# How do you feel about your handwriting? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044 "2014-01-29T17:00:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/21 "2014-01-29T20:46:35Z")
Lefty w/fine motor issues. My handwriting is horrid! ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/22 "2014-01-29T21:07:24Z")
Too many years on a keyboard - it looks less like handwriting than footwriting. While drunk. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/23 "2014-01-29T21:10:41Z")
My writing, is by all accounts attractive and distinctive. I don’t know how I developed it , around the start of high school, but it is upright with a mix of printed and cursive characters. Looking at samples of it I can find no rhyme or reason to how its done. Most capitals are standalone block capitals but in some cases D, S and B have little cursive loops to the next letter. I am afraid to observe how it works for fear that I will get the yips. ---
**Author:** ![Iamnotivan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Iamnotivan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iamnotivan)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/24 "2014-01-29T21:34:01Z")
I just returned from Vietnam and the handwriting there is so exquisite. It makes mine look so terrible. But I write a lot better with a good pen and surface. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/25 "2014-01-29T21:57:15Z")
My handwriting was so bad that by the time I got to college, I began to print everything so it could be read. Now, people have trouble reading my printing. Luckily, I’m a fast typist and it’s easier to type things. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/26 "2014-01-29T21:58:03Z")
The only person on Earth who has worse handwriting than me is my doctor. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/27 "2014-01-29T22:09:52Z")
I made a concerted effort in my late 20s to improve my handwriting. When I’m writing something that’s intended for another person to read I have a very nice, legible cursive. When I’m taking notes or jotting something down at work I can read what I’ve written but would be surprised if someone else could. Slightly off topic - one summer when my son was going to be away for many weeks I was determined to write him at least one letter per week. After he got the first one my son told me it’s very hard for him to read any cursive writing, not just mine and asked if I’d type any future letters. He learned cursive in grade school, but has never been required to use it. All of his book reports and term papers have been typed from the earliest grades. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/28 "2014-01-29T22:11:22Z")
I’m one of those people that types 100 WPM but can’t read my own handwriting. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/29 "2014-01-29T22:18:58Z")
I make every attempt to avoid writing in forms. If I have a form that requires filling out, my first thing to do is try to find an online version that I can type the data into. If I have to make logbook entries at work, I do them by hand. Then I type up the entry in WordPad or NotePad, print it out, snip the passage out of the paper, and tape it into the logbook. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/30 "2014-01-29T23:00:21Z")
As long as I’m not in a rush both my handwriting and printing are neat and legible. But also strike me as slightly childish, like an eight-grader’s. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/31 "2014-01-29T23:46:06Z")
The only cursive/handwriting I’ve used since highschool, when some teachers forced you to do it, is my signature. And that never looks quite the same twice. I can print just as fast if not faster than use cursive, and it’s a thousand times easier to read, so why would I mess with that archaic garbage? ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/32 "2014-01-29T23:55:42Z")
I like my handwriting. I call it “litigation-proof” since no one but me can read it. Its stylized and cryptic. But then, most of my work is done online so it hardly matters does it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/33 "2014-01-30T00:00:17Z")
I don’t mind my handwriting, but it’s not pretty. It’s “me,” though. It’s not pure cursive–it’s kind of an efficient (or what feels to me to be efficient) blend of cursive and printing. I do _not_ make all those stupid frilly, wasteful Palmer method strokes (especially that godawful capital “G” and that silly “Q” that looks like a “2”.) That said, my signature does retain the Palmer “P,” but that’s the only place I make it. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/34 "2014-01-30T00:05:52Z")
Mine is at least readable. IT LOOKS LIKE THIS. All doctors should have to take handwriting classes IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/35 "2014-01-30T00:53:52Z")
I’m in league with Machine Elf and Roderick Femm. After a few years on a keyboard (since 1974) I totally lost my cursive capability. When I handwrite it is always in “printed” form (UC and LC) and I consider it easily legible. I can still cursively write (sign) my name but I have to practice it a few times and even then I won’t unless compelled to do so for some arcane legal reason. And like Mr. Femm, my hand gets tired QUICKLY if I have to hand write a lot or material. I love keyboards – no sore hand, ever. – ASGuy ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/36 "2014-01-30T04:29:57Z")
I am regularly complimented on my handwriting, and I like it quite a lot. But then, I made a concerted effort to develop smooth, graceful letters. It helped, I think, that I got my college degree in art. The fine motor skills necessary for drawing translate well. It also helps, I think, that I am a pen snob. I can put up with office paper, but I will never buy a regular ballpoint pen. It has to be a rollerball or better. Wider lines and truly black ink (not reflective metallic like Bic pens have) make a huge amount of difference. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/37 "2014-01-30T04:52:54Z")
The lowest grade I ever got was a D- in handwriting in the third grade. It’s gone downhill since then. If I really concentrate, I can produce a legible signature for guest books and legal documents. On a bad day, it looks like a seismograph reading from the Loma Prieta earthquake. ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/38 "2014-01-30T13:11:56Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > I try to write well, especially since I’m a writer by trade, but I typically dislike my own handwriting. How do you feel about yours? Do you have to write a lot by hand every day? I keep notes in a work notebook, but all my real writing is done on a keyboard. As it should be. Writing by hand or using a keyboard it makes no difference as a writer. Writing it about craft and ideas, not penmanship. I use an App on my cell phone called OurGroceries and that has greatly reduced any writing by hand I’ve had to do. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/39 "2014-01-30T13:18:51Z")
These days, pretty much the only writing I do by hand is to sign my name (which is basically just an illegible squiggle anyway unless I’m doing it for show), write checks (which I only ever do to pay the rent anyway), or take notes for myself about stuff I need to do at work (which nobody besides me can read anyway since I write it in a condensed shorthand that only makes sense to me). ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044/40 "2014-01-30T13:40:12Z")
I’d consider my handwriting to be bad, but I can make it _ok_ if I slow it down and try to make it presentable. I also remember my cursive just fine and I’ll switch to it if I want to write something faster or longer. That said, I overwhelmingly use keyboards and gesture entry, and couldn’t be happier. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-feel-about-your-handwriting/680044.md?page=3)