# Can someone explain the phenomenon of terrible handwriting? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2005, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133 "2005-06-20T23:09:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/41 "2005-06-23T10:36:45Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > I am left-handed. But I’ve seen beautiful handwriting from lefties (one of my nieces included). > > I told my well-educated and wise step-dad, and he said the trick is to practice over and over writing the same letters. And eventually they get good at it. I’m one of the lefties like your niece - people comment about how neat it is, and “not just for someone left-handed!” is often thrown in too, lol. However, my handwriting was barely legible 10 years ago. Sadly, your stepfather is right, practice _is_ the only way to make perfect. The improvement happened between 12th grade and the end of my sophomore year of college, during which I spent about 2 hours a day taking notes. Isn’t it nice to know an adult \*can \* improve their writing? None of that old dogs can’t learn new tricks stuff. Besides writing a lot, there are two things that I think helped me a lot, so here you go: This might sound strange, but if you want to improve the look of your writing overall, switch to the form you have the least practice with - if you write in cursive, switch to printing, or switch to cursive if you have mostly printed. From 3rd to 12th grade I was required to write everything in cursive. (this doesn’t seem to be a requirement of most kids any more, thankfully). I hated writing in cursive. Therefore, as soon as I got to college, I began to print everything, which for me is far faster and easier to reread than my cursive. As a result my printing became much much neater because I actually got to make some use of it. And my cursive, which I now only use when I want to, is neater too. I suspect this has more to do with one’s subconscious feels about the forms of writing (you probably don’t resent using one form - or fear that it’ll never improve - as much as the other) than gaining fine motor control, but what do I know? My other piece of advice is to write on the back sides of notepaper. It might bother some right-handed people/teachers that you do this, but believe me, it’s much better for you to do so. Why? Because if you write only on the back of the paper, your wrist avoids all contact with the sprials of a notebook, or the clamp thingies of a binder. Avoiding painful rubbing with metal does wonders for your writing stamina. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/42 "2005-06-23T16:33:29Z")
AnD thEn thERE arE thE pEoplE who wRitE liKE this. Make up your mind whether you’re writing upper case or lower! ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/43 "2005-06-23T17:00:12Z")
When I was a little boy, I went to the police station. The bike I had reported stolen had turned up. “You have to sign for it,” this great big policeman told me. So, I set to my task, and slowly and neatly signed my name (and whatever other information was required). The policeman looked at it, nodded and observed, “You go to Sacred Heart School, don’t you.” “Yes, sir,” I replied, a little surprised at his observation. “It shows,” he said. \*\* AND I SECOND Red Stilettos’ question to the effect: What in hell is orking?\*\* 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/44 "2005-06-23T17:14:18Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > AnD thEn thERE arE thE pEoplE who wRitE liKE this. > > Make up your mind whether you’re writing upper case or lower! Guilty. (But, oddly, only when I write right handed) ::::shrug:::: ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/45 "2005-06-23T21:02:34Z")
Synchronicity strikes…the subject of improving your handwriting came up on a mail list I read, and someone posted this url: [http://briem.ismennt.is/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.1.quick.htm](http://briem.ismennt.is/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.1.quick.htm) It’s the top page of an entire ‘teach yourself italic penmanship’ course. A couple of the letterforms are different than the ones I learned (esp. the lower case ‘f’) but it’s very similar and might at least let you decide if you want to shell out for a paper book course. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/46 "2005-06-23T21:16:00Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Synchronicity strikes…the subject of improving your handwriting came up on a mail list I read, and someone posted this url: > > [http://briem.ismennt.is/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.1.quick.htm](http://briem.ismennt.is/4/4.1.1a/4.1.1.1.quick.htm) > > It’s the top page of an entire ‘teach yourself italic penmanship’ course. A couple of the letterforms are different than the ones I learned (esp. the lower case ‘f’) but it’s very similar and might at least let you decide if you want to shell out for a paper book course. And if you do decide to spring for a book, please at least take a look at “The Italic Way to Beautiful Handwriting” by Fred Eager. A very do-able and pleasant tutorial. It’s at Amazon. Look for the one that’s priced at $5.62 Used and New, **not** the one with the $49.99 pricetag. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/47 "2005-06-23T21:26:21Z")
I can’t explain it but I will bet a HUGE sum that mine is worse. My teachers gave up in high school (1966) and made me take typing three years before I was supposed to be able to take the class. I practised as much as anybody ever has, and can’t write legibly at all. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/48 "2005-06-23T22:01:01Z")
> [@Slithy Tove](#): > > …I tuly believe that bad handwritingis simply bad manners: _“My time is more important than yours, so our communication will be more about your getting the information than my conveying it.”_ You might find this hard to believe but my bad handwriting is not about you. No, really, it isn’t. Really. Like my father I’ve always had bad handwriting. Years of hectoring by teachers and remedial work made it only marginally better. When I was 10 or so I went to a neurologist and was given a battery of tests. It turns out I have poor fine motor coordination. It really only manifests itself in my handwriting, and difficulty doing such things as threading a needle (I imagine I would be a terrible surgeon). But there really isn’t much I can do about it. In my current life it is hardly an issue at all, I rarely have to communicate by writing and I learned to touch type a long time ago. So I’m not writing poorly just to annoy you or make your life difficult. In fact it has nothing to do with you at all. Really, it doesn’t. No, really. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/49 "2005-06-23T22:11:19Z")
Oddly, my writing looks a great deal like the italics writing, but more rounded. I developed this method in college because my printing was too slow and my cursive was too messy. Its basically a mix of cursive letters and printed letters. For example I sign my name with a capital printed J followed by a cursive “ennifer”. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/50 "2005-06-24T01:29:16Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > I sign my name with a capital printed J followed by a cursive “ennifer”. I sign _my_ name with a capital cursive J followed by a cursive-like scrawl that vaguely resembles “ennifer.” 🙂 I start my last name with a capital printed letter, but the rest of it is even less legible than the first name (which is an accomplishment, as it’s half the length of my first name). ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/51 "2005-06-24T03:18:50Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That’s still around? We used Zaner-Bloser back in the late 70’s/early 80’s when I was in elementary school. Seems to have worked- while I routinely got horrible grades in cursive writing back then, my writing has cleaned up and is pretty good looking these days- I was writing out notes for myself at work and had several people compliment me on how legible and nice my writing was. All Z-B is, is the company that slapped its name on ordinary “manuscript” printing, the stick-and-ball kind. D’Nealian is the brand name of the other type where the letters all curl at the ends, which is supposed to make the transition to cursive easier. It seems to have died out somewhat lately in favor of manuscript printing again, but AFAIK schools choose individually what to teach. There are also [italic printing books](http://www.lovetolearn.net/catalog.lasso?itemID=2502) available, should you wish to teach your child to print in italics! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/52 "2005-06-24T15:20:48Z")
My kids learned D’nealian (sp?)–I learned Palmer method-for all the good it did me. It looks weird to me. I actually have pretty good fine motor control–I just lack patience and I write too fast. Does anyone else here have handwriting that keeps changing? Sometimes I mix printing and cursive, sometimes I write neatly, other times, it’s like I cannot control the pen at all(exagerration). I also note that I tend to write very very small at times (micrographia-no, I am not on Haldol-a psych med that can cause that). My hand has gotten alot worse with all the typing I do. IMO, the OP has a fine motor “problem”–maybe practice would help or loosening his grip. I stand in awe of all those teachers in times past,(way past) that taught those srudents copperplate etc. Beautiful script. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/53 "2005-06-25T13:52:49Z")
I teach 7th grade, and lemme tell ya, I’ve seen some gonzo bad handwriting in my day. I have found no correlation whatsoever between intelligence and good handwriting; in fact, I’m tempted to say that majority of those with crappy penmanship are of above average intelligence. I think it’s that oft-mentioned phenomenon of thinking faster than you can write. The good thing is, I have rarely if ever encountered a student whose handwriting I couldn’t read. I’m pretty good at deciphering the worst scrawls. That said, I too have horrendous cursive and not so great printing, so I have much compassion for my students (some of them make of fun of me for my handwriting, so fair’s fair). The ring finger on my right hand is actually deformed due to writing–it started as a callous on the left side of my finger below the nail and that callous is now permanent, and the nail has changed shape to accommodate it. Even though I don’t handwrite anymore, the finger is still misshapen. I simply cannot write for long periods because it hurts too much, and eventually the callous gets really raw and nasty, so forget that. I also tend to skip or reverse letters when I’m handwriting for some reason, but I’m not dyslexic. When I was very young, maybe 8 or 9, I begged my parents to get me a typewriter. I knew I had lots to say and couldn’t say it without help. Since then, I’ve avoided handwriting whenever possible. In this day and age, who needs penmanship? I encourage my student to learn to type ASAP and get good at it. I touch type extremely fast (though I still make errors due to brain and hands running at different speeds), and what a relief it is from the laborious torture of writing everything out long-hand. If I lived in the days before typing machines, I’d have been screwed. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/54 "2005-06-25T14:14:03Z")
I wonder if “intelligence = more quickly getting bored” plays a role? Let’s face it, handwriting is a physical skill at the bottom, and like any physical skill it needs to be mastered by doing it over and over and over until the movements are fully engrained in some below-conscious-attention level of the brain. With writing, that means spending time doing line after line of zigzags (or loops, depending on the form of writing you’re learning) and then line after line of ‘a’, then ‘b’, and so forth. And not just scribbling them, you need to pay attention so you can feedback yourself: no, that time I started too high, no, that one’s loop is too small, no, the stem is leaning to the left, ah, that one looks good! This is truly boring. I suspect people who are used to quickly grasping concepts and then moving on to something new find it harder to put in the practice time needed. Tip: I found I could tolerate the practice much better when I was ‘watching’ television. A lot of the time you don’t need to be watching the screen, anyway, and when a scene comes that you do want to watch, it provides a nice little break from the writing. And then you go back to it during the commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/55 "2005-06-25T16:33:47Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > With writing, that means spending time doing line after line of zigzags (or loops, depending on the form of writing you’re learning) and then line after line of ‘a’, then ‘b’, and so forth. And not just scribbling them, you need to pay attention so you can feedback yourself: no, that time I started too high, no, that one’s loop is too small, no, the stem is leaning to the left, ah, that one looks good! I suspect this is the interior monologue of someone who struggles with bad handwriting. For those with good handwriting, it comes fluidly and without conscious effort. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/56 "2005-06-25T20:32:35Z")
Righty, born in 74, lousy handwriting. But I am a professional illustrator. The two are completely unrelated, IMO. I blame speed/laziness entirely. I now write excellent block letters (I spent three years cartooning with a quill pen, and there are only certain strokes you can make, at certain speeds), but it takes a long, long time. Usually, I scrawl madly away. It’s worse if I’m taking notes, because people talk a friggin lot faster than people can possibly write (hence the invention of secretarial “shorthand”). I also find that the writing implement makes a huge difference. Felt tip pens are the best, pencils next, then gel pens. Ball-points are the worst. Hate those stupid things. And I will be eternally grateful to anyone who can turn me onto a good pen that lets you write at an oblique angle, rather than having to hold the stupid thing so close to vertical. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/58 "2014-04-09T01:48:35Z")
More spam reported. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/59 "2014-04-09T01:51:55Z")
It’s a serial spamster! 7 spams in one blow! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/60 "2014-04-09T01:55:46Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133/61 "2014-04-09T15:35:26Z")
[QUOTE=cormac262;6284442 If I need to “write”, I tend to print, in all caps no less. This certainly comes out more legibly. It, too, is much slower than typing, but I am able to “handle” it - I don’t try to print any faster.[/QUOTE] Me, too. The only thing I do in cursive these days is my signature, and it’s so bad, I should be a doctor. I’ve shortened it to first initial and last name and it still looks the marks a drunk chicken would make while scratching. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-the-phenomenon-of-terrible-handwriting/309133.md?page=4)