones handwriting as I've encountered. Don't be afraid that this is calligraphy or archaic writing; the letter forms presented in this book are still in common use (though you will probably want to use some variation of Roman capitals in your scientific work, rather than the Spencerian capitals). This study is mostly about developing sound technique. The exercises can all be done with anything from a pencil to an oblique holder (with flexible nibs) with similar salutary value. You need not become a calligrapher to write in the Spencerian manner, which, in its simplest, un-ornamented forms, is rapid, legible, and non-fatiguing.

 

Alternatively, Mr. Sull's recently published book "American Cursive Handwriting" presents an even more modern cursive hand, but one still firmly grounded in the principals developed by Platt Rogers Spencer. I recommend both courses of study.

[FLZapped]

I learned how to block print from an old Boy Scout manual. Its primary purpose was for the copy of morse code. However, you'll find a speed lmitation of about 20WPM - which you will for most forms of writing. One person here wrote something in a psuedo shorthand. In sending morse, we drop the vowels out of most words. Other words get totally goobered up. You get "pp" for people, "wx" for weather, etc. - Point being that you won't really be able to keep up unless you develop some sort of shorthand along with whatever writing style you choose.

[htom]

There used to be shorthand (Pitman, Gregg, Speedwriting, Teeline, many others) classes, taught at both high school and university level. One of the few things I wish I'd learned then (and was urged by several uncles in engineering, science, and medicine to learn!)

[professionaldilettante]

Oh the irony... you want a LEGIBLE writing style, but you want it ASAP. any change, especially handwriting, will take time and practice, as everyone has echoed.

[Zipzap]

SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO CLARIFY:

-About the "ASAP" thing, I was more referring to me getting a METHOD A.S.A.P that would give me fast/legible/relaxed/consistent writing so that I could practicing and getting good at it. From what I had read prior to joining this group, it was well emphasized by many people that something like this would take a great deal of time and efforts if I wanted to have good results. My apologies there, I didn't want to come off as a person looking for that "quick fix" (especially to P.A.R> and professionaldilettante). :roflmho:

 

With all the helpful responses, I'm going to do my best here and respond to them one by one:

 

The "arm movement method" suggested by P.A.R. and rangerslime

-I'll definitely check this out and get back to you guys on that. With school eating up all my time right now, I figured it would be best to get my hands on as much knowledge, materials, and advice before I spend my summer vacation (4 months) on handwriting practice. If P.A.R. claims that it's useful for printing as well, then I'll do my best to incorporate that into my training!

 

"Incorporating shorthand into note taking" as suggested by htom, FLZapped, and P.A.R.

-You guys definitely seem right (FLZapped especially) in that there's a speed limitation with handwriting, and that I won't keep up unless I abbreviate some things. I have a big list at home of things I could abbreviate, but I'll definitely look into shorthand. Any particularly shorthand method you guys best recommend?

 

A few things for Mickey:

-What did you mean when you said I appear to have a problem with "developing lettering and numbering skills for math and science"? Could you perhaps elaborate on that, I don't think I understand what you mean...

-I'll take a look at Michael Sull's "Learning to Write Spencerian", "Spencerian Practice Pack", and his recently published "American Cursive Handwriting". Out of curiousity, are any of those three titles in this link: http://www.iampeth.com/lessons_spencerian.php

 

 

Overall, I have to say that my eyes have opened up even more to all the available resources out there! I am noticing though (correct me if I'm wrong) that most of the members here seem to prefer some form of cursive writing. I'm perfectly fine with that, but it seems odd to me that nobody has suggested anything related to print/italic handwriting (i.e. the book I bought, thoughts on the products I mentioned, their own methods/materials, etc.). I have no problem with looking through the cursive material suggested to me, but I would like to hear more of your feedback on italic/print handwriting.

 

Once again, I appreciate all the great feedback I'm getting, and I'll be sure to put up pictures of my handwriting as soon as I can!

[professionaldilettante]

One tip that might help, is if you picked up a Lamy Safari. Their grip helps reinforce a hand hold that is every beneficial to developing a tripod-grip, as if you hold it any other way, it's very uncomfortable.

 

I'm sorry if I came across all evil and like. I have a few words you can use to practice forming letters, especially m,n, and s

 

Osmosis

Mummy

numbers

remember

 

Take your time, and speed will come second naturally.

[P.A.R.]

  On 3/12/2012 at 4:31 AM, professionaldilettante said:

One tip that might help, is if you picked up a Lamy Safari. Their grip helps reinforce a hand hold that is every beneficial to developing a tripod-grip, as if you hold it any other way, it's very uncomfortable.

 

I'm sorry if I came across all evil and like. I have a few words you can use to practice forming letters, especially m,n, and s

 

Osmosis

Mummy

numbers

remember

 

Take your time, and speed will come second naturally.

 

+1.

 

Having the appropriate grip is very important for writing comfort. You can let the pen rest in your hand and have considerably less strain.

 

If you get in trouble in class, write this sentence across the entire board:

 

Osmosis makes it easier for Mummies to remember numbers.

[Mickey]

  On 3/12/2012 at 4:06 AM, Zipzap said:

 

A few things for Mickey:

-What did you mean when you said I appear to have a problem with "developing lettering and numbering skills for math and science"? Could you perhaps elaborate on that, I don't think I understand what you mean...

 

 

I was simply stating that your need had two components, which conceivably might conflict: lettering for scientific purposes and handwriting for most other purposes. As regards Spencerian, they do not. Though Roman or Italic letter forms are more commonly used for scientific purposes, you probably already know them.

 

I'm strongly of the opinion that a properly learned cursive hand (particularly one of the so-called business hands) is faster, (potentially) neater, and easier on the hands than print based systems. I see no reason why you could do your basic writing in a cursive hand and switch to unjoined (manuscript) as appropriate or necessary. I do it routinely, switching easily between mono-line Spencer and Italic letter forms as necessary.

[htom]

Whole arm is useful for every style of writing. On those very rare occasions where it's not usable for a particular stroke, you can choose not to use it. It frees your fingers for controlling the angle, rotation, and pressure of the nib, while the shoulder and arm move the pen in the letterform's shape.

 

Safari for beginning ++. Proper grip is so important. If you can't stand the look of them (or the Lamy Vista, the clear version) then a vintage early Parker 75 with the triangular grip.

 

Pitman is dependant on linear stroke width variations. Requires skill with a full flex nib or a soft pencil, but you don't have those. Gregg is ovals, can be done with most marking tools. They are both symbol systems. Speedwriting and others use alphabet forms in compressed spellings. Teeline compresses the letterforms into symbols as well. Gregg was what recommended I learn, but I tried Speedwriting, didn't learn it well, didn't practice enough, and haven't used it for decades. Bits of it still show up in my rough minutes. If I was to start today, I'd look at Teeline or Speedwriting, either of which would be a great aid to class note taking; you're not trying to take dictation in a courtroom proceeding.

 

With proper practice, cursive should be faster than lettering or printing. You don't have to raise the point from the paper between letters and lower it again. There are fewer strokes to make. (Although there are some freehand monoline so-called monostroke technical lettering alphabets.) Lettering is faster to read, with fewer variant forms to cause possible confusion.

 

Practice, practice, practice, proper practice, in whichever you choose, and you'll do well.

[picopox]

I found that the table height is different for different classrooms since they have different types of chairs/desks. Totally threw me off for the longest time until I figured it out. The different heights and the distance you are away from the paper changes your arm angle and your ability to control the pen.

 

Once I figured that out I simply need to adjust my writing position to the one I feel like I have the most control. Some of the desks are too high though, and my short arms can't get to the right position...

[P.A.R.]

  On 3/12/2012 at 5:16 PM, picopox said:

Some of the desks are too high though, and my short arms can't get to the right position...

+1. My arms are average length, but it still puts a strain on my shoulder when the desk is slightly too high.

[smk]

  On 3/12/2012 at 4:06 AM, Zipzap said:

 

.... it seems odd to me that nobody has suggested anything related to print/italic handwriting (i.e. the book I bought, thoughts on the products I mentioned, their own methods/materials, etc.). I have no problem with looking through the cursive material suggested to me, but I would like to hear more of your feedback on italic/print handwriting.

 

 

I too sense a strong bias for cursive hands - you did ask for 'Fast' though :-)

 

While not as quick to execute as the Business Hand, Cursive Italic can be learned fairly quickly. This is especially true if you are used to printing. Some people can execute a neat Cursive Italic at speeds comparable to a fast cursive hand with better legibility than cursive. I believe that the italic hand holds up better under speed but that's purely subjective and based on only my own experience.

 

One thing I would like to highlight is that even though it may take lots of practice and a significant amount of time to develop that perfect handwriting, you will start to see improvement fairly quickly. The goal may be far but you will enjoy the journey and have a 'better' handwriting after only a few practice sessions.

 

A lot depends on the quality of your practice sessions. Practice only makes permanent, if you practice bad habits, guess what gets set in your muscle memory?

 

I wish you the best of luck in your very worthy endeavors.

 

Salman

[Zipzap]

-Seems that "Lamy Safari" is being highly recommended to me by professionaldilettante, htom, and P.A.R. I found it here: http://www.lamy.com/eng/b2c/safari/018

I'm assuming the fountain pen, and not the ballpoint pen? I'm still not familiar with what a "tripod" grip is.....

Have you guys managed to check out the two pens I linked to that I'm currently using? What are your thoughts on them?

 

-"Osmosis makes it easier for Mummies to remember numbers." I like it, it'll be something else I can write beside the quick brown fox jumping over the lazy dog. :roflmho:

 

-To Mickey: Are you really suggesting that one can learn TWO distinct handwriting styles, and go back and forth between them when one chooses to do so? Wouldn't that require a complete change in grip + posture every time you do it? Your thoughts on this would be much appreciated. I'm aware that you're of the opinion that cursive is faster/neater/easier, but which sources would you recommend I check out for printing (i.e. italic writing)? Not to be a prude, but I'm still waiting for feedback regarding italic handwriting products and/or the book I have recently bought (Teach Yourself Better Handwriting) from the contributors to this thread.

 

-I'll look into the whole arm method, if it really is applicable for all writing styles..

 

-Interesting comment by htom on shorthand, I'll do some more research on that and then make a separate thread perhaps just for that. But Teeline seems promising given that it's a popular journalist's choice!

 

-Overall, it just seems like the take-away message is just consistent, proper, and focused training on handwriting over a decent period of time. It seems like a goal that's far away, but nevertheless a goal that's obtainable.

 

Always great coming back here, so much insight and advice to look forward too!

 

P.S. That handwriting sample is coming as soon as I find the time, no worries!