We all want beautiful and speedy handwriting. However, very few people know how to do both. Some write lightning-fast but struggle to read their own handwriting, while others prefer a slow-and-steady work of art.
Today, you won’t have to choose. By the end of this article, we’ll provide you with all the strategies you need to write both quickly and neatly.
5 Steps to Learn Faster and Neater Handwriting
While it might seem tedious and time-consuming, perfecting your handwriting isn’t that difficult when you break it down into small steps. Each step is a tiny adjustment that you can make in your writing.
Slowly, all of the steps will come together, and before you know it, your handwriting will be as tidy as a freshly-made bed.
1. Get Into Position
I’m sure you’ve heard it ten times already, but sit up straight. This will get you in the habit of good posture and allow you to continue writing for longer periods. It might take a while to get used to, but good posture will help you tremendously in the long run.
Besides posture, think about your arm, wrist, and hand position, too. Use your arm as the primary guiding force of your writing. Don’t let your weak little fingers do all the dirty work. Since your arms have a lot more muscle mass than your fingers, writing will become more comfortable and relaxed. This will also make your letters smoother and allow your pen to simply glide over the page.
2. Survey Your Current Handwriting
It sounds time-consuming, but this will only take a few minutes. Write out the alphabet (lowercase and uppercase) in your handwriting on a piece of paper. Encircle the letters whose look you’d like to change.
For those letters, do a quick Google search of the letter and choose a variant you’d like to emulate. Practice each letter a few times until you develop a bit of muscle memory.
If you find yourself encircling the entire alphabet, don’t stress. You’re in excellent company. All you have to do is search “Neat Handwriting Alphabet” on Google Images, and you’ll find a lot of inspiration. Either pick one style that you really like or combine different letters from multiple styles to create your own unique handwriting style.
Once you’ve nailed down the style you want, just practice. It doesn’t have to be a big sit-down session. Just start applying this alphabet every time you write. It can help keep a copy of your entire handwriting alphabet close by, so you can reference it while writing. Start slow and don’t even think about speeding up until you’re impressed by your handwriting.
3. Perfect the Small Details
Consistency, consistency, consistency! Focus on the little things. Be on the lookout for these tiny details to elevate your writing from just decent to spectacular!
- Basic Shapes
Because most letters are just a combination of lines, circles, and semicircles, all you have to do is master these shapes, and you’ll see an immediate improvement in your handwriting.
Every central circle or semicircle should be the same size. Likewise, every tall letter (b, d, f, h, k, l, t) should be the same height, and every tail (the bottom portion of letters g, j, p, q, y) should drop down to the same level.
Ensure the distance between each letter in a word (and each word in a sentence) stays roughly the same. It might seem like an obvious thing to do, but focusing on this is one of the best things you can do for your handwriting.
- Slant
If you like your letters shooting straight up, make sure they all stand equally straight. If you slant your letters to one side or the other, keep it consistent. Choose a side, stick with it, and try to maintain the same slant angle throughout.
4. Getting Faster
The most important thing is that you’re happy with the look of your handwriting before you start to speed up. Once you’ve got the muscle memory down, getting faster is just a matter of practice. It’s all about getting comfortable enough with your handwriting that you don’t need to think about it as much, and you can just let the letters flow.
Try to write as smoothly as possible. Concentrate on writing continuously without stopping after each letter or word. This will cut out a lot of time wasted between letters or words and let you spend more time writing. Stop as little as you can, and just let the letters flow smoothly and steadily.
Don’t think about writing each individual letter quickly as this only leads to sloppy writing and will undo all the work you’ve already done. Keep in mind the balance between speed and quality, and don’t be afraid to go back a few steps if you find yourself slipping. If you want to go even faster, look for smoother writing materials, like gel pens and smooth paper.
5. Re-assess and improve
Now that you can write quickly and neatly, don’t stop learning! Even if your handwriting seems close to perfect, there will always be something you can improve. It’s good to repeat the first step now and then. Assess what you like and don’t like, what you’re already doing well, and what you can still get better at.
Whether it’s the way you dot your i’s and cross your t’s or a whole slew of letters that you’ve decided you now want to change, never stop evolving. If your latest check-in isn’t up to par with your goals, find a new strategy. If it’s excellent and you don’t want to change a thing, awesome! Give yourself a good pat on the back for a job well done.
You Can Do It!
Before you give up and decide that this is just too much work, remember why you wanted to improve your handwriting in the first place. Was it just a fun afternoon project? Was it to motivate you to take notes more? Was it to make studying more efficient? Was it to prove to yourself that you can do anything? No matter what your reasoning or motivation, you can do it!
Don’t sweat it too much if you slip up or feel like you’re going backward. Instead, let your mistakes remind you to stay on your toes and continue improving. Just as people change and grow over the years, your handwriting will too. Don’t be afraid to embrace this change and keep moving forward.
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