There is a typical dichotomy between speed and neatness in writing by hand. The faster you write, the harder it becomes to maintain clear and desired letterforms, and we can only write so fast before it begins to turn illegible. After all, speed and neatness are contradictory qualities, at least when it comes to writing by hand.
Does this mean we can’t bring these contradictory qualities together and be efficient while maintaining neater handwriting?
A happy balance between neatness and speed needs to be figured out while writing. It seems intimidating to write neatly and quickly together because we are hoping that two substantial things that are contrary, it is very much feasible to write in a reasonably good-looking style at a good pace.
Here this! Efficiency or speed doesn’t come from fast and uncontrolled hand movements. It comes from following the right technique for producing your handwriting. One can write fast and still produce neat, clear and legible handwriting.
It is a natural tendency of the human mind to concentrate on one thing at a time, and this applies to handwriting considerably. While note-taking in lectures and meetings, where we are constantly flooded with an overwhelming quantity to write, it is easier for our minds to let go of the neatness aspect and give full throttle for speed. An individual with better technique and understanding of the fundamentals of good handwriting will do better in such extreme circumstances.
For some, writing neatly, clearly and quickly is a survival skill for relentless note-taking during lectures and jotting down stuff during meetings, while others want to become more efficient with handwriting. So, everyone’s criteria for speed will differ based on their purpose and ultimate goal. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you will have a better idea of the kind of penmanship composed of features like clarity and legibility, but also rapidity and efficiency.
“Where do I even begin?”
Being able to write neatly by hand remains a useful skill even today. However, if you can write neatly with a quick pace, then it becomes invaluable. To write in nice handwriting and write quickly, you need to be able to write in nice handwriting while writing slowly.
Depending on the current state of your handwriting, certain assumptions can be made. If your handwriting is good and legible when you take the time, gaining that speed for it is comparatively easier than for an individual with poor handwriting, irrespective of speed. This happens because you have developed good muscle memory of the fundamentals. Once correct letterforms, stroke direction, adequate and consistent spacing become part ingrained of your muscle memory, when you need to write quickly, you can perform these motions automatically. It produces better results in the same amount of time than the person who lacks fundamentals. Speed is not the only factor that leads to poor handwriting. Adding speed to a poor penmanship style will only make it poorer.
Individuals with not-so-great handwriting should focus on improving their fundamentals and the technique first, while setting aside the speed aspect for now, as it makes more sense. This includes your letterforms, the size of your letters and the spacing between your letters and words. Are my letters tailored to be fast and efficient? Are they too large? Are they too small, affecting the legibility? Is my spacing spot-on to show the letters and words distinct and clear? These are the questions you need to ask yourself when you begin your practice. The importance of being good at the fundamentals can’t be emphasised enough.
Even though we get less time to care when writing quickly, legibility should not be ignored. The principal aim when you write something should always be a high degree of legibility. Penmanship which is not legible has no practical use, even if it seems pleasing to the eye. Here is an interesting handwriting example of it.
Simple things can have a great effect on legibility in one’s handwriting. For example, “v” should be pointed at the bottom so it does not look like “u” or “r”. It can even turn into “n” if you stretch it further. Crossing your “t” so it does not look like a lowercase “L” or doting your “i” so it is not again lowercase “l” or kind of “e” can boost the legibility. Making the ascenders and descenders appropriate in size is crucial for more distinguished letters. Very little or no difference or even a large difference in the size of ascenders/descenders to the size of your primary letters could overall hinder the legibility.
If your handwriting is a challenge to read, conquering legibility must be your foremost task. If you or the people around you question the legibility of your penmanship, shoot me an email with a picture of your handwriting for legibility assessment. I will make sure to reach back with my thoughts and two cents on it.
Does cursive work in our favour?
As part of the curriculum, cursive was taught in most schools back in the day and learning it was somewhat mandatory. They don’t teach cursive in schools anymore, creating a topic of debate for many. Many of us have learned cursive in our early school years. Some still know and use it today, while others have quit it a long time ago.
Cursive is derived from the Latin word cursivus, meaning “running”. It is a script where letters are connected in a continuous and flowy manner. It is done to make writing less tedious and interruptive, which typically increases your writing speed. However, not everyone who knows cursive is fast with it. It totally depends on the individual and their technique for producing an efficient cursive style.
Adults who never learned cursive should decide between completely ignoring cursive or learning it and exploring if there is an actual increase in speed. If you have the time, I recommend learning cursive. Even if you don’t end up using it as your primary method, you’ll receive several indirect yet significant benefits, taking your normal print penmanship to a higher level. For example, learning cursive will make your writing more fluent and automatic. My friend and a fellow in the penmanship community has a great course at consistentcursive.com. There might be reasons not to learn cursive. For instance, learning cursive from scratch (and surpassing your current handwriting in terms of speed and visual appearance) will be a long process.
If you print and cursive, you might already know which is quicker for you while doing a better job in terms of legibility and appearance. It would be easier to achieve our goal (good penmanship and efficient speed) with something you are already better at.
The simpler, the better.
The standard of penmanship has drastically declined over the years, so even if cursive was or was not developed as a method to “write quickly” and be elegant and aesthetic, most of us don’t have the training and proficiency to do that today.
We are not aiming for “the perfect handwriting” simply because we will be equally focusing on speed. Elegant and charming penmanship seen on the internet is typically written with considerable time, so it is highly unfair to compare and expect similar results in our situation. We are addressing a more practical, utilitarian, and functional approach to penmanship in this article. The emphasis then is on less beauty and more on functionality.
There are decorative penmanship styles, such as calligraphy, that are done precisely. It has its charm where the sole aim is to look as “elegant” as possible, irrespective of how long it takes. You cannot do calligraphy, at least when writing fast. Similarly, fancy and complex penmanship styles, whether print or cursive, take more time to produce because of their “elaborative” character. There are hand movements to be made outside of the actual letter. A simple and more upright style will surely be faster than some.
Indeed, hand movements reduce when you write small, technically increasing your speed. However, it is not the most ideal way to write faster. On the other hand, writing unnecessarily large can lead to slow writing speed.
Hold on to a style.
Penmanship isn’t meant to be monotonous like a computer font. The best thing about handwriting is that it can have a character and reflect your personality.
Does your handwriting change all the time? This happens because you are not determined to one particular style, so your handwriting is easily influenced by other factors like your mood. When you learn a style and make it your second nature, it’s hard to change when writing for longer periods or under rigorous conditions.
Paper, Pen and Position
Why go blank? I mean, if I can see more consistent results by replacing the paper, then why not? This happens when you switch from unruled, blank paper to a paper with lines or dots to serve as guides for handwriting. An obvious advantage you get with ruled paper is that you write straight. However, as you write between two parallel lines, it tends to make the letters vertically consistent.
Even if not much, your writing instrument helps. Find a pen that fits you and your purpose. It can be a little overwhelming with so many options, but the good part is that everyone can have a pen they like. For our left-handed fellows, if they don’t know, there are pens specially for them. When you write with those, the ink dries out quickly to prevent smudging.
When kept at a certain distance, you have a great vision of the overall page. Being able to see how you’ve been writing so far, you sense how to write moving forward, maintaining consistency throughout the page. Leaning towards the paper not only brings you closer to the paper but also restricts the help from your arm to write more effortlessly and longer, preventing excessive stress on the neck and back. The closer you get to paper, your eyes have most of the focus on just a particular word you’re writing at that instance, increasing the eye movement and limiting speed.
Is my grip correct, and am I holding the pen correctly? “If it works, it works, that’s it. No need to change your grip”. The answer can be as simple as that.
How to practice for speed?
Learning to improve handwriting while keeping rapidity can be a little challenging because it is difficult to practice “effectively” for the same.
When you feel that you have improved your fundamentals, start by writing each letter quickly. Take the letter “a” and produce it over and over again, gradually increasing your speed. Be mindful and focus only on the letter you are writing at the moment. This will not only bring better results but also do a better job of memory retention. See if the letter always looks how it’s supposed to. Legible? Clear? Consistent? If you can do this comfortably, great job, you unlocked a letter and levelled up to pass our mission.
Start from today. I’ve a free handwriting workshop for you.
My free, three-day workshop is a great starting place for any adult looking to improve handwriting. You’ll receive three simple emails, one per day for three days. Each email includes three things. What to do (a fundamental component of good penmanship), why to do (the reason the component is crucial) and how to do (your homework for that day). The best part of the workshop is that I’ll be checking your homework and replying to any of your emails looking for feedback over the course of three days.
References
Welltrainedmind.com forum: https://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/320065-cursive-and-print-speeds-with-poll-hopefully/
r/Handwriting: https://www.reddit.com/r/Handwriting/