Have you ever scored low in a test despite that perfect answer just because the teacher found someone else’s handwriting more ‘legible’? Have you ever gaped and wondered at a friend’s beautifully crafted angelic alphabets? Ever looked and frowned at your notes, trying to recognize the indistinguishable ‘m’ and ‘n’? Well, let’s admit as kids almost each one of us has had the woes of poor handwriting. We have been told innumerable times about (even been scolded and rebuked for) our careless and shabby writing!
The advent of computers and laptops may have revolutionized the world and completely overthrown the ‘handwritten’ documentation in the professional arena, yet, there is no doubt to the fact that our handwriting is the reflection of our personality. People with good handwriting are able to project self-confidence, diligence and dexterity onto the paper.
We cannot substitute the beauty of a handwritten letter with the printed alphabet and so, for anyone who has always wanted to have that beautiful and legible scribble, here are ten, simple yet powerful ways to equip you with a legible hand – 10 easy ways to improve and flaunt a beautiful handwriting!
10. KEEP IT COMFORTABLE
The first step is to be comfortable. Do not put a lot of force on the paper while writing. A beautiful letter and a smooth writing should come with ease. Let smoothness flow through the ink otherwise either the pencil tip will break too often or sheet will be full of ink smudges. Hold the pen/pencil where it feels comfortable. Ideally, it should not be held too close to the tip or too far from it either.
Don’t move your hand too much or you will soon be tired. Position your hand on the paper and then let your arm move,you don’t have to craft and draw every alphabet, you just need to form them. That would need much of a wrist or hand movement but basically an arm’s motion....
9. TRY OUT A DIFFERENT WEAPON
We have all heard that ‘the pen is mightier than sword’, so find that right weapon for yourself! Try out first with a pencil since it brings out the grace in a better way. You could even equip yourself with colored pens, sketch pens, bold markers or even calligraphy pens to add diversity and colors to your notes. After sufficient practice you may even go for an artistic brush and paints!! Don’t use gaudy, fancy bejeweled or decorative pens. They would only add to the work by making you put unnecessary extra effort, and you would end up putting more time on a piece of work.
8. SIT RIGHT AND SET IT RIGHT
Don’t tire yourself; otherwise the magic of your hand will wear off. Sit in a comfortable, yet preferably, upright posture. Sit on a chair and use a table. It is not a wise or advisable idea to begin by putting a notepad on your lap and letting the pen dance across the paper’s surface. This would get even messier than before!
Use one hand (whether left or right) to write and put the other one to support the sheet of paper. Try to be attentive. Your eyes must follow the movement of your pen. This will give you a better concentration power.
7. LINES ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND
Initially it is advisable to use a ruled sheet. This would help you form equi-proportional alphabets and characters. Write on the line, not above it. This will let your alphabets be more uniform rather that irregular. It is also advisable to practice writing on a graph paper in order to keep the alphabets more balanced. Later you may try your ‘hand’ on a plain sheet. Beyond that, you are free for experimenting on greeting cards and more!!
6. GIVE ‘EM A BREAK
Give your words a break! This may seem too small to be noticeable, but this is a very important thing to be kept in mind while aiming for a perfect handwriting. If your words tend to stick together too much, they might become unrecognizable to add to the woes! Give ample space between two words to make each one distinguishable from another. Initially one could give a ‘one or two fingers’ space between each word. Later, it would get self-incorporated in your handwriting, and you won’t have to worry about it at all!
5. DON’T LET IT LEAN
Although you are free to choose how you want to write but generally words should not slant too much forward (to the right) or backwards (to the left). They tend to be difficult to be read. One may have to tilt their heads to understand the word! A teacher would only find it too annoying! To leave a good impression the handwriting needs to look balanced. Try practicing on giving only a slight or very little inclination to your alphabets, if you want (and that too preferably an inclination to the right!). There is no bias but words slanting to the right usually are better recognizable than words slating to the left.
4. PRACTICE MAKES YOU PERFECT
This is not a holiday’s home task or important semester assignment. So keep it cool! Try to write small paragraphs each day whenever you feel free to do so. There are no substitute for a good practice and no escape from hard work.
It would be even better to write an original piece, say, how your day went or about your schedule for the next day or even plans for a special day! This will keep you in a positive state of mind. After finishing it, always go back to review what you wrote. Check out on that grammar and spellings too. Not only will you have a beautiful writing but also beautiful and grammatically correct language!
3. BE PATIENT
The mood always flows through your work. Whether you realize it or not, the others usually do. The handwriting reflects your mood and even your state of mind. However bad your handwriting may be, a happy mood always makes it better than before while a frustrated one leaves it in a worse state! So don’t get impatient after a few pages of scribble. Give yourself time. You know it’s not impossible. But it will need practice and perseverance, after all even Rome wasn’t built in a day!
2. BE CREATIVE BE CURSIVE
You don’t have to copy text and copy styles, just try to be YOU. Make different alphabets and see which one you find easy to make and quick to adopt. Try to draw cursive alphabets instead of disjoint ones. Cursive handwriting, though taught in nursery, is the key to write words quickly and neatly without lifting your pen too much! Although it is becoming a vanishing art yet it remains one of the best ways to have a legible and neat handwriting.
1. WRITE ‘CASTLES’ IN THE AIR
This one is not like dreaming away but actually takes you closer to your dream! Although most of us may be unaware of this trick but lo and behold, it has been scientifically studied, experimented and proven that writing in the air strengthens the muscles of the arm, shoulder and hand. Start by writing big in the air and progress to writing small. Try to move less of your wrist and more of your arm. You don’t have to look silly by doing this in everyone’s presence, but another way could be using a chalk and board or a marker pen and white board! Eventually, the aim is to gain control of your movements and achieve that flawless flow of words.
Remember , good handwriting is a skill and it stays with you even after you exit the examination hall … so putting in the extra effort in order to write a legible piece effortlessly is a small thing to ask for a prized possession. Remember, that it is an acquired skill, anybody can and so can you!
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