How To Write Properly? Finger Writing Vs Whole Arm Writing?

[Ernst Bitterman]

Part of the reason I find myself doing finger writing (in addition to speed) is a lack of space. When I try to do arm writing, I want to be able to rest the pad of my hand on a hard surface. Of course a hard surface is only available if I'm at a proper desk. When I'm taking notes in class I don't really have that space.

 

I've played around a bit with Lyander's suggestion of using the elbow as an anchor, and I've found that can help if there's somewhere to place my elbow.

 

 

 

Any other suggestions for anchor-points?

 

Uncurl the ring and pinkie fingers, and place their nails on the paper itself. The nail has little enough friction that the hand skids freely, but there's no sense of unsupported wobble; I can write thus using arm-driven motions on a little Rhodia #11, the pen and supporting fingers all moving together.

 

To practice entirely unsupported writing, I refer again to writing on a chalk/whiteboard as excellent practice, although I do find that trying it with a pen on a horizontal surface sees the writing get a little shaky.

[Centopar]

I appreciate your response. What are your thoughts on some of those disposable fountain pens?

 

I'm a bit late to the party here, but thought I'd chime in on this - they're really not bad. In fact, they're *surprisingly* not bad. A friend at work bought me a pack of Bic ones as a joke, and I was kind of amazed to find that I rather liked writing with them (the little tree at the front of my Midori TN is done with one - you can see it in this thread - the ink is a good, clear black). They're comparable to a M Safari nib. My husband has been using them on and off for notetaking, and likes them; they're certainly smoother, easier and more comfortable to use than a biro.

[Lyander0012]

Part of the reason I find myself doing finger writing (in addition to speed) is a lack of space. When I try to do arm writing, I want to be able to rest the pad of my hand on a hard surface. Of course a hard surface is only available if I'm at a proper desk. When I'm taking notes in class I don't really have that space.

 

I've played around a bit with Lyander's suggestion of using the elbow as an anchor, and I've found that can help if there's somewhere to place my elbow.

 

 

 

 

Any other suggestions for anchor-points?

Haha, I've had luck with keeping my arm and fingers steady while using my wrist to write when there's a lack of space.

And yeah, here being no place to rest my elbow on kinda scuppers my writing style" I need fairly wider tables, or at the very least, enough room to keep from bumping into others while writing.

 

And come to think of it, I haven't used finger writing in a long while now. Though I'm still as uncomfortable with whole arm writing as always, I'm at least able to say that I broke myself of the habit of writing with my fingers. The fact that most of my FPs are on the heavy side probably helped me break the habit, haha.

 

 

Cheers!

 

Kevin