Handwriting

My father, born in 1920, wrote beautifully. He taught both my brother, and myself to write gorgeous cursive. Or rather, he tried to. My brother managed it and he writes beautifully too, but I could never get the hang of it! I love using a nice fountain pen, and my cursive handwriting used to be tidy, but not beautiful. These days it's more akin to a spider having escaped from an ink pot....

I never did have tidy handwriting. As a child of the 60's I was taught with a BIC pen which was the standard.

For those with fountain pens, what sort of nib do you use?

My late husband had beautiful handwriting and I have dozens of letters he wrote to me when he was in the army back in 1989 onwards. I know one day I will be able to sit down and read them but on the couple of occasions I have tried it is just too upsetting.

Today was my grand daughter's first birthday and my son and daughter in law both wrote her a letter and plan to do so each year so she will have them to read when she is 18. I was going to do the same but decided to put a special message in her card instead.

I wrote my son a letter on his wedding day telling how proud his father would have been of him. I know he was very touched.

A couple of years ago I bought a calligraphy book and paper as I was appalled at how messy my writing looked - there is something therapeutic about practising handwriting.

Bijou.
I was also an ink monitor at school. Filling up the inkwells.

Unfortunately, my handwriting has deteriorated to the extent that I now have to write birthday cards etc in capital letters.
I used to have lovely handwriting.
I think the decline is due to emailing now. In fact I know it is.

I could read long before I started infant school but had never been given even a pencil until I started infants. My writing was poor until a vile teacher used a ruler on my left hand when I was trying to copy words. I had to write with my right hand but only did so until she was dismissed. I reverted to using my left hand after her disappearance but the new teacher said my writing was better with my right hand. I remember her laughing at me when I wrote my name using left and right hand with pencils at the same time and looking at the result, saying I agreed with her.
My writing slopes to the left when using my right hand and right when using my right. These days I only use my right hand to write, after badly injuring my left arm in an accident. My four adult children were a nightmare to seat in a restaurant. Being such mixture of left and right handed plus a couple who couldn’t make up their minds. All have writing that I think looks like an 8 yr olds. Yet as we all know, writing isn’t necessary these days as long as we have a printer.

I have beautiful handwriting. Had it beaten into me at primary school. I can still do it but adapted it at secondary school in order to speed it up for exams and for note taking at uni. Some of the copperplate lettering that we were taught was silly .eg. Q looked like a 2 and T and F were unrecognisable in any everyday modern context.

My handwriting now is truly appalling I'm ashamed to admit. At primary school we always had to do an ink exercise on a Friday and I always had mine returned to redo. However, on top of that we were given the belt if the teacher didn't think the second attempt was up to scratch. I gave up with my writing and took the belt and it has continued to deteriorate over the years. I've often thought of trying calligraphy to improve it but I think at 68 I'll just live with it. If I have to write a letter I usually type and print and just sign my name. A bit impersonal but at least legible.

When I was at school it was pen and ink. Monitor had to fill the ink wells every day! It was only when in the sixth form that we had fountain pens.

1 have been asked to apply to become a trustee for a local charity. The application form has four pages of detailed questions which are to be filled out by hand.
I am painfully aware that my handwriting, though still legible, looks untidy compared with how it was in the days before word-processors.
I think it's lack of practice as well as ageing.

EEJIT My son, mid 30s, has dreadful handwriting and graduated as a scientist last year...I pointed out he was in the right job for his writing! My Dad born in the early 30s wrote copperplate, but my FinL also born in the 1930s, has a scrawl...

I often get compliments on my handwriting. I put this down to the emphasis placed on handwriting when I was at primary school in the early 1950s. There were inkwells on every desk for us to dip the nibs of our pens into. We practised copperplate/cursive writing (basically joined up writing). The pen was held lightly for the upstroke and then with more pressure for the downstroke. An initial capital letter was quite elaborate and florid. I used to love the handwriting classes and was sufficiently good at it to achieve the high honour of being "ink monitor". I once showed this handwriting style to my DDs when they were young and they looked at me as if I had just stepped out of a Victorian novel.

My handwriting is pretty dreadful, few occasions to use nowadays but often see notes I've written on the calendar etc and cannot for the life of me read them. Have a note in front of me now which appears to read 'zig zag 12.30 Friday' what the heck does that mean???

Mazgg, you're someone after my own heart. I love handwriting with fountain pens. It's very tangible and I enjoy experimenting with different inks. There is something quite special about handwritten notes, letters, cards etc.

I have studied the medieval scripts of the monks,when illuminated pages took forever. However there are numerous examples of crossing out whole sentences, I often wonder if these young monks were daydreaming. The crossing out was an art in itself. A fine line of red ink was used. However, I use a very old parker pen my husband gave me 30 years ago. I use ink cartridges, and it is quick drying. I always write my Christmas cards and letters in ink. People always comment. A dying art,I fear.

I haven't used a fountain pen for years, much to the scorn of DH who collected fountain pens, amongst other things. His handwriting was small, neat and hard to read. I do think a good pen produces better handwriting, but these days I type and print letters on my laptop, and only use a biro for my endless lists. I know I can write well if I go slowly.
My son never mastered joined up writing. He writes in capital letters, for some reason.

It is becoming a lost art. I don’t think today’s younger generation is being taught cursive in school. Their signatures are a scribble which passes on legal documents.

I remember being in grade school where I totally embraced cursive. It was art to me and over my life I’ve always cultivated my signature and writing (notes, letters, schoolwork) that best brought out my personality. (Whatever that means!)

I used to address wedding invitations, a nice side hustle. Now the arthritis in my hands has pretty much taken away the flourish and I find that my printing is better sometimes.
USA Gundy

One day our class had to report to the headmistress of my primary school for a review of our handwriting. I was 8 at the time and built up my hopes that she would like mine as it was, I believed, very neat. I wasn't prepared for her harsh rebuke that it was much too small! To the extent that I dissolved in tears!
My class teacher, Miss Field, was infuriated and called the headmistress some rude word which I can't remember now! And she gave me one shilling. How lovely was that?
My keyboard has now replaced my handwriting but that memory has stayed with me ever since.

EEJit

My handwriting has always been terrible, I even got caned once for it once at school, that helped a lot, not.

It's so bad I should have been a doctor

😂😂

I was always severely criticised for my bad handwriting at school and university. I have only recently been diagnosed as mildly dyspraxic which is undoubtedly a factor. My DGD also suffers from dyspraxia and she has been allowed to do all her exams since GCSE ( now at Uni) on a word processor. I wish I had had that luxury.

I finished school in 1969 and we were not allowed use biro's. I still love my fountain pens but regret so few opportunities to use same. I notice how awkwardly some younger folk hold a pen or a paint brush. With relatives living abroad I was a great letter writer but then phone calls become more reasonable and email more convenient for those in different timezones.

Lemongrass14, I just googled ‘adult handwriting practice’ and several books came up.

He’d need to want to put in the time and effort though. I’d hope he’d be more willing than my Gds (7) who has no trouble with reading or anything else, but his handwriting is atrocious and he hates having to practise - dd has resorted to a Lego bribe if he practises without moaning every day during the summer holidays!

Children don't know how to hold a pen, or pencil. In the 90s/ 00s when I was teaching 16 y olds i saw that most did not hold pens properly. They had to produce workbooks and many were unpleasant to try to read. I know that most writing is now typing but we all need to have legible handwriting, even it's not beautiful calligraphy. Starts with babies and their first crayons, it's not the school's job - but parents can't write legibly either.

My handwring used to be good and I could do caligraphy well enough for my dad to get me to write in the wedding albums he did, he was a photographer. Nowadays it's atrocious, I need a fat pen for my arthritic hands as I can't grip your average biro tight enough.

My handwriting has always been terrible, I even got caned once for it once at school, that helped a lot, not.

It's so bad I should have been a doctor