Wednesday, February 6, 2013

On penmanship and script typewriters



 




22 comments:

  1. When I was in my teens I deliberately developed a sort of Victorian penmanship, which looked precious and affected. It has evolved into a more natural-looking but still slightly fancy-pants style. Why did I do this? I think it was a rebellion against the '70s cult of being "natural" and "laid back."

    I have to say I really dislike the European-style grid paper. I'd rather use completely unlined paper.

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    1. I fully agree - the grid paper is a pain to use and look at. I'll try blank paper next time, although I can never manage to write in a straight line... another penmanship quirk.

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  2. Still handwriting half page in my A5 book, on average. But took the habit to write the same A5 page with my favourite portable - these days, a Royal Quiet Deluxe.
    Fountain pen fan from age 8.

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    1. Good idea to get some typing in every day! I'm not great at keeping track of all the loose leaves once I'm done typing, so I'd probably prefer a bound journal + fountain pen if I was to keep a diary... which I have resolved to do every year and failed :)

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  3. I learned to print until I think 2nd grade where in the second half of the year we learned cursive. I wrote neatly until college where I learned to scribble to keep up with the lectures. Now I write as often as I can with a fountain pen. I hope to improve.

    I sometimes write on grid paper, but prefer not to. All my lab notebooks are on that grid paper. I prefer lined or plain.

    Your hand writing is great. Very neat and legible.

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    1. I think taking notes in college is where it all goes downhill - speed writing has nothing in common with fine penmanship. My favorite notes to read back are the ones I write while nodding off in a particularly mind-numbing session... sometimes the mind wanders in very interesting ways!

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  4. I used to write in an odd gothic block style which was painstaking and slow. Lost the patience for that in adulthood and now I have a chicken-scratch half-cursive way of handwriting, usually incomplete words because my brain still works faster than my hand. Writing for me almost always happens at a keyboard these days for it to work right.

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    1. The gothic block handwriting sounds intriguing! Some days I find the keyboard distracting, but sometimes it's essential. It is certainly nice to have the choice, though.

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  5. My handwriting started bad in elementary school and never got better. I started as a lefty and was forced out of it in second grade. I can only attribute partial blame to Ms. Lash (not made up) as my chicken scratches look like my dad's. Genetics is an odd thing.

    At conferences, I can take notes faster on an iPad than in handwriting. I'm ruined. But you have inspired me to break out one of the cursive machines later in the month.

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    1. I am impressed at your iPad speed! I find I make too many errors and it gets frustrating after a while, but it is fun for occasional use.

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  6. My third grade teacher had the most lovely penmanship; right out of a book. Mrs. Wilson taught us all how to write cursively. I wrote that way until my early 20s, then experimented with different writing styles -- including a sort of hybrid between cursive and printing.

    I've just shared my "natural" handwriting, listing my current typewriter collection in yesterday's blog post. I hadn't intended it to be "public", but that's what ended up happening!

    Your penmanship is very interesting and unique. I have found this to be true for many people who did NOT grow up in the USA. I am captivated by my British friend Caroline's handwriting, rather similar to yours.

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    1. You make a very interesting point about non-U.S. taught handwriting! Although, I will have to think harder about it and see if there is a noticeable difference. I grew up in a former British colony, but I have never considered my penmanship to be influenced by that. Now I'm not sure...

      My dad has amazing penmanship when he makes the effort - mine is a very watered down version of his cursive after several years of unsuccessful attempts at imitation. I'll have to get a sample from him one of these days.

      P.S. I just realized your blog wasn't in my sidebar - what an oversight! Rectified immediately, of course, and I couldn't wait to go over and check out your handwriting :)

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  7. My handwriting didn't so much evolve as devolve. The instant I learned printing I moved on to cursive, and the instant I became comfortable with cursive I started using some horrible amalgamation of the two, a tumbling, loose-limbed chickenscratch that only I can read. Sometimes I feel bad for my students when I leave assignments on the board; oftentimes it looks like I'm teaching a lesson in hieroglyphics...

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    1. Such evocative writing... "tumbling, loose-limbed chickenscratch" - beautiful description! Although I still wouldn't want to decipher your handwriting, by the sounds of it :P

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  8. I used to write very small not cursive with a dip-in Rotring Isograph but somewhere over the years I'm now almost 100% all caps. And yes, a typewriter has always been a means of making my writing more legible.

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    1. Aha, so you are one of those all caps writers! I have never quite understood it, but I suppose it is more legible than most. Now that most people agree typing in all caps is the equivalent of shouting, what does that make handwriting in all caps, I wonder?

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  9. In Bangkok in the early 1960s we were taught to write English in cursive using dip fountain pens. Very messy and slow, to say the least. Then later when I went on to an English boarding school I found that hardly any of the other students wrote in cursive.

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  10. You have wonderful handwriting, Adwoa. And that signature is divine! And your post reminded me of my father's handwriting. I can see another handwriting post coming up!

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  11. Such lovely handwriting.
    My handwriting is no where near the same. Such a shame. It started out nicely in Primary School, but by the time I hit the second year of high school, it was such a wreck that I much preferred computers to write with.

    Later, I sustained a bit of nerve damage in my hands due to working in the extreme cold, and it got even worse.

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  12. your pencasts have vanished! ):

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  13. I think your handwriting is wonderful. I like unique handwriting. My handwriting varies with my mood and has evolved and revolved over the years. It's a mixture of cursive and print. Over the years I've had people comment how pretty it is and others who find it absolutely illegible. The odd thing I notice is how it sometimes slants right sometimes left and some times dead center.

    Btw how do you like your diamond Fp? My first one cracked and I ordered a second one. The new one writes stunningly, so much I've pretty much stopped using all my other fps.

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