How to Improve Handwriting

How to improve handwriting is a very common question. Many people are embarrassed with their handwriting but don't know what to do about it. In this article we will attempt to help you with this dilemma.

A person's handwriting, they say speaks volumes about his personality and behavior. And it is generally agreed that having a good handwriting lends a nice and positive feeling to the material that you read, along with creating awe for the person who possesses the skill. But people whose handwritings look almost as good as printed matter are very few. While most of people have legible, neat handwritings, there are some whose handwritings look as if a scared chicken was let loose and ran all over the paper. Their handwritings are hardly legible and stick out like a sore thumb on the page. Is your handwriting something like that? Are you wondering how to improve handwriting?

The thing is that handwriting skills are developed at an early age which involve learning motor skills, hand to eye coordination, maintenance of a good posture and hand positioning. Once these skills are acquired in childhood they become ingrained in our minds and good handwriting becomes a natural thing that does not need to be forced. Sometimes though there are questions involving how to improve handwriting in children as well. Childhood is the right time to improve one's handwriting skills. However, if good handwriting is not developed in childhood and one becomes set in his/her ways, it is rather difficult if not impossible, to change the entire structure of one's handwriting. In case of how to improve handwriting for adults, it would involve making the writing more legible, increasing writing speed and fluency and learning how to grasp the pen in the correct position.

How to Improve Handwriting

There are several ways that can be adopted to improve handwriting.

Identify The Problem
Write a paragraph on anything and then observe what you want to change in your handwriting. Maybe some letters are smaller than the others or the space between two alphabets is not even.

Find a Goal
Keep a goal in mind. Find out what needs improvement and what you want your handwriting to be like. It is a good idea to compare your handwriting with different people. Knowing what skills you want to adopt from their handwriting will help you set a clear goal in mind. It will then be easier to improve your handwriting having a specific end result in mind.

Buy The Necessary Material
Sometimes the choice of equipment that you use can affect your handwriting. Buy a variety of pens and paper material so that you can experiment and find out which material suits your purpose best. Many people swear by fountain pens in bringing out the best in their handwriting. But it's a personal choice. Read more on handwriting worksheets for kids.

Record Your Technique
Write something and observe how you do it. Do you use your fingers to write? Or do you use the shoulders and forearms? The correct technique is to write with your shoulder and forearm and not your fingers. The fingers should just be a guide and not the force. Never squeeze the pen too hard. Many people put the entire weight of their hand on the paper and then repeatedly keep lifting it and moving it across the page. This lends their handwriting a cramped and tight lettering style. Instead, employ the muscles in the forearm and shoulder and the strokes in your handwriting will be much more uniform.

Correct Your Posture
Sometimes posture can affect the quality of the handwriting. Instead of sitting slumped so that the entire body pressure comes onto your hand, sit straight. This allows enough room for the arm to move across the page.

Practice With Shapes
Don't start practicing writing directly, get comfortable with shapes and sizes first. Use a white board or drawing paper and make sweeping actions with your wrists. This will help you get comfortable with the shapes and lines before you move on to letters. It will also help to make your strokes more smoother and cleaner.

Practice Letters
Once you are comfortable with shapes move on to the letters. Practice with different forms of handwritings like cursive, block or print to see which suits you best. Then study the handwriting - the slant of each letter, the strokes, the letter formation and the ascenders and descenders. It is important to know your letters very well. Move to complete words once you've worked through the letters. Again pay minute attention to the letters flowing from one to the next, the character spacing and the space between two words.

Extract Opportunities
Use every opportunity that you get to write. Try avoiding typing or using the computer or your blackberry and switch to writing instead. This will improve your hand-eye coordination and develop control over your muscles. It is a good idea to buy a copy writing book for the purpose. Formulate a sentence for yourself and write it on top of the page everyday when you sit to practice, this will show you the progress that you've made over the days. It will also motivate you to try harder when you see positive results.

Practice
Make sure that you practice a lot! Nothing can be achieved if you don't keep at it and work towards the target that you've set for yourself. Read about how to write cursive.

Granted, it is difficult to change habits that have evolved over the years but it is not impossible. By using these fairly easy pointers on how to improve handwriting, you can change the way you write for the better. And while you are at it, see for yourself the appreciative glances people throw your way when they notice your perfect script. Go on then, see if we are wrong!

By Rujuta Borkar