Pen Lifts.

[ParramattaPaul]

After following a few of the threads in this forum, particularly handwritten quotes, I noticed that very few handwriting examples have pen lifts mid-word. I personally lift and reposition as need dictates so I wonder why others do not. Discussion?

[Rednaxela]

I used to reposition all the time, but after changing my technique the act of repositioning and the act of writing are now the same thing.

[PaganArcher]

I lift the pen frequently. A few letters make this evident, but for the most part it goes unnoticed unless looking for it. Used to drive my teachers insane so I learned to hide it on the page.

[NinthSphere]

When I start a word in cursive, my hand moves seemingly of its own volition. I don't have conscious thought of intending to write individual letters. I start to write a word &, unless it's something that I have to slow down & think about the spelling for, I don't have control until the word is formed. Even on longer words. Mid-word pen lifts would require a conscious effort of slowing down with the intent of placing said lifts. I have no idea where I would place them & what doing so would accomplish other than slowing down & disrupting the flow of my writing.

 

That said, I do use a number of freestanding capitals, but those are so programmed into my cursive that they don't require conscious thought to continue writing.

[ac12]

If you write with your fingers with your hand anchored, you need to lift more often then if you write with your arm.

This is simply because your fingers have a smaller arc of movement than your arm.

When I finger wrote, I used to lift several times in a single long word. Typically each section was about 5 or 6 letters. I had to stop, lift and re-position my hand, to continue writing the word.

With arm writing, I can do an entire long word without having to stop, lift and re-position my hand.

Edited December 26, 2016 by ac12

[ParramattaPaul]

If you write with your fingers with your hand anchored, you need to lift more often then if you write with your arm.

This is simply because your fingers have a smaller arc of movement than your arm.

When I finger wrote, I used to lift several times in a single long word. Typically each section was about 5 or 6 letters. I had to stop, lift and re-position my hand, to continue writing the word.

With arm writing, I can do an entire long word without having to stop, lift and re-position my hand.

 

Your comment draws attention to an aspect of writing that I had not considered. I write with my hand anchored as you described. I put it down to all the years at school when I, being left handed, was seated on the left side of a shared desk (my desk-mate invariably being right handed) with my elbow out in space when we were working. Then too, left handed students, and their needs, were basically ignored during an handwriting practice in the 1950s in particular.

 

I will have to explore writing with my arm for a change.

[ac12]

Paul

Since you have never done arm writing, here are a few comments, based on what I went through.

• Be patient. Training my arm muscles to do something it had never done before was a long and tedious process. Talk about CLUMSY, that was my arm when I first started to write with my arm. It was like trying to write with my other hand.
  • It took me 3 months of DAILY practice before I could write with my arm, without regressing to finger writing.
  • Once I got past that point, I could concentrate on improving my writing, which took another 3 months.
• I pivot my arm on the muscle pad just in front of my elbow, and I hold my hand just above the paper, I only contact the paper with the finger nails on my ring and little finger.
• Do the exercises. That will help get your arm muscles used to moving like they should. I did not do enough exercises, and I think I would have gone faster if I had done more exercises in the beginning and less writing, to get my arm muscle more used to the movements.
• Try to practice at least 30 minutes a day, more would be better. Try 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening. Muscle memory requires repetition, so the more you write with your arm, the faster the muscle memory will develop.
• I started to write a daily journal, to give me something to do when I was practicing. It was a trick I used to get me to write/practice more.
• I used both an XF/EF and M nibs. The XF nibs showed me EXACTLY where my pen was going, and I could easily see my mistakes. The wider ink line of the M nib would sometimes hide my mistakes.
• I use US WIDE ruled paper, writing on a single line, and using the entire vertical space between the lines. This "trick" forced me to write larger than I used to, thus forcing me to move my arm. You could even use 2 lines of a narrower ruled paper. Using 2 lines gives you an additional help. The line in the middle is your x-height line. So you can easily keep your short letters at the same height.
• I also made sure that I gripped the pen with a LIGHT grip. This eliminated the hand cramps that I used to get from using a TIGHT grip. I was then able to write for over an hour without pain, whereas I used to get a hand cramp after 15 minutes with a TIGHT grip.

That was learning to write with my arm.

Today in practice I write hybrid, with my arm, hand and fingers. The small muscles of my fingers are better at the fine small movements than the large arm muscles. So while I primarily write with my arm, my fingers are sometimes moving at the same time.

 

gud luk

[Inkquest]

Paul

Since you have never done arm writing, here are a few comments, based on what I went through.

 

 

Excellent post. What is/are the source(s) of the exercises you practiced?

Edited December 31, 2016 by Inkquest

[FromTheNetherlands]

 

Excellent post. What is/are the source(s) of the exercises you practiced?

I don't know exactly which source, but this one should be perfect (for me, at least, it was and is): The Palmer Method of Business Handwriting.

 

Google it, there is a website for it and a free/legal PDF copy is available somewhere.

[ac12]

I just got the old instructions manuals from the IAMPETH web site.

Exercises are in the manuals.