My handwriting sucks big-time! Sometimes even I can’t read what I myself have written (no joke)!
It’s just plain embarrassing… so, does anyone know how to improve an adult’s handwriting so that myself and others can read what I have written?
You could stop using a keyboard 
Seriously, I have the same problem. My handwriting used to be quite good. I had to write something lengthy the other day for the first time in a long time. I came to re-read it and could only come to the conclusion that I’d been abducted by aliens who had surreptiously removed the part of my brain responsible for pen use.
Hey, I’m not gonna stop using a keyboard now! I’ve finally learned how to type with my left hand, while my right hand is busy… uh…[sup]Nevermind…[/sup]
Astro I think it’s just a matter of practice just like any other skill. My handwriting sucks too but I never was interested in putting forth the effort needed to write well. I’m sure I could write well if I just practiced and wrote slower. Frankly, I don’t feel it’s a skill worth developing since I can type up anything I need to be legible. I’d rather spend my time developing other skills that I value more highly.
I had the same problem-someone suggested an adjusted grip a couple of years back, and my legibility improved greatly almost overnight. I still haven’t fully established the habit, however-stuff you learned in grade school is very hard to unlearn.
Absolutely. I did. (Warning: what follows is something akin to a born-agin’s testimonial . . .)
For years, the only time I wrote things out by hand was for class notes that only I would be reading. (The only homework I had to write out was all math–and my numbers remained impeccable, thankyouverymuch.) Unless I took special care, my handwriting was indecipherable to other people, and I got sick of having to write really slowly for other people, or to serve as a translator is someone wanted to borrow my notes.
So I changed my handwriting. I got a nifty book called Better Handwriting by Rosemary Sassoon. It took some time, but now my normal, up-to-speed handwriting is quite legible. Tain’t too purdy, but I’m still working on it, though not as intensively as I did in the beginning.
You have to practice forming letters properly. “Properly” means legibly and consistently, in your own style–not necessarily a perfect imitation of some formal model. If you don’t practice, your writing won’t improve. There’s no magic quick fix. But practicing really isn’t so bad. You can do it during a class (if you don’t have to take notes!) or while watchin’ tv, or whatever.
You can probably find books on improving your handwriting at the library. I recommend trying a few to find the one you like best–then go out and buy it, and practice, practice, practice.
Ah! Thank you, Podkayne!
I will look for said book and order same from Amazon!
Muchly appreciated!
I’ve had some pretty ugly (though legible) handwriting my whole life. One of my co-workers once said everything I wrote looked like it should have been in crayon. Anyway, I just discovered recently that my writing looks ten times neater and prettier if I just make an effort to write small. It also helps just to slow down and concentrate on it.
I find that if I use an old-fashioned fountain pen or even a fine-line roller-ball pen I get better results then using a ball-point pen which is just bad news if you want to get good handwriting. You could also take up caligraphy.
I think bad handwriting is a lost cause. At least it is for me. Pencil, pen, different grips, nothing works. I just can’t do it.
I think I may be lacking something in the hand-eye coordination department. I also write way too fast.
I’ve learned to type and try to type just about everything, which makes letters I send to people seem very impersonal and makes my Christmas cards seem pretty weird.
Yes, there are ways. I recently saw a little video segment on CNN about a seminar given to improve doctors’ handwriting, which has caused dangerous errors in prescriptions. The teacher used a variation of italic writing, which is a lot easier than the awful cursive that is taught in most penmanship classes in elementary school. No wonder everyone has bad handwriting when they teach everyone a cursive method that is no longer in favor.
First of all, buy a nice writing instrument. Find a good mechanical pencil, I prefer Japanese brands as Japanese stationery supplies tend to be fanatically perfect. A good fountain pen might be nice too.
Second, go find some modern penmanship or calligraphy books. I had terrible handwriting due to slightly mangled fingers but studying calligraphy improved my writing considerably. You don’t have to make each word into a work of art to benefit from calligraphy techniques.
Thirdly, write the phrase “Hi Opal” a thousand times.
I think it would be possible using the techniques which Occupational Therapists use with kids with handwriting difficulties. My kid’s just gone through a series of hideously expensive sessions so that he can write even remotely legibly. Although looking at the quality of the stuff he brought home from school yesterday, I’m really gonna be tying him to the keyboard.
You practise by making the letters very slowly and precisely. Lined paper and tracing over letters which are done correctly. You need to be really aware that you start the letter in the right place. It’s tedious, it’s boring and I’m not going to do it myself.
The other thing they do with kids is exercises to develop hand muscles. Playdoh, finger paint and all that stuff. That sounds like fun. 
Thanks for the advice, guys! I ordered the book Podkayne recommended last night… we’ll see if it does any good when it gets here!
As for getting a quality pen, that’s kinda what brought this issue up! Read this and you’ll understand why.
So when the book gets here, I’ll see if it can do anything to make me more legible…
I was actually told to stop writing in cursive my freshman year of HS, and haven’t since.
My handwriting, though terrible in most respects, is good when writing drafting characters. As Podkayne said, it’s about practice and repetition, and for drafting, we had to do the characters over and over.
If you want to sharpen up your writing skills, write the letters out, over and over, like you did when you first started.
Yow! That pen is one of my dreams. I once saw a display in a Tokyo department store, showing about a dozen different nibs for that pen, with handwriting samples in English and kanji, and detailed recommendations for each tip, stiffness, angle, etc, and how it affects your writing. I could have studied it for hours. That is one fine writing instrument. So you’ve got that taken care of for sure! I could go for a whole set of MontBlanc stuff, I bought their wallet/passport case, and I’m lusting for the $1800 Meisterstruck briefcase…
BTW, one useful book I studied for calligraphy is the “Speedball Book.” I don’t know if it’s still in print, but it has a lot of exercises for improving your writing. BTW, one calligraphy trick I like is the use of guide sheets. A nice pen-written letter should be done on blank paper, but if you have a sheet of guidelines to match the size of your writing, it keeps everything in order and prevents your writing from drifting all over the page. Just laser-print a sheet of dark black lines, use it behind your writing paper. You can usually see the lines through the top sheet.
my handwriting in russian is much better than my hadwriting in english. i blame the paper. in russian school we had to use a strange type of grid paper. it had slanted little squares, one square per letter, capital letters took two or three squares. this made all your letters the same size and shape every time. even without the squares my russian handwriting remains constant. i’ll ask tomorrow where you can get this. regular grid paper doesn’t work, it has to have the slant.