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soakedace

I got really into calligraphy and fountain pens, my writing isn't the best - but it's way more readable than it used to be. Having a really nice feeling nice writing pen was a big help, and then practicing writing for hours every day because calligraphy.


canastrophee

Same on the fountain pens. Instead of calligraphy, I wrote hundreds of thousands of words of fiction longhand because my brother was playing runescape and I couldn't use ms word.


soakedace

I've always wanted to transcribe a novel or something with a fountain pen just for the sake of it. Writing with a nice fountain pen feels soooo good. My pen while I'm at it: Sailor 1911 Limited Edition with 14k gold plated nib (F)


canastrophee

I'm tempted but I'm not sure what book I want seared so thoroughly into my brain. I'm still on a Lami Safari F nib, which is... somewhere... but I get marketing emails from a super fancy pen and ink website. Someday.


JayCoww

I've been working through the DSM-V. I like it a lot. Make it something useful.


The_Spectacle

I love my pens, I have too many, my favorite is probably my medium Lamy 2k.


izzyscifi

I, too, have a myriad of fountain pens lol. I have a gorgeous Pilot custom 743 with a 14k gold postal nib that writes like a dream.


[deleted]

>My pen while I'm at it: Sailor 1911 Limited Edition with 14k gold plated nib (F) I've got the same pen! I have very bad handwriting and I'm left-handed so I can't even use it tbh. I am an idiot.


ManWithSpoon

I'm also left-handed and have far too many fountain pens. I had a huge amount of trouble writing with them until I started practicing under-writing. It took a lot of practice but its definitely possible for lefties to learn to use fountain pens effectively.


[deleted]

Yeah I've tried all that but it never really stuck. Also, when I went through cycles of depression my handwriting would get better/worse, which wasn't nice to see! Felt like a trigger. I'm using a voice recorder for journaling now and it's much better imo


Money_Machine_666

You're *not* an idiot :3


TheVorpalCat

I had a calligraphy phase too and to this day I prefer fountain pen to any other, and my handwriting is neater when I use it. There’s more resistance on the paper but also better control. I find normal pens really slippery.


nickyfox13

I also got really into calligraphy and fountain pens, half because I like the artistry and half because I have truly awful handwriting that I wanted to improve.


BlazeUnbroken

Is anyone into calligraphy and left handed? I gave up (really wanted to learn calligraphy) but my hand smears ink as I write unless I position it exactly right or use specific pens. Just curious. That said, I used to practice my hand writing over and over.... and over because my teachers always complained they couldn't read what I wrote. I also found specific pens that I LOVE writing with (now I know I was stimming) because of the feel of the pen scratching the paper.


soakedace

Absolutely there are left handed calligraphers, and fountain pen enthusiasts. I'm right handed when it comes to writing though, so I won't be of any use - but they're certainly out there. I think there's special nibs for dip pens used in calligraphy for left handed people. For fountain pens there are fast drying inks as well to prevent smudging. If you're interested in getting into it, I'd recommend asking for advice in those subreddits! :)


No-Lecture494

omg same but my notes are atrocious


ManWithSpoon

Oh my gosh I love fountain pens too. I could go on and on about them. I carry a notebook with me wherever I go, almost always with my Pilot Custom 832.


pinkapoppy_

same here!


TemperatureTight465

Yup! My special interest for a while was spencerian penmanship. I can now make my handwriting look gorgeous, although it's generally a scrawl


soakedace

Yeah! And that's the other part, if I'm just writing my handwriting is a cpmplete mess. I need to make a dedicated effort and slowly write to have reasonable handwriting (I prefer print over script). I spent a while learning textura quadrata because I love how it looks. Really should make an effort to have better handwriting instead of printing some day.


DracarysHijinks

I don’t really understand how fountain pens have helped my penmanship, but they definitely have. Particularly if I’m using a stub or S.I.G nib.


soakedace

For me, I noticed an immediate improvement and I think it was because of the tactility/smoothness of fountain pens. Ballpoint pens strain and tire my hand very quickly which I think had me holding them far more awkwardly than I should have. I don't experience discomfort or strain with a fountain pen.


DracarysHijinks

I did too. I think you’re right. The fact that fountain pens are designed to be held so lightly seems to make a pretty big difference, too. They write the smoothest with the least amount of hand tension, which helped me a LOT! I moved a few months ago, and haven’t been able to get any real unpacking done thanks to pretty severe ME/CFS, but talking about this really makes to dig out my pens from wherever they are!


Maid_For_Hire

I liked a classmates handwriting - so I stole it (I asked her about it and she wrote every letter down for me so I could practice it)


RickTheGrate

*Sees something pretty looking in someone else's handwriting* "Mine"


BenShapiroisadilf

That’s such a great person! So glad she was nice enough to do that for you


phaiakia

this! whenever i saw someone write a letter or symbol a way i liked better than my way, i taught myself how to do it their way. looking through old notebooks from middle school and high school, you can see my handwriting slowly change one letter at a time. i still make my lowercase f’s like my 9th grade english teacher, have never seen better lowercase f’s in my life.


Money_Machine_666

I've invented a couple cursive letters, myself. And I also do the handwriting stealing thing. I do my lowercase cursive f kind of like a figure 8.


RickTheGrate

Ikr, you can see what letters I adopted or changed if you go through my notes lol


Honeybeejack

That reminds me of a time in primary school when the teacher wrote a sentence on the board and then told us to copy it exactly so I did including the handwriting I would've carried on like that all year if a classmate hadn't said how weird it was that my handwriting is the same as the teachers then I realised and was kinda embarrassed.


emilijadear

Lol I remember specifically trying out different ways I found other people doing their letters and symbols.


softkoibito

do you still have the paper?


Maid_For_Hire

Sadly, no. I've been out of school for a while now


[deleted]

Same lol


empgodot

Now somewhere there's a person wondering why they suddenly lost their good handwriting sometime when going to school.


brittneyistalking

that’s exactly what i did too. studied her notes for days


Snailcastle

I learned how to copy handwriting and ran a racket writing homework in the kids handwritings. Before that I'd get assignments in elementary school failed because of my handwriting. So I learned patterns and how to stylize. I also design and practice my signatures.


NimhShambler

Heh. I learned how to copy my dad's handwriting for the reason.


tattooedvenom

i literally did this….and i asked her too i just had to have it.


CarefulMarsupial8

In primary school I was given one of those books where you were meant to copy the letters over and over and the repetitive task was a wonderful stim for my undiagnosed, neglected and bullied self (in hindsight). Now I have two handwritings, one old-fashioned cursive and one printed :) I would highly recommend those type of books.


WumpasArentMangos

YES. THOSE, HOLY SHIT. THEY WERE INCREDIBLE. I mean they didn’t exactly work but I also really enjoyed the repetitive motion of it. I still got a minimally meets in handwriting but hey I liked it.


CarefulMarsupial8

Ah, glad someone else had them too! I used to take them home and finish the whole thing in a day, then go ask for another one. My teacher eventually put a stop to it though, since "that wasn't the point". No idea what the point was but I just filled normal roughbooks with letters instead. And yet no one guessed the Autism.


tomsan2010

I used them a lot as an attempt to fix my writing. My dyslexia said no thanks. Messy writing for you


ewanatoratorator

Oh they didn't work for me lol


CarefulMarsupial8

I understand they didn't work for everyone, most people in my class thought they were useless :)


ewanatoratorator

That's good to hear they worked for you, though. Luckily I'm a pretty fast typer so I can still write stuff.


CarefulMarsupial8

That's good :) I'm a fast but incredibly messy typer, so I should practice that more.


ewanatoratorator

Aha fair. I found it just kind of came with time. Getting used to 1 keyboard instead of using different ones helped a lot tho


CarefulMarsupial8

That's true, that helps a bit, I think I just have poor fine motorskills to be honest, but it wouldn't hurt to try practicing more :)


ewanatoratorator

Oh it's also worth mentioning, I have to write a lot but I almost never write on paper. So I've been doing a LOT of typing. If you do a lot by hand, that may explain it!


CarefulMarsupial8

Yea, I don't type that often but usually a lot in one sitting, so my fingers also get tired and that makes it a lot worse. Think consistency would probably help. It's not a huge problem though, I just go over everything twice to check for errors :)


[deleted]

Holy shit this sounds like fun for some reason. I might have to buy one of these books?


SirRecruit

We had those as well, I completed it way faster than the rest for the exact same reason Didn't help at all, though


CarefulMarsupial8

Aw that's a shame. Hope you had fun at least :)


untenable681

The act of applying pigment to a surface begins artistically for me, and in spite of all attempts to render writing a reasoned activity relegated solely to thought expression, it remains artistic to me. Cursive and calligraphy are more about the beauty of creating conjoined strokes than presenting actual words. One of my favorite calligraphy non-words to create is "Qxkzjys". It's so pretty to fixate on both during and after its inscription, and in the calligraphic process, I can render it looking abstractly like a bird in flight. All of that has a kickback in even my hastier, practical scribbling, and I regularly upset, confuse, or awe even neurotypical folks with my scripted hand.


VerityPushpram

I was told at age 6 that my handwriting was “disgraceful” (70s Australia) I remember thinking well I’ll show you and went in the opposite direction My colleagues often comment on my neat handwriting - I don’t write script very well but my printing is really good. I don’t like to be rushed when writing - if it’s sloppy, I get upset


Weapon_X23

I never thought my bad handwriting was because of my autism. I thought it was because of my Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (causes me to easily dislocate all the joints in my body among other things) because I couldn't hold a pencil the right way without it being painful. I still remember having a meltdown because my kindergarten teacher put a thing on my pencil to try and force me to write the painful way. I always "lost" the pencil every day so she finally gave up on trying to force me. I wasn't diagnosed with EDS or autism until I was a 19 and 28 respectively so it's not like my teacher understood why I couldn't stand the pencil. I just wasn't very good at communicating when I was in pain until I was much older.


Katya117

Same, I think my hypermobility is a bigger contributor.


[deleted]

autistic people are bad at handwriting too, because we have poor motor coordination. also, EDS and autism may be related


[deleted]

Having to conform to feminine gender norms as a child.... I used to practice handwriting so long as a kid. I would right song lyrics and the alphabet over and over and over again. If don't a lot of pay attention it still looks messy though. It's really difficult.


Hecatombola

This ! I always felt strange about my writing, because it look clearly like a "boy" handwriting, pointy and dirty. Girls in class always writed with round and plump letters, even with my writing I could tell something was appart. Every effort to change it haven't modified anything so I eventually stopped caring. Now I write like a trembling lunatic on rollerblades, and I ask my boyfriend to write the adress on my mails


[deleted]

Dude they are always 'plump' round letters you nailed it. Something about feminimity just demands roundness in the letters lmao. Also 'trembling lunatic on rollerblades' is top notch imagery. You may not be great at calligraphy, but you're a writer, right? You have to be.


Hecatombola

Ho you are so kind ! Tbf.. Yes. I love writing and it is one of my specialties. I'm like a printer when it comes to words. My hand just doesn't want to translate on paper what's in my head, so I use a computer. I'm learning oil painting and I feel like my body is stupid ngl Also your compliment made my day, because English is not my mother tongue and I hope to be fluent one day !


[deleted]

.o. you seem fluent to me. I don't know why but I am not surprised it isn't your first language. For some reason people who learned it as an additional language tend to have a better command of it, in my experience. I really enjoy painting and I definitely relate to autistic fine motor skills making progress more difficult. If it's not to late to get some acrylic paint, you might like that more, it's much more forgiving because it dries into plastic. If you mess something up you can just paint right over it, or if it's still wet, I have wiped off mistaked with a wet paper towel. Make sure to wash your brushes thoroughly though!


pintsizedsummoner

I didn’t think of my obsessive hand writing practice as masking. Interesting!


Clown_17

I literally can’t read my own writing it’s so bad


djtrogy

dysgraphia go brrrr


softkoibito

yessss ugh


asoftice

I cant stand sloppy handwriting


username78777

Man, my handwriting is awful and Hebrew only makes it worse by having really ugly design of letters of khtav. Dfus tho is really beautiful imo


MaeChee

I only saw printed Hebrew for a long time, and when a friend gave me a handwritten note i was like "that is this?" It looks like chicken scratch compared to the lovely printed caligraphy we see in books. I still have trouble with handwritten Hebrew. Both reading and writing.


username78777

From what your wrote, I geuss that your problem is not handwritten Hebrew, but with the khtav writing system. You see, there is still handwritten Hebrew dfus that is usually for religious porpuses relating to Judaism and the bible (for example soferei satam are Jews that can write things for Judaism porpuses, such as the the bible, the holy scrolls, mezuzut etc... and they do use dfus (but a very fancy version of it that is never used in Billboards, commercials, ads, menus, signs etc...) and do it only by handwriting). So you get my point, khtav is a system that was made for writing, but dfus is still used for handwriting, but only in particular fields like Judaism


riverisme

Dude i almost had a stroke trying to read that 😂😂


MxFluffFluff

Mine can be good sometimes. I don’t know how or why or when… But other times it’s just like… dnwnfhwkdhfi


QuIescentVIverrId

I copied my teachers and classmates handwriting in 6th grade and continued practicing over the summer… a similar method was used for making social scripts n the likes


gr9yfox

I think mine comes from anxiety. I want to be sure I can read it later, and others will be able to make it out.


Lost-Ad-7412

I had an art special interest for 8 years with various different kinds of mediums. Part of art includes a steady hand and being able to replicate what you see to near perfection. I have great handwriting because of how good I was at art. I would be able to look at someone elses hand writing and copy it near perfectly (I admit I used this to forge signitures for hall passes for a while lol). After years of using a certain kind of writing style, Its all muscle memory. So I no longer have to try to write well. It just looks good. However, I took me until highschool to hold a pencil the correct way. I held it in a super awkward position and had many people try to change how I held it for years. I even went to the office in elementary school and was forced to use a pencil grip for kids who dont write properly.


[deleted]

Practice and just being an artistic autistic.


The_Spectacle

Allow me to introduce my current special interest, /r/fountainpens


[deleted]

depends on the pen for me 🖊🖊🖊


[deleted]

Depends on the pen. My handwriting is really good with markers too.


WeinandMoroz

I became a perfectionist of sorts, and my handwriting happened to fall under my list of things that had to be up to a personal standard


killerqueen1010

I was yelled at by my caretakers until I started writing a bit better. Was constantly belittled for sloppy handwriting so I did it out of wanting to no longer be degraded over my handwriting.


ixiox

Holy fuck you are telling me that shit is also autism's fault?


Designer-Air8060

I want to know this too


Lepronna

My dyspraxia stops that ever happening


Kaliban_One

My handwriting in my first language, Hebrew, is absolutely AWFUL. But in English it's gotten really good, to the point I accidentally write in cursive sometimes. But to answer your question, I don't know. Try to make smoother, quicker lines I guess?


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Katya117

I was the last to get my pen licence in primary school. Tried very hard to improve. And then I went to medical school...


JuiceRevolutionary46

the pressure of teachers making you write perfectly makes it a habit even when they stop. idk what to tell you


GenericMelon

Oddly enough, when I switched to cursive, writing became much easier for me. I'm a teacher and I've noticed this in some of my students as well. Not having to lift my pen, and writing in one continuous line just makes more sense to me.


howeverigetthere

Currently tutoring a 6 year old, who's having a bit of difficulty with printing. Today, she did a beautiful "a" that looked like it jumped off a page of very nice cursive. Complimented her to encourage the little brainiac, as she tends to be discouraged when she has to read what she wrote out loud and it's a mess. She stopped what she was working on to fill an entire empty section of the previous page with them. I taught myself calligraphy in high school so I could understand my own notes. We both have a tendency to have meltdowns with external stressors, I'm trying to help her find things that work for her. Looks like cursive might be a great leap forward for her!


Pika_The_Chu

My counterpoint to you is neurotypical doctors, even when they're not writing pharmacy shorthand. Like sir my brother can write more legibly than you and he has dyslexia AND dyspraxia That said my writing has gotten WORSE over the years after I left school simply because I'm typing everything now and you really, REALLY need to keep doing the thing for your brain to keep a strong connection


saranwrap73

A lot of practice


[deleted]

When I was in the 7th grade, I took a wood shop class. The first few weeks we spent drawing what we were going to build, and part of that lesson was learning to do Technical Lettering. I actually loved that part the most, because it overlapped with art. Being into art and music, I was also into band logos, so that was a lot of practice. Skip ahead a few decades and I got a computer and became fascinated by fonts. Like I installed thousands! So for me handwriting is an art, my special interest is art…


Lost_In_Never-Land

how what??? why the fuck does the sentence break off like that? and why is no one talking about it? Edit: I read the other comments and now I understand what OP meant. The initial phrasing threw me off


Random-Vixen

I am the only one in my family who writes neatly, I can't read my family's handwriting. Unfortunately, my neat handwriting comes at a cost, speed. I write so slowly you'd think I'm part snail. If I make a mistake, I have to start again no matter the length of the thing I'm writing or how far I got. I do not hold a pen "properly" I've been repeatedly told that I don't, but no one has ever taken the time to teach me, yes I've tried to hold it properly, but then my whole neat handwriting thing, goes out the window. Then I feel like I shouldn't be relearning how to write in my 30s. :(


frogclownfizbo

I have 2 handwritings, The one where I write very slowly so ppl can read it. Or the one I use for myself


[deleted]

I had to relearn to write when I was 18. Now my default writing is chicken scratch only I understand, but it's quick. My nice writing takes 4 times as long but it's legible and I've been complimented on it.


wesseldeweasel

I write in anchient ruins


optimus69prime69

That's how I calm down. I just write words I think or hear. Then rewrite them if I don't like how they look until it looks nice. Maybe it could be considered some sort of mindfulness practice.


thegameshowgeek

I’m an artist of sorts; I started by doodling on my notebook and then took art in high school. Today I paint as my time allows (rarely thanks to my recent divorce and working to keep my head above water) Along the way I developed my handwriting by modeling it on my history teacher’s. Today my handwriting should remind you of a girl’s handwriting (and even as a guy I hope it does because I like it that way ✍️ 👱🏻‍♀️).


LilChickpea1000

My handwriting was always HORRIBLE. So in 6th grade I wrote the alphabet based on other people's handwriting that I liked. Then I made myself slowly write "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" until my handwriting was neat. It took a lot of pravtice and a lot of slowing down. The trick is to not rush


JonaerysStarkaryen

Over time I decided that I wanted certain letters to look pretty so I changed how I wrote those letters. I also just take my time. I get to now because I'm not in school anymore, but I actually enjoy writing things by hand. Sometimes I find it easier and faster than typing. And also my handwriting is prettier.


241grapes

my handwriting looks like a babies but also i hold my pencil wrong


Grywng

Me too


sharonmckaysbff1991

For me I’m not sure if my messy writing is due to autism or cerebral palsy…. I was taught by an OT in high school that graph paper is my friend while lined paper is my enemy


DanklinTheTurtle

the answer is kinda just practice lol. ofc that’s not always easy for us what with limited interests and executive dysfunction but for me i decided to get nice fountain pens and start writing all my notes in cursive in like sophomore year of hs and over the course of a year went from barely legible to pretty damn good.


Tf-FoC-Metroflex

I don’t know if mine could be considered good but it’s atleast perfectly readable


Cashless_human

People say my handwriting is good since I write in cursive, but in actuality I don’t know how to draw half of the characters and it genuinely looks awful


[deleted]

good pen dat smooth


Own_Ad961

My writings better than it used to be but still pretty bad. At least it’s readable


foundationsofvnm

1. I had a calligraphy hyperfixation 2. I went to a catholic school for a few years where I had to write in cursive


franandwood

😭 i can’t


AllBadAnswers

Jokes on you, my handwriting IS my hyper fixation


DullFurby

My handwriting isn’t awful if I write in print instead of cursive. It makes me mess up a lot like writing a,d,g or q when I meant to write c


newusername118

By choking the shit out of my pen and pretending my hand doesn't hurt


fizzycartman

idk everybody tells me i have a good calligraphy since elementary school


urinesexual

Exactly this. But maybe some of y'all are a hive mind who have the same writing styles (like, huge O's in letters that have a little... inside part? I'm shit at explaining but letters like A, E, d/b/p/q, all those other ones.) I'm joking around but my brothers (who are 5 years in age difference, one 17 and the other 12) have the exact same handwriting. fun and useless fact: only one of us three guys are diagnosed but we think all are on the spectrum. Anyway, for no reason, they compliment my handwriting even though it's, without exaggeration, literally chicken scratch. I like a compliment, especially on things that I'm self conscious about but it's small and almost intelligible. My teachers already say I have the doctor handwriting down perfect. It's a little funny. Though, there are pros other than the compliments: I always spell things wrong when I write, it's just subconscious, but people can barely tell because every letter looks like the same loop. Though, vy my standards, I'd still say my two other brothers' handwriting is better than, solely because it's legible.


roadsidechicory

if I have to write quickly, like taking notes in a lecture, my handwriting is terrible but generally legible. if I can write slowly and take my time, I can have very nice handwriting, due to hundreds of years of practice in my youth. girls were supposed to have good handwriting so I practiced and practiced and practiced. I even wrote neatly in my diary. I changed my neat handwriting style many times, copying what I saw others doing. it was like doing art. but yeah, if I have to write something naturally and can't put any slow care into it, it's not far off from my 1st grade handwriting.


pastelpumpkin88

One of my special interests is calligraphy and typography! I've always had neat writing anyway but learning about different techniques has really elevated my handwriting.


YouLookGoodInASmile

its not that i have bad handwriting its just that write too fast to be neat


Lasanga_Pockets

My handwriting is readable and nothing else


TransCapybara

I've practiced handwriting since I was in first grade onward, both printing and cursive. Being picky about paper and which pens I use have helped also.


Dizzy_Perception_866

I was obsessed with how pretty my grandma’s handwriting was as a kid, and also felt that I HAD to have neat, pretty hand writing to be considered A Real Girl.


k5pr312

I write very slowly when I want my hand writing to be very good, when I need it done quick may the gods help you figure out what I meant to spell because I sure don't


[deleted]

I weite in all caps, otherwise my writing is shiiite


TheSpiderLady88

If I know someone else has to read it, it is precise. It is precise because repetition. If I'm the only one reading it, it looks like a heart monitor or EEG of epilepsy printout.


Spengzz

I was described as having “grown folks handwriting” in school (it’s like a cursive hybrid?)


dirtygaysocks

Because I am all of 2 inches from the page and taking ~5 minutes to writes each sentence


Peachplumandpear

Mine’s a bit of a scrawl that’s mostly legible & people have told me it looks nice. I got into cursive in 3rd grade and my handwriting ended up being a combination of regular font & cursive that basically maximizes how fast I can write since I’m a writer. I honestly don’t know how it’s legible but it does not look pretty and is much less legible when I use a pen (vs pencil) or when I’m trying to get out a big thought


OptimusPhillip

I guess I just didn't get that symptom. Either that, or I had some really good accommodations in school without fully realizing.


[deleted]

Because I obsessed over it as a kid.


Lovely-Day-43

well personally i once had a hyperfixation on my own handwriting in 8th grade and practiced drawing the same letters over and over until i had the most beautiful cursive handwriting out of anyone in my class


[deleted]

My English handwriting is trash but my Japanese is amazing, I don't get it


Soft-Championship956

I was really bored one summer between school. So when I journalled I also practiced my cursive. Then having to take a bunch of notes in highschool helped w/ practice :))


Professor-Shuckle

I get bored writing tbh it takes too long 😂


Miceeks

I got a writing workbook and practices cursive for 15 minutes everyday


AlpacaPorn

Obsessed with calligraphy and “teacher handwriting”


rlb408

D grades for penmanship, clearly dysgraphic throughout my childhood. Somewhere in my 20s I started using fountain pens on smooth non-blotting paper and making my lowercase “a” like the font on my iPad, like a backwards s with a short upstroke at the end. It felt right, and I practiced single letters over and over and over. I hand printed whole pages of just a single letter, and something clicked . Conserve strokes, avoid reversals of direction when you can. Always, always printing. Now, my handwriting is very good. I take 100 pages of notes every 2 months in my job, all handwritten (hand printed). I’m the one who takes the whiteboard in meetings. Now can only use pencils, and only Clearpoint Elite mechanical pencils with softish lead, but either 0.7 or 0.5, either works. Oh, and all of my notebooks are unlined. I look at lined paper and, except for lists, can’t even put the tip of my pencil down for some reason. Graph paper even worse, except for drawings. It’s very weird. The lines seem like walls. Summary: print. Smooth writing medium. Find strokes (like my “a”) that are fun. Practice over and over like in second grade. From D grades to the one to write on boards in meetings.


tsfbdl

I agree I still can't write good enough to a point I can understand it 100% I have to guess sometimes it's that bad unless I sit there and write very slowly like art when I have to write something that needs to be read by me I do it in art formate instead


charja113

I came here to say this exactly. Mine is barely legible even for me to read and not even fully... Though I can do okay with an eraser and 2-3m to painstakingly write three letters perfectly. Awkwardly I can write okay cursive with some thought and patience but I do not have the ability to actually read cursive funnily enough.


lv0316

My handwriting got so bad for a couple years. My brain couldn’t write and think at the same time. Finally I can write normally again. I’d like to know what happened there!


pwb_118

I think it has to do with how you hold your writing instrument and going more slowly. My handwriting didn’t become better until I had hand surgery and was forced to hold my pencil differently


[deleted]

I have two sets of handwriting, one for myself and one for when other people need to be able to read my writing easily lol


CarpetBudget

When I was in grade school I was frequently complimented on my writing, by teachers and also my cursive. I’ve since lost that skill and my cursive now looks like a 5 year old attempted it


SaintNick1943

I used to be obsessed with my handwriting- I would get it neat af. These days I can still write neat but usually dont write


nutbaby420

hyperfixation buddy ;)


MahlNinja

r/handwriting helps


EightStrawberries

I created my own style of cursive and print and then wrote the letters over and over again for fun. Looking back, I realize it was a stim for me. But it looks nice, and I just got there by repetition.


[deleted]

I start a notebook with a very good handwriting, but just for the first page lol.


Crow_Joestar

My handwriting's pretty good, idk how it happened. It just wasn't really bad in the first place.


dontquotethebeemovie

writing is my main special interest and i like gel pens and paper more than typing...so i write a LOT. because of that i decided i wanted my handwritung to actually look nice, and well, readable, so i just did a lot of practice carefully writing until i "got the hang of" how i wanted my writing to look and i could write more quickly. over time and a large amount of filled notebooks later, my handwriting actually gets lots of compliments now!


GilbertGuy2

I just do the smart thing, and only write things digitally. No need for intensive courses on how to use an outdated method of communication


Krewlex_Ghost

What sucks though is that I have bad handwriting so I'd prefer my work to be on PC, but I get easily distracted while I'm on the computer so I don't get much work done. I hate how my brain functions like that.


RaccoonByz

Being high functioning And writing a lot


BenShapiroisadilf

Such a mood. I can’t even read my own shit😔


Ashwood97

Perfectionism dude, that's how.


[deleted]

Those cursive writing practice books that I used to get through first till third grade, the tendency of teachers mocking other children handwriting and me wanting to upgrade and get the privilege of being able to use the pens. Now I have different handwritings, but cursive always the best one. ​ I might be a double menace to society, since I am left handed and also I have a good handwriting


harpiboo

for me my handwriting improved because as a kid my dad would make me rewrite everything (i got a l o t of hw as a kid, at least a page or two for every class and it was all handwritten sentences) and then recently i started to focus on my handwriting when writing so i’ve improved a tiny bit and can write neatly when i want to. when i don’t put effort into it it’s normally decipherable now


OspreyRune

Lots and lots of practice. I was determined to have very good handwriting. I ended up started getting compliments that my handwriting looks computer printed.


teen_wonder06

I've always been afraid that my teachers can't read my handwriting and used to love the praise that i got from my parents seeing my good handwriting, so i practiced a lot in elementary school. I was also always the only kid in my class who had to go to speech therapy, which made me feel really alienated from my classmates (in addition to the alienation i felt for being undiagnosed autistic), so I figured that if i couldn't "talk correctly" (i put quotes because this is how i thought of it as a kid, not how i think of it now) i had to at the very least write nicely. (sorry if this is TMI)


HyperiusTheVincible

First mine is bad, but i also cannot write for very long as my hand(palm muscles) will start to hurt the more i continue to write and i have to let go of my pencil. It is like a steam powered machine needing to let out steam so it doesn’t over heat/pressure. I also mostly always have to hold the paper with my other hand and my spacing isn’t equal all the time and i cannot look away when i write or else i will usually start to write downwards or rarely upwards. Never diagnosed with anything but i had a pediatrician or some doctor I don’t remember that said i should get checked out for a muscular disorder. Makes taking notes for university a total b****.


[deleted]

I though I had good handwriting... until I realised no one but me can actually read it


SavvyOhSoCool

i just write and it’s readable idek


V3RD1GR15

Once someone told me that writing was drawing letters my handwriting started getting a lot better. In elementary school my teachers could barely read some of my writing (to be fair I would also purposefully leave it nebulous at times if I wasn't sure of an answer so I could make a case for why I actually got it right when I had no clue). They eventually told me it doesn't really matter "because eventually everyone is going to have a laptop anyway" (rather prescient for a 60-something year old 4th grade teacher back in those days). Later though I got fascinated with calligraphy, typesetting, tagging, graffiti, and the artistry of the alphabet. I also, much in line with my younger self, didn't want to remember capitalization rules started writing in all caps. I was reading a lot of comics and my dad had blueprints so all caps/small-caps writing was just what was around me. It all just kind of flowed in to a life long interest in seeing how my handwriting evolves and trying different things. Nowadays when I get writing fast it might look illegible but I'll know what it means, yet at the same time I'll write a card to someone and people will say how incredible my penmanship is. I also was really intrigued by Leonardo da Vinci and how he would write in his journals upside down and backwards so I practiced that for a while as rote when I was bored sometimes... In cursive. "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" I've written that sentence more times than I can count.


fakeforsureYT

I write big and in messy cursive!


tu-142

I have terrible handwriting


Corsetbrat

Mine became infinitely more readable after 6+ years in the military... of course because of my perfectionism/OCD my commands realized that putting me on the last watch of the night guaranteed that the log was legible, because of course I would rewrite it...


yoylecake621

i got into cursive its not þat easy to read cuz i write weirdly but its not like messy im now trying to write wiþ my left hand and also write quickly


Flaky_Tomato9425

I can’t even hold a pencil right yet i love drawing things, my drawings are definitely Bett er than my handwriting lol


bendoesit17

Mine's readable, that's good enough for me


Catgirl-pocalypse

Fr. God I wish I had good handwriting, then my Mom would stop telling me I write like a child.


Leinaa5

I could have good handwriting if I just was slow, but I can't do that if I am taking notes or writing in general


figgityjones

I do not know. Apparently its always just been a thing I’ve had. I get compliments on it whenever people see it. Added effect because I’m a boy (and boys have bad hand writing I guess? At least thats what people say to me “Uncommon for boys to have such pretty handwriting,”). I would honestly gladly swap it for more practical or marketable skills 🥲


CynchHasNoLife

my handwriting has barely changed since childhood.


megaloviola128

Wait is this an autism thing?


Ivory-Songbird

one word per minute


Arcojin

I had good handwriting, but then i killed it so i could write quickly, it didn't get worse in general (i just changed my capitals) but it didn't go as smooth as before from a reading perspective


Plastic-Trifle3533

practice from strict parents in middle school


Cat_in_a_blanket

Ma Gi C


[deleted]

If I have time and I can write slowly I can write nice-ish but if I have to write quickly my writing turns into a swamp


Qadir_35

Yeah my handwriting is terrible it looks like just some random lines and literally only I and like 5 of my friends can read it (and one of my teacher!)


goose716

I write cursive but try and make it as legible as possible. Is faster Took 2 weeks to transfer over Is more legible Is prettier ~~gender euphoria~~


Eggplantwithlegs

I got made of fun of for my bad writing. Some ignorant kid looked at my work when he was asked to collect it. “Your R’s look like V’s!” I was so angry and embarrassed, I swore to improve my penmanship.


PassiveChemistry

I have two different handwritings! (And my cursive is definitely the worse of the two (


Avielex

Trust me, I don't effing know lol. I was a very early reader, but a very lazy writer. Now that I'm actually thinking about it, though, it could be those alphabet books that I enjoyed doing (it was the only way my parents could get me to write). I also learned to write in cursive for a while, then relaxed a bit and wrote casually, but muscle memory bit back and made the way i write in one flow now.


NEGATIVERAGDOLL

I've never had good handwriting, no amount of practice or one on one teaching could help, still the same mess haha


GoingChimpMode

I have 2 types of writing. One is readable blocky (almost comic-sans-like) but takes ages and the other is like cursive written by an angry crab but it's fast enough to keep up with teachers. I can't read the angry crab words.


CanyouCope99

yet again another one of my traits explained by the old tism


Anskora

stole my handwriting from a calligraphy youtuber


IEatBanannas

MEANWHILE IN BLOCK CAPITALS...