Improving my handwriting quickly!

May 2, 2018 11:19 AM

I need to improve my handwriting within the next couple of weeks. It's quite bad, and if I slow down and take the time to write neatly it's almost legible but still very ugly. I need it to look nice and be legible within the next two weeks. Just block printing, not cursive script. Can I do this, and, if so, how?

I've seen this and this previously but they focus on longer-term plans or general later-in-life skills improvement. Part of the horrendousness of my handwriting, I think, is that I do so much typing these days that my hands are out of writing shape. I've never had beautiful handwriting but it used to be at least legible and not horribly misshapen. I'd love it to look like a teacher's block print but I'm sure that is not a possibility in the near future.

Any tips/tricks/thoughts welcome!

posted by stillmoving to Education (14 answers total)

There's no trick here, you just need to practice writing neatly. I teach first graders with this book, I'd just get something like it and practice page by page, just make sure you start writing as slowly as necessary to make it neat. I had terrible handwriting when I started teaching, but demonstrating the letters for my students improved my writing pretty quickly.
posted by Huck500 at 11:29 AM on May 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

Is there a particular reason why you are in such a rush to improve your handwriting? Is this for a job, or are you trying to create a gift for someone, or....?

Also, what kind of "handwriting" are you talking about, and how strict is your definition? I personally gave up all hope of ever having attractive cursive, and focused on my block printing, which was always far better. If you notice that one or the other is a strong point for you, and it's acceptable for...whatever you are doing, then maybe focus on that.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:30 AM on May 2, 2018

Taking your time and practice are the only two real solutions.

I took a short class on doing effective presentations at a conference I attended and part of that involved explaining things with a whiteboard. In that case, you have the cover of being able to talk while writing so the speed doesn't matter as much, but the same rules apply -- you get better through repetition. We had an entire fifteen minute block to write on a whiteboard in block letters and draw simple shapes, and I've done the same to practice a number of times since then.

I'd say to do the alphabet for a while to figure out which letters you're decent at and which need work, do some repetition on letters until you're at a decent level, and then find something -- a book, a webpage -- and just start writing it in a notebook.

The first grade primer idea above is useful for technique. There are letters where I've started taking shortcuts or do them completely wrong, and a refresher on the mechanics of which line goes where, and what order you make them, gives you a basis for relearning.
posted by mikeh at 11:36 AM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Do you already use one the conventional styles? If you never learned or forgot and e.g. make F's or R's with some funny stroke pattern, that will impede your progress.

Yes, you have to practice, perhaps a lot. Some tips:
-If you already watch TV or (videos or podcasts etc), take notes. This way you can add practice time without taking much away from time you already spend on entertainment.

-Write out stuff you like and want to memorize: famous quotes you like, scraps from books and movies, jokes, theorems, poems, trivia Q&A etc. That way your handwriting practice is also practice for other stuff that is useful or enjoyable.
posted by SaltySalticid at 12:00 PM on May 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

Have you seen Handwriting Success? The authors had a sort of visual Op-Ed in the NYT a few years ago. Their web site has more extensive sample pages (PDF) so you can get a feel for the method.
posted by fedward at 12:13 PM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I've shared this anecdote in a few other handwriting questions:

To address the issue of your handwriting: I was in the same boat for a long time. At around 23 or 24, I decided I wanted to change it, so I sucked it up, went to Staples, and bought one of those kindergarten-level handwriting books. You remember them - the top half has what the letters should look like, the bottom has that cheap brown paper with the top long, bottom line, and middle dashed line. Cartoon bunny rabbits and kittens and puppies are on every page offering you encouragement-via-single-syllable-words.

I'd get home from work, sit down on the couch with a drink and the TV on, and repeat letters and words over and over.

I probably looked like an idiot. I sure felt like an idiot. But five years later, my handwriting fucking rocks.

As an aside, this is just a guess, but I bet if you practiced cursive you'd actually improve your block printing, too. So don't be put off if you find a cursive practice book that you like best.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 12:40 PM on May 2, 2018 [3 favorites]

One thing to do is try slowing down. Does that help? If so, you need to write more slowly.

If you need to improve your handwriting so you can write on a whiteboard or chalkboard, you should be practicing on one, preferably at the height and angle you'll be using. Writing on a vertical surface is it's own skill.
posted by yohko at 1:27 PM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I can also recommend just writing what comes to mind, just over and over. If you think to yourself “and, and, and” and Handwrite and and and. Slow down when it gets messy. Then maybe watch some television (because this is a bit boring) and write over and over some sentence or quote you like. Sure, you can’t write a book about it, but the quicker and neater you get with those letters and writing what you’re thinking- then the easier it will be.
posted by catspajammies at 1:29 PM on May 2, 2018

NotMyselfRightNow's response is good: just start writing on a cheap primer pad.

Improve Your Handwriting, by Rosemary Sassoon and G S E Briem is a helpful and quick read. There maybe a reason you feel you're writing badly: holding the pen awkwardly (there are several “right” ways to hold one), or an old injury (Sassoon, a prominent British calligrapher and researcher, became interested in handwriting rehab after she had a stroke and had to re-learn to write). It's not a judgy book at all.
posted by scruss at 2:24 PM on May 2, 2018

I wonder if better writing tools (© Mrs Gumm) would help. If this is handwriting on paper, the oft recommended Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen has made note taking a joy for me now.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 3:30 PM on May 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Use a felt tip pen with a calligraphy tip. Put an index card on the baseline and write down to it. This gets me actual compliments on how nice my terrible writing is.
posted by SLC Mom at 5:48 PM on May 2, 2018

I have pretty bad handwriting. One thing that helps a lot is to write in all capital letters. This may or may not be an option for you depending on your circumstances.

You can do a "faux capitalization" by making the letters at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns a little larger than the other letters.
posted by metadave at 9:35 PM on May 2, 2018

Something that dramatically improves my hand writing is holding the right writing implement. If the pen or pencil doesn't feel right in my hand, my writing can look like a kindergartner's, but one that feels right gives me neat writing instantly. I suggest going to a place that lets you try a variety of stationery and see if one works for you (a well sharpened 4B pencil often does it for me, and some types of mechanical pencils). Also, if possible, move the paper/writing surface so it's at a comfortable angle for writing for you.

I find that occasionally I'll see a character being written a certain way that really piques my interest, or I really like the look of it, feel like it represents me, just feel a connection to it somehow and want to absorb it so I write the letter like that too. Is there a style of writing that particularly draws you, more than simply nice and legible?

One more thing- I can't do calligraphy when I think of it as handwriting, but when I switch my brain to 'art-mode', it clicks. If you haven't done art before, this involves basically visualising what you want to write, seeing the letters as abstract shapes, and then following the image in your mind on the paper. So I do that, then look at the product and think, oh this bit is too wide, that bit could go a bit rounder, then do it again with the adjustments in mind, and keep at it until I get it close to what I think is representative of my internal image.
posted by womb of things to be and tomb of things that were at 3:18 AM on May 3, 2018

Two things improved my handwriting: studying the Italic style, and getting interested in fountain pens. While my handwriting isn't pretty by any means, and it's still bordering on illegible when I write quickly, it's markedly improved and I can write clearly when I stay disciplined.

Italic can be gorgeous calligraphy in its own right, but it works as a quick-and-dirty handwriting improvement because the letters are formed based on a consistent up-and-down zigzag movement. It is joined writing, but my own personal spin on it doesn't have a fancy, 'cursive' look - it looks like printing that's joined together.

And using tools that I love gave me the motivation to practice, because I enjoyed the act of writing with beautiful pens and beautiful ink. If you want to improve quickly, you need to put the time and effort in. Just be careful of hand cramps...
posted by Gordafarin at 3:27 AM on May 3, 2018