Developing Style: Writing Cursive Two Years In

Over a year ago, I switched to writing entirely in cursive and wrote at length on the techniques and methods I used to re-learn it. This post is an update to those earlier two in which I will dive into the beautiful process I've undertaken trying to develop a personal style for my handwriting.

I still write a lot and I'd estimate that well over 95% of that writing is in cursive. Doing something so much and with deliberate intent will doubtless improve one's skill but, countering that progress, is the speed at which I write. So my writing ends up looking a bit like a doctor's scrawl—if a bit more legible.

Adding Personal Flair

However, the lovely thing about writing by hand is that the skill is incredibly personal. Letterforms are standardized and designed for speed and ease of use, but nothing says you actually have to use all of them as designed. I have always loved how older (1800–1950s) style writing looks and so I wanted to try to emulate those forms where possible. As well, several capital letters are tricky to write consistently and I do not mind occasionally lifting my pen at the start of a sentence. Important too, I changed some letters because I don't like how they look in their standard form.

This led me to abandon several letter forms like the H, F, T, A, and both versions of the letter Z in favor of simpler or more stylistic alternatives.

These changes make my writing feel like it's actually mine. It's a strange feeling, coming from the world of digital type, but the letters you write can be truly yours if you invest the time to make them so.

Technical Changes

What may be more difficult to notice is the changes I've made to how I hold and push the pen. These changes help me better emulate the style I prefer but they also make it much easier to write for longer durations. Older styles of writing focused on larger letterforms and swirls because the hand wasn't the primary mode of pen-transport; instead the whole arm was involved! This was largely because your arm gets tired more slowly and so a style like that is more suited to jobs where you'd be writing all day.

As well, the authors of handwriting styles are almost always right-handed, something I can never truly escape. Writing left-handed involves deciphering and deconstructing the motions and techniques for writing and reconstructing them in a way that works for you. I end up pushing my pen left-to-right at an angle far more parallel to the page than before—where as a right-handed person would drag their pen the same way. Along with this, I try to use my arm and shoulder to move my pen more often than not and these techniques combined lead to gaps in some letter forms as the pen is not intended to be used this way, and it slants the letters more steeply.

Legibility Concerns

No doubt there are readers who are currently thinking: your writing is completely illegible! What good is it if I can't read it‽ Well I have two answers to that question:

First, my writing is primarily for my own consumption and so it matters little to me if others can read it, I certainly can. But secondly, one thing I've found fascinating is that by learning to read and write cursive as I have, even with a modern or personal style, I have a lot less trouble reading other people's handwriting than I did before!

I personally love this YouTube channel: Objectivity, where they trawl through the Archives of the Royal Society and read old writing, and a common joke in the videos is that only Keith, the Head Librarian can read any of the letters they pull out. However that's not because he's some expert in handwriting, it's because he's used to doing so! I find myself no longer struggling as much to read the same kinds of letters now that I perform the daily practice of deciphering my own handwriting!

So in short, things go well with this little quest of mine. It's been a long road to get here, and tons of ink has been spilt to make it so, but I still recommend it, for no other reason than it feels good to have done.