Quick tips to improve your handwriting

 

I have always been extremely passionate about beautiful handwriting and believe everyone can make their own style impressive no matter how embarrassed they may be. In the past few years I’ve enjoyed teaching my handwriting workshops and delighted in seeing the reaction from attendees when seeing how beautiful their newly addressed envelopes look.

“Thank you so much for creating this handwriting class online!

I’ve been looking for a course like this for years! I am so embarrassed about my handwriting,

it is wonderful that I can improve it in the comfort and privacy of my own home.

You have inspired me to keep practicing and using all the techniques I’ve learnt, thank you again.” Margaret T, 2019

 

The good news is that improving your everyday handwriting as well as for special occasions is not as hard as you may think – little tweaks can make a huge difference.  It is a great opportunity to discover more attractive letter forms and you don’t need to be creative…. just enthusiastic.

 

It will also give you so much confidence and you’ll get such a sense of accomplishment when you see how your writing changes. The first thing to remember is to take your time and not to rush.

 

If you’ve got ten minutes to spare, below I share some of my top tips for improving your handwriting together with a small exercise. Go on, have a go – you’ll be surprised by the difference.

Writing Position

It is important when writing that you are sitting correctly but comfortably. Some things to note are:

• You are sitting up with a straight back and your chair is pushed in towards the desk
• Your feet are flat on the floor and you are not crossing your legs
• Your shoulders are relaxed and your writing arm elbow is gently resting on the desk
• Lastly, the paper you are writing on could be at a slant but this is not imperative

 

Pen Grip

However you hold your pen grip, the chances are, you have been doing it the same way since you first began to write. If it hurts your hand to write and your arm aches, it may be a sign that your pen grip is too tight and your position when writing is not correct. This may be the perfect opportunity to change your grip and improve your sitting position. Look at the pen grip images and try to copy them. The pen is held between the thumb and middle finger and the index finger rests on top. Your wrist should always stay underneath the line you are writing and your pen grip should not be too tight. Relax your shoulders and sit up straight. Give it a go!

Relaxing Exercises

Take a plain piece of paper and loosen your wrist by marking the paper with line patterns that wiggle along a line or zigzag. You will also note at this point whether you are happy with the pen you are using. Change to one you like before continuing. It is SO important to like the tool you use.

 

Now you are ready to write, analyse and improve your handwriting step by step. Start by writing the sentence ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.’ This sentence is an excellent starting point as it uses every letter in the alphabet.

Sit back and write notes on what you like and dislike about your letters.

 

Four points to note are:

• Are all the verticals slanting at the same angle?
• Are all the rounds a similar shape and style?
• Is all the spacing between letters the same?
• Is all the spacing between the words the same?

 

So much to think about and yet, stripping each technique down into bite size pieces can each dramatically improve the overall look of the sentence.

 

 

If you’ve enjoyed this quick exercise, for a detailed guide with practice pages, buy my book and you’ll see the difference immediately!