There is a strange irony in discussing the merits and pleasures of handwriting, whilst typing a blog post. It is not lost on me that much of our correspondence and communication these days has been typed in some form. Whether we are reading a magazine, book, email, or some information online, it has been typed in some form. In fact, as an author (hoping to be published more widely) I sort of rely on this fact.

But writing by hand is something I enjoy, and an art form that I worry is being lost. I speak deliberately when I call it an art form. Long form handwriting is, to me at least, a beautiful thing. When you step back and look at the page of text in it’s own right, the idiosyncrasies of letter formation, the perhaps not always straight lines, the shape and form of paragraph blocks, art is created. And of course, in true personalisation, different ink types and indeed colours. I love writing in purple, or greens (though as biro ink this can err on the faint and harder to read), though the most common inks in my notebooks are the standard black and blue of most commonly available pens an ink.

An interesting aesthetic I have started using in my notes and my letters, inspired by historic documents, is the enlarged opening letter to the paragraph. It makes a statement and adds a visual flare to a page of what could be fairly bland text otherwise. When I write personal documents on my computer I try to do the same, enlarge the first letter, but to lesser effect – the computer is unable to make one letter cross two lines.

I particularly like heritage documents written by those using a quill with the swirling loops and elegant slant. In my last post I discussed historic letter writing traditions that included a Crossed Writing style, whereby two pages of text were superimposed onto the one side of paper, at 90 degrees to each other. Not an easy read (or write… I tried it) but an alluring piece of art in my eyes

It clearly can’t be ignored that writing – by hand or otherwise – is used entirely to communicate, and therefore needs to be readable as well as admired.

I know many people who comment that their signatures, and indeed their handwriting, are scrawling because they so infrequently use a pen. To me this is sad (signatures aside, scrawled signatures have their own beauty). Using a pen or pencil to transmit your thoughts to paper is a unique experience. Seeing the words form as the ink (or graphite) flows across the page personalises the message in a way that simply hitting a key on a keyboard can’t match.

Admittedly, writing longhand is a slower process than typing, but for me that is part of the pleasure. It forces my mind to slow down – more mindfully perhaps(?) – and allows me to process my thoughts, and my expression better. That said, slower is not necessarily slow, and of course the more you do it, the faster you become. With a good base handwriting (by which I mean ‘best’ or concentrating longhand) you should retain a fairly readable (mostly) handwriting for quicker note-taking.

I write most of my development (plot, characters etc.) and novel first drafts by hand, and some short stories also (but they frequently run long if I write by hand as I don’t have the benefit of a word count in the corner of the page!). Where I make corrections as I go (an unavoidable self-editing) I cross them out and write the ‘better’ version alongside. This means that when I then come to type them out some time later, I can see what I originally thought or what my thought processes where and judge which is best and incorporate accordingly. (Of course, subsequent edits may remove sections completely, but that is not the fault of the handwriting!)

What I find interesting in doing this is seeing just how much my handwriting changes, so I can’t help wondering what a handwriting expert would make of me! Graphology is the study of this, supposedly being able to identify, amongst other things, Personality, Intelligence, thinking style, personal characteristics. An article in the Readers Digest explores this more thoroughly, and there are many other online articles discussing this topic. Handwriting Analysis: What Your Writing Reveals About Your Personality (rd.com)

Sometimes my letters are vertical and ‘swollen’, other times they can be quite skinny, or slanting (in either direction). This can be down to the pen, the paper, my mood, where I’m writing (on my knees as opposed to a table is usually the distinction). Some of it is down to age, I am changing the slant of my writing far less now than when I was younger. Indeed, when I was in my teens I would consciously change my writing style. I can’t remember now why I did that, but there is certainly great variety in my notebooks as a result! Even in my diary – which at the moment is largely in the form of spider diagrams, a brain dump process that I will explore perhaps in another blog.

The BBC produced in interesting article in 2017 which explains the historical differences in handwriting due to nationality and pen-type. In recent years in the UK there is no one identifying style – unlike France where school children are required to learn cursive with fountain pens – as there is no set style allocated within the curriculum, and how handwriting styles are continuing to change. What your handwriting says about you – BBC Culture

I have a natural preference for a true ink pen, preferably a fountain pen. Roller balls are also excellent writing pens, although the size of the nib – I prefer thin or medium – offers different results. Ball points, whilst a practical and durable pen to have for writing on the thinner papers that are now prevalent, I have mixed experience with. A good quality ball point in a good, preferably slender, shaft can also be a nice pen to write with, but the lower quality/ cheaper pens I use but judge myself for it. The flow of ink from an ink pen, the soft slip of the nib over the paper, is hard to beat (in my opinion at least). And of course, the choice of paper will be key. Thin papers will clearly show heavier true ink writing on the reverse and make using both sides of the paper much harder to do.

There are plenty of ‘how to’ guides online giving advice on improving your handwriting or teaching your children how to write long hand. As I do believe that it is always good to have a strong foundation in clear writing, if you feel the need to revise your own style then never be afraid to try. No-one is ever too old or young to learn new things and take up (or re-take up) the pen/ pencil/ quill (my blog post on this will follow!).

Writing by hand is a very personal thing, an expression of yourself over and above the content of the text.. Don’t loose yourself in trying to please others.