Like many people I was never good at writing by hand and would say “oh it’s really too hard for me” or “what’s the point of it when you can just type everything?” Was always glad whenever I get to type up an essay instead of handwritten.
It’s true we do a lot of our writing on the computer or the smartphones that never leave our side. The ability to sync notes to all your devices is amazing, but it would be hard to answer your phone while it’s being stuck to the side of the fridge, or when the battery runs out while trying to keep track of produces that needs to be acquired. Handwriting saves you from buying a new phone every time you want to stick a note on the fridge, and save the electrons in your phone.
Despite very few write by hand anymore many notices. In my line of work I take a lot of notes at meetings or reviews. It feels nice when people comment on and are impressed (usually) or surprised by my handwriting, it’s almost like people suddenly respect you more, well probably not but it’s something unique and rare. Hand writing saves you from awkward conversations with colleagues and friends by distracting them with your penmanship!
A handwritten thank you card/note, a beautifully penned snail mail or postcard, makes for quite a treat in this email and text dominated world. It’s all about putting your personal touch, handwriting is extremely personal and like a signature, unique to you, and also shows careful consideration and considerable effort. Others would appreciate the time and effort. Handwriting makes you look like a sophisticated social savant (without actually being one)!
Have you seen those framed quotes at the local home decor stores? They look terrible don’t they? You think to yourself “my goodness, I can probably write better than that!” Low cost home decor items, and it’s made just for you by you, how cool is that? Makes a good gift as well. Handwriting saves you money from buying crappy home decor!
The hardest part about this whole thing is starting, I had a hard time figuring out how to start writing. Then I remember we have access to literally all the information in the world, the internet. I looked up on how to start writing on youtube, of course videos
are much easier to absorb than written words.
Openinkstand, she has a lot of videos and instagram with tips on handwriting and calligraphy, the audio quality is not the best but worth a watch regardless (watch all her videos): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIN1zjrrf_Y
Here is a nice little video on cursive writing, in the video he used a fountain pen but the pen is not important. Like photography, it’s the person who writes, not the pen. In the video he talks about paying attention to how you write and slowing down, very important tips. They also have a video on worksheets and guides: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6rfoRiWa8A
This here is an interesting video, it’s someone who is not that good at writing by hand trying to improve, he’s got the right attitude and it’s really something we all should do when practicing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9WURPrgqe8
Just watching or reading doesn’t do much, it takes practice. nothing beats practice. here’s a few places you can find worksheets or books on how to write. just take 10 or 20 minutes a day to do a few exercises. it really isn’t that much of work and you will be quite impressed with the amount of improvement over not even all that much time.
This PDF helped my get started with cursive writing, i’ve never learned it in school so this is the very basics and first introduction of cursive to me: http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/By_Hand_Books/Cursive_Step_1_Rev.pdf
Loops and tails is where you can get instructions and worksheets to get you started with some basic cursive writing: http://www.loopsandtails.com/
A few more worksheets for you: http://www.donnayoung.org/penmanship/cursive.htm
Here are some lessons from The International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting: http://www.iampeth.com/lessons/guide-sheets
Covert Zebra 