14 Simple Ways To Improve Your Handwriting

    You got this.

    Michelle No
    by Michelle No

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Your handwriting is an extension of your personality and a skill that many of us flex on a daily basis, both at work and in our personal lives. It makes sense you'd want to improve it.

    handwritingiih.com

    Which is why we asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us how they improved their handwriting. Whether it's cursive or type that you want to work on, here are their best tips (along with a few of ours) you can try out today.

    And remember the golden rule: Practice makes perfect (or, you know, just better!).

    1. Practice writing a page a day of whatever you want, however you want.

    NBC

    "First, I get a cheap blank composition notebook. I start by dating every page on the right side, and titling it on the left. I then fill out a page every day with whatever comes to mind — sometimes it's sentences copied from a book, other times it's made-up short stories. My handwriting at the end of the book is much neater than my handwriting from the front of the book, proving this simple practice works."

    —sondere

    2. Pick up bullet journaling or find a pen pal.

    3. Get inspiration from Instagram.

    4. Research pretty fonts and try and replicate them.

    1001freefonts.com

    "My handwriting is now the neatest it has ever been and I personally think that it's because I looked at a lot of examples of handwriting I wanted mine to look like and made slow moves to make a few letters look like the ones in the example."

    —lily1818

    "My 10th grade history teacher hated my sloppy handwriting, so I looked up 'handwritten fonts' online, found a cute cursive-print blend, and practiced it until I was used to it. And now I'm the designated greeting card writer."

    —radiailma

    You can browse through free fonts here.

    5. ...Or simply look at your friend's writing.

    6. S L O W down.

    NBC

    "When I notice my writing is getting sloppy, I slow down. Slowing down allows you to get back to the basics without skipping over the details or actually forming letters properly."

    —lindsayr4612d2baa

    "I started making an effort to slow down when I write. I was writing way too fast and it made my handwriting quite messy."

    —doesthiswork

    7. Don't lift your hand as much while you are writing — it'll turn your type into script.

    catalog.archives.gov

    "I stopped picking up my hand as much as possible, making my handwriting a mixture of script and regular type."

    —esanadehenre

    8. If you're left-handed, use a quick-drying pen.

    Amazon

    "The faster dry time prevents smearing, even when I highlight."

    —beeclayton037

    Get a pack from Amazon for $9.49 (available in three tip styles and four colors).

    9. Check out the Palmer Method — an in-depth and holistic guide to writing legibly and quickly.

    palmermethod.com

    The Palmer Method is a series of self-teaching lessons that originated in the early 20th century that'll help you write clearly, efficiently, and legibly. It'll coach you on everything from proper posture to slant, and even offers drills and some tough coaching advice ("Nothing less than failure can follow superficial study"). It's a more involved way of improving handwriting, but the results are pretty much guaranteed.

    If you'd like, you can even get a print version on Amazon for $13.99.

    10. Make your piece of paper perpendicular to your body.

    Michelle No / BuzzFeed

    Try turning your paper to a 90° angle. You might find this position is more comfortable for your wrist.

    11. Write in CAPITAL LETTERS.

    12. Try gripping your pen in a different way.

    pdfs.semanticscholar.org

    You may have grown up with your teachers forcing you to grip your pencil in the dynamic tripod position but research says that alternate grip styles don't affect legibility or speed. Take this as your green light to grip your writing utensil in whatever way helps you jot down your best grocery list.

    13. Use your upper arm and shoulder muscles to guide your writing hand.

    Nickelodeon

    Your fingers aren't the only body parts that can aid in writing. Try and engage the rest of your arm and shoulder and you'll notice a decrease in hand strain and hand cramps.

    14. Forget what all the rule books say and do whatever feels comfortable to your wrist and posture.

    CBS

    Honestly, who the heck cares how you angle whatever you're writing on or whether your back is perfect. Most of these rules are meant to help you write quickly and legibly for extended periods of time, but if you're built differently and these rules actually make you more uncomfortable in the long run, then you're probably better off writing your own rules.

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