Tip of the week: How to improve your penmanship

Loosen your grip. “Penmanship is something of a lost art,” but if you have the pen in a “death grip,” you’ll never learn. A tight hold makes handwriting “smaller and harder to read.”

Don’t get loopy. People get “unnecessarily loopy and tangled” when writing in cursive. “Aim for clean lines” and avoid “excessive flourishes” that seem fancy but actually are inscrutable.

Perfect your print. If your script is a “complete disaster,” printing works fine, as long as it’s kept clean. Keep ascenders (l, h, b, d) and descenders (g, j, y) short and lift the pen from the paper between letters.

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Slow down. The faster you write, the less control you have over the pen. “Slowing down helps keep the shape, slope, size, and space of the lettering consistent—and consistency is the key to good penmanship.”

Source: Allure